Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Something’s got you in a good mood, huh, Doctor Lofton?”

Xavier jolted at the sound of one of his nurse’s voices from the door to his office. He’d been humming, he realized sheepishly, and Samantha, a nurse nearing retirement age, had caught him.

“What can I say?” he asked, unrepentantly. “It’s a great day.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said innocently, even as she threw him a conspiratorial wink. “Who doesn’t love spring, right?”

They both knew, however, that it wasn’t just the warming weather that had put so much pep in Xavier’s step… but it just might turn out to be love.

It was too soon to tell, of course. But the past week, since the night he and Emily had stayed up all night just talking and getting to know one another, had been nothing short of magical. Even though they were both busy with work, him a bit more so than her, they had found time to see each other nearly every day since, even if it was only a quick half hour to grab lunch before they hurried back to their respective jobs. No matter the amount of time they had, whether it was a long, leisurely walk with Coco or a quick chat on the phone, Xavier enjoyed every moment spent with or speaking to Emily.

Indeed, he couldn’t help but feel that his whole life was brighter now that she was in it. He was practically walking on air. Colors were brighter. He felt as though he’d been asleep for years and had only now woken up.

His longtime home in Whale Harbor felt more special now too. With anyone else, he might have felt silly, taking someone to his favorite places, when those favorite places included the best table at Clown Fish Eatery for people-watching or the best rock, in his humble opinion, for enjoying the soothing sounds as the waves crashed on the shore.

With Emily, however, such offerings, however simple, felt like a natural way to show her parts of himself. And she’d taken each of his suggestions with delight, even if she had countered that she knew a better wave-watching rock. This had led to a spirited debate, in which both sides laughed frequently, until he was forced to concede.

Her rock was superior, if only because there was enough room for them both to perch atop it, assuming he put an arm around her shoulders and held her close.

Xavier was a smart man. He didn’t need to be told twice when an invitation like that came his way.

He was scheduled to see Emily again after work tonight, which was what put him in such a good mood, even if he was mired in paperwork. Everything was brighter when he got to see her at the end of it.

Though, he might want to tamp down the humming, he acknowledged to himself with an inward chuckle. The nurses would start to think he was going a bit batty.

When the clock finally hit five, he pulled out his phone to text Emily.

XAVIER: Do you know where Doctor Maxwell’s office is? The veterinarian?

Her answer came near instantaneously, and it made Xavier’s grin grow even wider, knowing she was as excited to speak with him as he was to speak with her.

EMILY: Unless there are two vets in this town, yes.

XAVIER: No, just the one. This is Whale Harbor, after all.

He added an emoticon of a face with its tongue sticking out. Maybe he was too old for those kinds of newfangled ways to communicate, but Emily made him feel young in all the best ways.

EMILY: I know exactly where that is! I’ll be there ASAP.

Xavier quickly packed up the last of his papers, since privacy laws meant that he couldn’t leave things lying about. It was, he admitted, good for forcing him to keep his desk neat too. He left the office, throwing a hasty goodbye over his shoulder to the nurses, whom, he suspected, were playfully gossiping about who had put their boss in such a good mood.

Xavier didn’t care who knew. Emily chose to spend time with him, and he was the luckiest guy in Whale Harbor for it, as far as he was concerned.

He picked up his pace when he saw her standing in front of Doctor Maxwell’s office, hands tucked into her pockets. April had come on windy, and the breeze stole strands of chestnut hair from her usual casual bun, whipping the locks about her face. She’d put away the black puffy jacket for the season, and Xavier had to admit that part of him missed it. She made the most adorable marshmallow he knew.

Not that he didn’t like seeing her in her lighter spring jacket too, of course.

“Hey,” he said brightly, taking her in as she turned to him with a smile. She leaned in to give him a quick peck on the cheek, and he loved how the motion felt like it was almost automatic now. He liked having that relationship with her, one where little gestures of closeness were ingrained.

New relationships were fun and exciting, of course, but every moment with Emily made him long for the quiet intimacies of a long-lasting romance. Picturing a future with her just felt right .

“Hey,” she greeted him, swiping hair from her face as the breeze continued to prod at her. “How was your day?”

He shrugged playfully. “Work was fine, but things are looking up right about…” He made an exaggerated show of looking at his watch, then shot her a wink that made her laugh. “Now.”

“What would the people of Whale Harbor think if they knew their illustrious town doctor was such a terrible flirt?” she chortled, pressing a hand to her chest in a gesture of shock.

“They’d think he’s seeing a great woman, and he knows it,” Xavier said with a grin.

Emily shook her head. “You’re too good. Okay, what’s on ‘Xavier Lofton’s Super Exclusive Whale Harbor Tour’ today?”

Xavier took her by the arm, turned her until they were facing the buildings, and gestured dramatically. “Ta-da!”

“A bench?”

“Not just any bench,” he countered, guiding her so they were sitting on it. “But the best sitting bench in the whole of Whale Harbor.”

Emily wiggled in place, like she was testing out features. “Hm, okay. It does seem pretty good. But what makes it the best?”

“I’m so glad you asked!” He put an arm around the back of the bench, and she inched under his arm easily. “Well, there are many features to this particular bench. For one, it’s close to my work.”

“Very important quality for a busy doctor such as yourself,” she acknowledged.

“Exactly. For another, it’s rarely occupied.”

“Which makes it a reliable seating choice,” she agreed.

He grinned, squeezing her a little closer. “But do you want to know what’s the absolute best feature about this bench?”

She turned to look directly at him, a sweet smile on her face. “You know I do.”

He pointed out toward the far sidewalk. “Well, I was sitting on this bench when I saw this woman for the very first time. She was walking along in this very puffy black jacket.”

“It sounds like a great jacket,” she said, although her voice had grown more tender and less playful than it had been previously.

“It is,” he agreed. “But the person inside it is even better. Back then, all I knew was that she was beautiful. But now, I know she’s smart, and brave, and funny too.”

Emily shifted so she could tuck her head against his shoulder. “I can’t believe you remember that,” she murmured.

He pressed a kiss to her hair, then rested his cheek atop her head. “I couldn’t forget it,” he said. “Even before I really got to know you, that moment made me realize I was in a rut. And that gave me the bravery to agree when one of my patients suggested setting me up on a blind date.”

“’Suggested?’” Emily echoed teasingly.

“’Cajoled’ might be a better word,” he admitted. “But I am incredibly thankful for it, so I will give our wonderful friend Darla the benefit of the doubt.”

“That seems fair,” she agreed. There was a long, comfortable, thoughtful pause, one that Xavier had learned to mean that Emily was thinking carefully about what she said next.

“I don’t think I realized how badly I was feeling like some part of me had withered away, after everything that happened with Simone,” she said carefully. “I mean, I knew I was scared and anxious.” He squeezed her shoulders, both in encouragement and because he couldn’t stop himself from comforting her when she referenced that time of pain. “I felt like I had lost everything, because I’d spent so much time building up the image of Emily Harper, Businesswoman… and so when my name got dragged through the mud, my identity did too.”

She looked up at him. Despite her sad words, her expression was shining. “But this spark that I feel in me now? It’s better than anything I felt when I was letting entrepreneurship and creativity sustain me. Don’t get me wrong—I loved that business, and I hate how I lost it. But this…”

She went quiet, shaking her head, like she couldn’t put it into words.

He didn’t need her to put it into words, however. Because he felt the same way.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I don’t have the same experience, obviously. I’ve been very lucky in my job, in my career. But the way I feel with you? It’s so much more.”

“Yeah?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yeah,” he agreed, smiling.

Her eyes glinted with mischief.

“Doctor Xavier Lofton,” she said seriously, the tone at odds with her expression, “I think you’re amazing. And because of that, I am going to kiss you now.”

“By all means.”

It was the last thing he managed to say before Emily made good on her promise and kissed him, with all the sparks of joy and hopes for the future that they shared burning bright between them.

“Ooh, Trevor boy,” Marty said with a faint grunt as she wrestled the baby car seat from the back of her car. “I swear, one of these days I’m going to get this thing on the first try.”

Today, however, was not that day. She lifted the infant seat from its base at a slightly wrong angle, which made the latch only partially disengage. With a huff of laughter at herself, Marty resettled the carrier into the base and tried again, this time finding success. Trevor’s big eyes blinked up at her as if to say, Sheesh, Mom, it’s not like it’s that hard!

“Everything is hard when you wake up seventeen times a night,” she told her son solemnly. “And I’m not blaming you. You’re my precious baby. I’m just letting you know in advance that I’m going to be super excited when you start sleeping for longer stretches. Cool? Cool.”

She hooked the seat in the crook of her arm and lugged it up to her own mom’s front door. She knocked very softly at the door before recognizing her silliness. It wasn’t as though Lori was likely to have a sleeping baby inside like Marty had at her own house!

But apparently even the quiet knocking had done the trick, because Marty had scarcely begun moving her hand over to the doorbell when Lori yanked open the door, beaming.

“Hi, baby,” she said sweetly, hugging her daughter and pressing a kiss to Marty’s cheek. “And you, the real baby!” she crooned to Trevor, who let out an adorable, scrunch-faced yawn.

“Hi, Mom,” Marty replied. “Hi, Grandma ,” she amended, lifting Trevor’s carrier to show that the sentiment came from him.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Lori fussed. “Come in, come in, before baby catches a cold.”

It was a perfectly balmy spring day, and Marty was pretty certain that wasn’t how germs worked at all, but she elected not to argue with her mother as Lori ushered them inside.

“Oh my goodness,” she gushed as she led mother and baby over to a little area in her living room where she’d set up a baby seat that was made for newborns to be set in safely. “Is he bigger than the last time I saw him? I think he’s bigger, Marty.”

“Well, you only saw him two days ago, so logically probably not,” Marty said as she got Trevor out of his car seat. He fussed at being transferred but settled as soon as he got into the baby chair, which held a high contrast image at just the right distance for him to see with his developing eyes. He thrust an arm at the picture in a clumsy swipe.

“But some days I swear I can see him growing right before my eyes,” she continued as she paused, checking to make sure that Trevor was all set, and then sinking into her mother’s couch with a happy groan. “Oh, man, that’s the stuff. Sitting down is the best.”

Lori laughed, crossing to the kitchen to pour hot water from a waiting kettle into two mugs. The gentle aroma of chamomile tea lifted with the steam from the water.

“This little guy keeping you moving?” she asked as she handed Marty one of the mugs.

“Mmm, yeah,” Marty agreed, sucking in a deep lungful of the comforting smell of tea. “Last night, he wanted rocking. And the rocking chair wasn’t cutting it. Wyatt or I had to be standing. Once he fell asleep, we could put him down.”

“But at this age, that means, what? An hour? Two hours?” Lori settled into an armchair and bent down to look at Trevor. “You’re keeping your mama hopping, huh, my sweet boy? You’re worth it though. You definitely are.”

“He definitely is,” Marty agreed, even as she tilted her head back against the couch and felt her eyelids start to droop. “This chamomile might put me right to sleep though. Wake me up if I drift off.”

“Baby, I remember what it’s like to have a new little one,” Lori said, patting her daughter’s knee. “Why don’t you go lay down? Trevor and I can have some grandma-grandbaby time.”

Marty groaned. That sounded so good , but…

“I came to see you though,” she said. It was a halfhearted protest.

“Well, I invited you over to see him,” Lori teased. “You were just his ride.”

Well, when her mother put it that way, Marty was very tempted to get a little extra shuteye. But first, she remembered something she wanted to say.

“By the way, Mom, I don’t think I ever said sorry for interrupting your engagement. I know it wasn’t really my ‘fault,’ or anything, but I guess I’m apologizing on Trevor’s behalf, since he set the schedule,” she said with a grin.

Lori’s laugh was bright and surprised. “Oh, honey,” she said. “You think your interruption made that proposal less special? No, no.” She shook her head to punctuate this point. “You will always be my baby, Marty, and there is nothing more special than getting to see you meet your baby. Having our engagement day also be the day that Hudson and I became grandparents is just about the most wonderful thing I could have asked for.”

Lori paused, her smile growing more joking.

“Don’t tell Claire though,” she teased. “I don’t want her to think that I didn’t think her flowers were absolutely gorgeous. Trying to give a good first impression as her stepmom-to-be.”

Marty laughed and mimed locking her lips. “Your secret is safe with me, Mom.”

Lori’s expression grew wistful as she got lost in reminiscences. “It’s kind of perfect, actually,” she murmured. “Hudson and I aren’t on our first go-round with marriage. I’m not saying we don’t get caught up in the romance or anything, because that gorgeous proposal showed you perfectly well that we can still keep up with you young people when it comes to grand gestures and all that mushy stuff. But our kind of experience tells us that real life? It’s not perfect. It’s messy and unexpected, but those messy and unexpected moments often turn out to be the most wonderful times, when you look back over the years.”

Marty reached out and squeezed her mother’s hand. “That’s a really nice thought, Mom,” she said.

Lori smiled fondly at her daughter, then beamed at her grandson.

“And it’s your job to make sure your mama learns that lesson really well,” she told him. “She might not appreciate it in the moment, but there will come a day where she misses the late night snuggles, the endless nursing, even the dirty diapers,” she added, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “There’s nothing like having kids for teaching you to embrace the joy in the mess.”

Marty looked at grandmother and grandson, the generation that came before her and the one that came after and thought that truer words had never been spoken.

Still though. She might take her mother up on that offer of a nap. These moments might be special and fleeting, but she was also extremely tired.

Before she could head for Lori’s cozy guestroom, however, Marty felt her phone buzz in the insistent way that indicated it was a call, not just a text. She picked up quickly when she saw Braden’s name on the screen.

“Braden, hey,” she greeted, excitement coursing through her. At the sound of Monica’s husband’s name, Lori looked up too, mouthing, baby? Marty held up crossed fingers.

When Braden spoke, he sounded exhausted and overjoyed, which gave Marty the answer she was seeking immediately.

“Hey, Marty,” he said. “I bet you know why I’m calling. I’m happy to announce that Rhea Watson has made her debut at long last. Mother and baby are doing great and are hoping you would like to come visit them.”

“A girl!” Marty exclaimed, tears of happiness springing to her eyes. “Rhea is such a pretty name, I love it! And yes, yes, of course I want to come see them. Are you nuts? Do you mean now? Say you mean now.”

She was so excited that her words were coming out in a rush, and Braden laughed.

“I do mean now,” he confirmed. “Or, well, you also have a little one, so I mean whenever is convenient for you this afternoon. I’m about to know all too well that we all work on ‘baby clock.’”

Braden hadn’t been speaking overly loudly, but Lori was near enough to where Marty was sitting to overhear.

“I can watch this little guy if you want to run over,” she offered.

Marty bit her lip for a moment. She wanted to see baby Rhea, of course, and getting Trevor in and out of the car again, then moving him through a busy hospital, would be hectic… especially since she could see he was starting to drift off.

She’d just never left him before, and even though she obviously trusted her mother, who had raised two kids herself, the thought of being separated from him even for a minute made her heart clench.

She took a breath to calm herself, realizing that this was actually the perfect opportunity for a first separation. The trip would be quick, she’d get to meet Monica’s baby, and she had to do this sometime, after all!

“Yeah, Mom, that would be amazing,” she said to Lori. Then, to Braden, she added, “I’m at my mom’s. She’s going to stay with Trevor, and I’ll head right over.”

“Awesome,” he said. “I’ll tell Monica. She’ll be thrilled.”

She hung up the phone and got to her feet, so reinvigorated by the idea of meeting the newest Whale Harbor resident that she was barely even sorry to have missed out on the opportunity for a nap.

Well, she was a bit disappointed. But, like all the other instances of lost sleep she’d experienced recently, it would be well worth the cost.

“Okay,” she said. Then she bent down and kissed Trevor on his head. He made a little baby sound. She stood again, took one step toward the door, then pivoted back and gave Trevor three more head kisses.

When she rose to her full height for a second time, Lori was giving her an understanding but teasing smile. “Good now?” she asked.

“I probably should kiss him another hundred times,” Marty joked, “but I think I can handle it. I’ll just give him double the kisses when I get back.”

“Plus, he’ll be getting plenty of Grandma kisses while you’re gone,” Lori pointed out.

“Yes, exactly. Okay, thanks again, Mom. I’ll be back probably in an hour or so.”

“Don’t rush, honey,” Lori assured her. “I saw you had a bottle in the diaper bag, so we’ll have that if he gets hungry. Otherwise, we’re all good here.”

“Right. Yes.” With some effort, Marty tore herself away, and headed to her car to drive to meet Monica at the hospital…

But not before darting back to give her son one last kiss before she went.