“We’re visiting the yarn store this afternoon,” Carol told him as she buckled him in. “We’re going to see Miss Lydia.”
Draping her purse over her shoulder, Carol left the condo and pushed the stroller into the hallway and then into the waiting elevator. They took the same route almost every afternoon, stopping at a park two blocks from their building to chat with other young mothers.
Carol’s circle of friends had broadened dramatically since she’d left work and Cameron had come into their lives. The other mothers she’d met at the park had formed a casual group, meeting once a week for coffee. They shared advice and experiences, traded parenting books and magazines, passed on toys and clothing their own children no longer needed. Carol was the oldest member of the group, but that had never bothered her.
After their park visit, Carol steered Cameron into the yarn store. “Carol,” Lydia called out cheerfully. “Hello.” She squatted down so she was eye level with Cameron. “You, too, Cam.”
The baby grabbed for a skein of bright purple yarn but Carol was too quick for him and automatically rolled the stroller backward and away from the tempting yarn.
“I need another ball of that Paton worsted.”
“The olive-green, right?” Lydia had an uncanny ability to remember who’d bought what yarn for which project. Carol had so many projects going now, it was hard to keep track of them all. Lydia, however, had no such difficulty.
“Jacqueline was by earlier this afternoon,” Lydia said.
“She’s back?”
“With a gorgeous tan, too. She looks so happy,” Lydia said with a contented smile.
“That’s great.”
“She’ll be here Friday.”
“What about Alix?” The fourth member of their knitting group wasn’t always available on Fridays. It had been hit-and-miss with her because of culinary school commitments.
Lydia shook her head. “I don’t think she’ll be able to make it.”
Carol sighed. “I miss her when she can’t be here.”
“Me, too,” Lydia admitted. “Remember what we thought when she first signed up for the class?”
“I was convinced Jacqueline and Alix would go for each other’s throats within the first five minutes.” Carol laughed. “They were impossible, always sniping at each other.”
“It was like third grade all over again.”
“You’re telling me.” Carol marveled anew at how the relationship between those two had turned out.
“Jacqueline was ready to drop out more than once,” Lydia said, reminiscing.
Carol nodded. “I understood why she wanted to, but I’m so grateful she didn’t.”
“I am, too. And if Alix hadn’t stayed…”
They could never have guessed how one defiant, angry young woman would influence all their lives.
“Do you ever hear from Laurel?” Lydia asked.
“Not a word. Not since the day Cameron was born. She went into court on her own, signed the paperwork and walked out the door without a word to either Doug or me.”
“What about Alix? They used to be roommates.”
“If she’s heard from Laurel, she’s never mentioned it to us.”
“What about Jordan?”
Carol sighed. “I understand he hooked her up with a counselor and got her housing when the apartment building was sold.” The urge to take Cameron in her arms and hold him protectively against her was nearly overwhelming, but Carol resisted. “She was a sad, confused young woman with a lot of problems.”
“But she did one thing right in her life, and that was to give you and Doug her son.”
“I wish her well,” Carol murmured, and she meant it.
At some point, years from now, Cameron might be curious about his birth parents; he might even want to search for them. That decision would be his, but for now, during these formative years, this baby boy was hers and Doug’s. It was their love and their values that would shape him.
Lydia brought the yarn to the counter and rang it up. After Carol had paid for it, she tucked the plastic bag in the basket behind the stroller and headed for the door. “I’ll see you Friday afternoon.”
Lydia gave her a final wave and Carol wheeled the stroller down the sidewalk, past the florist and the café and toward the hill to the waterfront area and the condo.
She’d only been home a few minutes when Doug arrived. He kissed Carol, then reached down for Cameron, lifting him up and hugging him close. Carol was always profoundly moved when she saw her husband with his son. Cameron’s face lit with joy at the sight of his daddy and he squealed and clapped his hands.
The moment was poignant and real. They’d waited so long for this. They’d suffered and sacrificed but none of that seemed important now. They had their son. They had their family. Carol closed her eyes, holding on to this moment, experiencing it as fully as possible.
Doug sat on the floor and played with Cameron and together father and son stacked blocks while Carol looked on, tears moistening her eyes. She knew that in the years to come, everything might not be as perfect as it was today. It didn’t matter. She felt content and happy, and the emptiness that had nearly destroyed her was gone.
She was complete.
CHAPTER 50
ALIX TOWNSEND
A lix put the finishing touches on her crème brûlée and stepped back to give her instructor a chance to grade her work. Mr. Diamont moved forward and studied it with a discerning eye, then tapped the burnt sugar crust. He tasted the creamy custard beneath and nodded approvingly. He turned in her direction. “Nice job, Alix. You may go.”
Alix stared at her teacher, certain that she hadn’t heard him correctly. She didn’t wait long, however, but removed her hat and apron and hurried out of the class. Praise from Diamont was as rare as discretionary cash.
Her budget was tight and would be for the next year of the two-year program. Alix had lived on far less. The lack of money didn’t bother her because she was doing something she loved. Cooking. For years she’d dreamed of attending cooking school, but the tuition costs were as high as a college education. It would’ve continued to be far beyond her means if not for her friends Jacqueline and Reese Donovan.
Alix had met Reese shortly after Carol and Doug adopted Laurel’s baby. Reese had lots of prominent friends; through his connections he was able to steer her toward a scholarship program offered by a local service club. And if that wasn’t enough, Jacqueline had insisted Alix live in their guest house while she attended school. Their housekeeper had recently retired and now Alix had a house-cleaning job that supplied her with enough money to pay for her basic needs.
All of this seemed too good to believe. Every now and then, Alix had to pinch herself to prove this was real. To make sure it was happening to her, Alix Townsend.
Once she’d changed out of her uniform, Alix called Jordan’s cell from the pay phone in the locker room.
“Hi,” she said when he answered.
“Finished for the day?” He seemed to have been waiting for her call.
“Mr. Diamont said I could go.”
“Already? You must’ve done all right.”
“I must have,” she said, biting her lip to keep from bragging. There’d be plenty of time for that when she was out of earshot of the other students.
“I wonder what it would take to bribe you into making crème brûlée for me,” he said playfully. “It is my favorite dessert.”
“Oh, I don’t know, but I’ll bet I could think of something.”
“I’ll bet you could, too. Should I pick you up?”
“If you want.” His days were busy, and it was a lot to ask of him. Normally she wouldn’t phone but she’d been worried about this test and he’d asked her to let him know how she’d done. “I can always take the bus,” she said now.
“I’m on my way.”
She waited outside the Seattle Cooking Academy for about ten minutes before Jordan’s car approached. They’d been dating nearly a year now, and she’d grown accustomed to having him in her life—accustomed to a lot of things. He’d even managed to talk her into attending church on a regular basis. For the first time she felt like a normal person who lived a normal life with people around her who cared and wanted her to succeed. She figured Jordan was right. God hadn’t given up on her.
Jordan parked at the curb, and leaned across the seat to open the passenger door. Alix slid inside and they kissed briefly. Jordan checked his rearview mirror, then merged with the traffic.
“I don’t suppose you remember what today is?” he asked nonchalantly.
Alix wracked her brain but could think of nothing. “Is May sixth supposed to have some significance?”
“It doesn’t to you?” He tossed her a hurt-little-boy look.
“Apparently not.”
Jordan grinned and pretended to be absorbed by the flow of downtown Seattle traffic. “That was the first day you flashed your baby blues at me at the video store.”
“My eyes are brown!”
“Whatever,” he said in the same flippant voice she’d so often used with him. “You honestly don’t remember? It was May sixth when I saw you standing outside the video store, smoking. I was minding my own business, going in to rent a video, when you interrupted me with some weak excuse.”
“I set aside a video for you.”
“You were making eyes at me.”
“Making eyes at you?” she snorted. “You’re dreaming.” She looked at him with mock scorn, but it pleased her beyond measure that he’d recalled such a minute detail of their relationship.
“So I figure today is something of an anniversary for us.”
“Us, is it?” she asked, loving every second of this banter between them.
“You are my girlfriend, aren’t you?”
“And your chef.”
“That, too.”
She shrugged as if it was of little consequence. “I guess.”
“In that case, you might want to check out the little box in my glove compartment.”
All at once it felt as if they were flying instead of driving. “A box in the glove compartment for me?”
“Take a look.”
Her hand trembled as she opened the compartment. Sure enough, a small black jeweler’s case with a bright red bow was nestled in among the owner’s manual and the car registration papers. She pulled it out and held it in the palm of her hand.
“What’s inside?” she asked. She couldn’t help it; she sounded breathless.
“Go ahead and see,” Jordan said.
The banter was gone, and the car seemed to grow suddenly warm and airless.
When she didn’t immediately comply, he prodded her. “Well? What’s holding you back? Open the box!”
“It’s a very pretty box.”
“Thank you, but what’s inside is even prettier.”
Alix removed the bow and then with exaggerated care lifted the lid. Inside was a lovely ring with a ruby and two small diamonds, one on either side.