The Pregnancy Surprise

Chapter Eleven

The Clifford’s Landing Party Barge was decked out with so much white ribbon, lace and flowers, it looked like a wedding cake.

Sara wanted to be happy and excited for her best friend, and she was. But she now had something else to worry about.

For some unknown reason, she’d looked at her calendar this morning, and she’d realized something. She was late. As in, really, really late. And the thought had occurred to her that she just might be pregnant. Yes, she was on birth control pills, but sometimes she forgot to take them.

Reece would freak out. Truth be told, she was freaking out a little. She’d run to the closest drugstore and bought a pregnancy test, but she didn’t have the time-or the courage-to take it now. She resolved to put the problem out of her mind, at least for today, Allie’s day.

Sara was pleased with how her very first wedding catering job was going. She’d timed her preparations of the various dishes to perfection. Now, as the hour for departure approached, guests were boarding and Sara was putting the finishing touches on the hot dishes.

Valerie had offered to assist, and Miss Greer, whose recovery was going so well it shocked everyone including her doctor, had insisted she could manage on her own for a couple of hours so that Valerie could help serve and watch over the buffet while Sara did her maid-of-honor duties.

“We’re good here,” Valerie said. “You go help the bride.”

When Sara entered the salon, which had become the impromptu bride’s room, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of tomboy Allie in her girlie-girl wedding gown.

“Oh, Allie, you look like a princess.”

“Princess for a day. Every bride is entitled.”

Sara wondered if she would ever get to be a princess. Thinking about Allie sharing her life with Cooper, having kids, growing old with him-she had to admit it held some attraction. Maybe it was the shock of a possible pregnancy, but she was starting to realize her free-spirit lifestyle couldn’t last forever. Sooner or later she would have to decide who she wanted to be. If she was soon to be a mother…oh, Lord…she would have to be a responsible one.

Since Allie’s parents were deceased, Cooper’s mother had stepped into the role of helping the bride get ready. She also fussed with Sara’s hair, which she’d wound on top of her head and woven with flowers, then powdered her nose and called it good. Jane, who lived on the boat next door to Allie’s Dragonfly, was a bridesmaid, but she evidently didn’t need any help in the primping department. She looked as if she’d just stepped off the pages of Vogue, and the raw silk dress she’d chosen clung to her size-two figure, making Sara feel like a horse by comparison.

Jane’s three-year-old daughter, Kaylee, was there, too. She was Allie’s flower girl, and though she was opposite Jane in her coloring with her bright blond curls, she was every bit as beautiful.

“I think we’re ready,” Mrs. Remington declared. “I’ll cue the musicians to begin, then I’ll go stand with Jonathan, and we can start. Good luck, dear. You’ll need it, being Cooper’s wife. He’s so much like his father, even if he won’t admit it.”

Allie laughed nervously after her future mother-in-law left. “Cooper would deny that to his grave, but after seeing him together with his dad, the comparison is obvious.”

The trio of musicians started the processional song.

Sara swallowed back the tears that threatened. Honestly, she cried over anything these days. Did pregnancy hormones make you more emotional? But her best friend getting married was a good thing to cry over.

“I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to say so again,” Allie said quickly, “but thank you both for being my friends. You’re the best friends anyone could wish for.”

“Allie,” Jane said in a scolding voice, “you promised not to make me cry until after the ceremony. My makeup is going to run.”

They all drew close for one last hug, and then it was time. As the boat cut smoothly through the water, Jane went first down the makeshift aisle among the guests. Most were standing, as there were only a few places to sit. Then Sara went. As she approached the front of the boat, she got her first glimpse of Reece since his return from New York. Oh, God, did he look handsome in a tux.

He also looked tense, as he had when he’d first arrived. Less than two weeks back at his job had undone two months of beach life. She wished he could see what the stress was doing to him.

He was watching her, too, and as she reached the place where she guessed she was supposed to stand, he gave her a little finger wave. She winked at him in answer, and she could have sworn he blushed.

Little Kaylee trotted down the aisle next, flinging rose petals with great glee. Then all eyes were on the bride as she made her appearance. Not a princess, Sara decided. An angel. Her friend had never looked so radiant.

The ceremony was short and sweet, the bride and groom exchanging vows with strong, confident voices. They obviously had no qualms about pledging the rest of their lives. Was something wrong with her? Sara wondered. Didn’t most women look forward to the day when they could settle down, maybe have kids and a dog and a house in the suburbs?

Sara’s attention drifted to Reece again. He was watching his cousin with obvious fondness, but he also appeared solemn. This was serious stuff to Reece. Allie was right about that. He wasn’t going to rearrange his whole life on a lark.

The bride and groom kissed, a long, slow, slightly inappropriate embrace, and everyone cheered. The happy couple paraded down the aisle arm in arm. Then suddenly Reece was there, offering his arm to Sara.

“You look beautiful,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t know why anyone looked at the bride when you were standing next to her.”

Now Sara felt herself blushing. She looped her arm in his and they followed the bride and groom. Max and Jane fell into step behind them, with Kylie holding on to the hem of her mother’s dress, having forgotten her flower duties.

Cooper and Allie paused once they cleared the crowd. “We’d like to invite everyone to enjoy the Mexican buffet provided by our talented bridesmaid, Sara Kaufman.”

That was Sara’s cue to hurry back to her catering duties, or Valerie would quickly be overwhelmed. She reluctantly released her handsome groomsman. “Save me a dance, huh?”

He frowned. “Uh, yeah.”

What was that about? Was he wishing he’d never hooked up with her? Embarrassed that a few people had identified them as a couple? Now that he’d spent some time back in his regular life, maybe his dalliance with that crazy bed-and-breakfast girl seemed frivolous, even foolish and low class.

Despite the fact they were on a boat, Sara had rented good china dishes and fancy silverware. She risked some of it going overboard, but that was better than leaving a trail of paper plates fouling up the ocean, which was exactly what would have happened in the stiff breeze.

The guests lined up to sample Sara’s buffet, which pleased her no end. She liked nothing better than to feed people food they loved. This was much more fun than catering a movie set, where the people she served were so absorbed in their work that she was invisible.

Here, among the people of Port Clara whom she’d come to know over the past ten-plus years, she was loved and appreciated. She knew most of the guests-at least the ones who weren’t Cooper’s out-of-town friends and family-and every one of them had a kind greeting.

The one person she wanted to see, though, was conspicuously avoiding her. He was busy with the photographer, posing with his cousins and the bride and looking kind of miserable, even when he smiled.

Once the main rush of guests had gone through the buffet line, Allie dragged Sara out from behind the table for pictures of their own. Allie certainly would have an interesting wedding album, with the boat and the ocean as backdrops for all the photos.

Sara posed with Allie, then with Allie, Jane and Kaylee. Then the men joined them. Reece stood beside her, his arm slipped around her waist in a distinctly nonsexual fashion, and she knew she was right. He regretted getting intimate with her and was trying to extricate himself gracefully. Visions of the reunion sex she’d planned for tonight faded away. Maybe she would just get drunk at the beach party instead.

No, scratch that. She couldn’t drink until she knew for certain she wasn’t pregnant.

Reece released her the moment the photographer had the shots he wanted, then wandered away to stand by the railing, all alone.

“Poor Reece,” she heard Allie saying to Cooper.

Poor Reece? What about poor Sara? She was the one feeling unappreciated at the moment.

“You never should have let him drink that Scotch,” Allie said, scolding her new husband.

“How was I supposed to know he wouldn’t be able to take his Dramamine if he drank alcohol?”

Sara gasped. Reece wasn’t being cranky and distant on purpose. He was seasick.

With no worries about her pride now, she went straight to him. “Reece?”

He turned, seeming surprised to see her. His complexion was definitely greenish. “Sara. Hi.”

“Don’t look at me, look at the horizon,” she said. “I’ve heard it helps.”

He complied. “So I haven’t done a very good job disguising my delicate condition, eh?”

“I heard Allie and Cooper talking. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well.”

“It could be worse. At least I’m not hurling.”

“Maybe you would feel better if you ate something.”

If anything, he turned greener. “Ah, no. I don’t think Mexican food is the answer.”

“But I made you up a special enchilada. No peppers, no spices, nothing weird.”

“Can we not talk about food?”

Oh, dear. He really was in a bad way. “Here, give me your hand.” She urged him to release his death grip on the railing. She loved his hands. Big, strong, capable hands, not like those she expected to find attached to an accountant. She flipped his hand over and began a slow massage of the inside of his wrist, digging her thumbs in with no small amount of pressure as she moved them in circles.

“What are you doing?”

“This is an acupressure point for motion sickness,” she explained. “This really works. And if it doesn’t, well, I’ll just kiss you until you’ve forgotten you’re on a boat.”

He turned to look at her, obviously surprised by her boldness.

“Keep looking at the horizon. Take long, slow breaths.”

SARA’S TREATMENT seemed to be working. He shouldn’t be surprised; she’d cured a headache with nothing but her talented hands.

After a couple of minutes of the soothing massage, keeping his gaze focused into the distance like she said and breathing in big lungfuls of fresh sea air, the dizziness began to fade. Maybe the acupressure point really did work. Or maybe it was the fact that Sara touching him anywhere on his body focused his attention, and his blood circulation, well below his head or his stomach.

“The cruise is almost over,” Sara said soothingly.

Strangely, Reece suddenly wasn’t anxious to be back on dry land. He actually found it pleasant, standing here with Sara’s warm, curvy body beside him, her soft voice lulling him.

“Any better?” she asked. “You’ve got more color in your face.”

“Actually, yes. A lot better.” He slipped an arm around her. “Thanks, Dr. Sara. I don’t believe I’ve properly greeted you.”

She looked up at him with a warm smile just for him, her lips moist and rosy, the afternoon sun kissing her face and accentuating the slight dusting of freckles across her nose, and all his plans to make a clean break fell overboard. He swooped down for a kiss that felt like coming home. He didn’t care that half the wedding guests were gawking at them, or that word would surely get back to his father, who would quickly conclude-correctly-that Sara was the reason he’d been in no hurry to return home.

His father could rave and criticize and belittle all he wanted when Reece got back home. His family and the company would have him for the rest of his life. But Sara had him for this weekend.

She’d made him a special enchilada. How sweet was that?

The party barge beached itself on a long stretch of sand adjacent to the Port Clara Country Club. And while it wasn’t closed off to the public, once the wedding guests had disembarked the boat and more had arrived by land, Cooper and Allie pretty much owned the beach.

Sara and Valerie had to stay behind to break down the buffet and pack up the leftovers, but Sara urged Reece to get his feet back on solid ground. “This won’t take long. I’ll rejoin the party shortly.”

“It won’t be a party without you.”

He disembarked with her smile on his mind. If he’d known this was how to cure seasickness, he would have thrown away his Dramamine long ago. Still, he was grateful to reach the end of the gangway and feel the sand beneath his feet. Until the first person to greet him was his uncle Jonathan, Cooper’s father and VP of Legal Affairs at Remington Industries.

Jonathan shook hands with a crushing grip, pumping Reece’s arm so hard he thought his head might fall off. “Reece. Glad you made it on time. I guess my brother made you miss your plane.”

“The meeting ran long, sir,” Reece said diplomatically, although at the time he had wondered if his father was deliberately pontificating in the most long-winded way possible, hoping to cause Reece to miss his flight. He’d never thought of his dad as being passive-aggressive before, but maybe he simply hadn’t seen it.

“So,” Jonathan continued as they made their way toward the tent where the cake was set up at one end and a bartender at the other. “Who’s the girl you were locking lips with?”

Reece was prepared for the question. “Sara. She helps run the bed-and-breakfast where we all stayed when we first came down.”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “She carries hospitality a little far, don’t you think?”

Reece didn’t honor the question with an answer.

“You’re not serious about her, are you?”

“No,” he said automatically, but immediately knew he was lying. No matter how unlikely a future with Sara was, what he felt for her could not be labeled trivial. “But I could be. Why, is something wrong with her?”

“I’m sure she’s a very nice girl.” Nice being code for fine for someone else, but not for a Remington.

“Dad.” Cooper had appeared beside them. “Stop torturing Reece. I want you to meet some friends of mine from the Gulf Coast Yacht Club. You’ve been talking about buying a yacht and sailing around the world when you retire, right?”

Jonathan’s interest was instantly diverted and he happily trotted off after his son.

Now that he was on firm ground, Reece was ravenous. He again thought of the special enchilada Sara had prepared for him and wished he’d been able to take advantage of her thoughtfulness. But he suspected more food would soon be available. Already, people were building fires and breaking out the hamburgers and hot dogs. The party looked to be shaping up as similar to the last beach party he’d attended, though he doubted any party could top that one.

His gaze strayed toward the barge, but he saw no sign of Sara.

“She’ll be along.” It was Allie, who had already ditched her veil. The hem of her long, white dress was hitched up and fastened at her hip with some elaborate device so she wouldn’t get it dirty in the sand, and she was barefoot.

“Who?” Reece asked, embarrassed that he was so transparent.

Allie rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. You can dance with me until she shows up.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be dancing with Cooper? I mean, isn’t that traditional?”

“Has anything about this wedding been traditional yet? He’s busy talking boats with rich old men. And to think I was once worried about ever finding a man who loved sailing as much as I do.” While she talked, she dragged Reece toward a group that was already dancing. He didn’t want to be rude, but he had no interest in dancing with anyone but Sara. He smiled just remembering how she’d put her bare feet on top of his shoes.

“So how long are you staying in Port C?” Allie asked.

“I’m flying back Sunday night.” And praying he wouldn’t suffer any delays, because he was cutting it close to make the crucial Monday-morning meeting.

“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “I thought you’d stay longer.”

“Allie, I stayed down here for more than a month.”

“I know, but…Cooper and Max are really bummed you won’t move down here. They were hoping once you were here you would have so much fun you would change your mind.”

“What would I do down here? I have to earn a living.”

“Open your own accounting firm. The way you organized our finances was amazing. A lot of businesses would pay to have you do the same.”

“Allie, I can’t. Is this about Sara?”

She looked guilty. “Maybe, partly. No one but me gives you and Sara a snowball’s chance in hell, but I can see something there. Don’t you want to prove them wrong?”

“So now we’ve become the object of gossip?”

“Just among the people who care about you. Everybody wants you to be happy.”

“What makes you think I’m not happy?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It might be that tense, worried look on your face every time you mention your work.”

Really? “I love my job.” How many times did he have to explain that to people?

The twinge in his stomach stopped him for a second, though. Who was he trying to convince-them or himself? No, no, no, he wasn’t going to let his feelings for Sara cloud his judgment. Yes, he was crazy about her. Yes, he wished there was some way they could be together, at least long enough to find out if their attraction was more than a flash in the pan. But there wasn’t.

Even if Sara wanted to relocate to New York, what if she didn’t like it? Once she’d gotten her fill of ethnic restaurants, not to mention snow and icy wind, would she get restless and take off? She had chosen warm, sleepy Port Clara as a home base for a reason.

Allie didn’t appear happy with him. “If you say so, Reece.”

As the song ended, Cooper appeared to reclaim the bride. His jacket and tie were gone, his shirt open and his sleeves rolled up. He didn’t look quite as happy and carefree as a new bridegroom should.

“Have you guys seen a weather report lately?”

Allie looked surprised by the question. “I’ve been a little busy getting married.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but we’re going to have to delay our honeymoon.”

“What? Why?”

“Because of the hurricane.”