Part 26 (1/2)

”Nice to meet you,” Morgan said, to which they nodded. She kept her position at the counter and doubted from the looks they gave her that they'd want to shake her hand.

”I wish y'all could've seen us,” Austin said, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. ”Morgan bought a bookcase I thought would make a perfect not-boat, and we became partners.” Austin sidled up to Morgan and threw an arm over her shoulders. ”She was totally awesome, wore a deerskin and a Viking hat like me. We were the best-looking crew out there.”

”Well, that's really terrific, son,” Cliff said with a smile and turned his attention to Jaclyn. ”You decorated the house, I see, and put the angel back up.”

”Morgan talked her into it,” Austin said. ”We went to Aunt Maddie's and filled two carts with stuff. We had a blast.”

”Hey, that reminds me. I've got an early Christmas present for you in the car. Why don't you come on out with me?”

Austin was all grins as he followed his grandfather out the door. Morgan wished that Liz would've gone with them, but she stayed, and the pleasant expression she wore for Austin vaporized. ”Do you two know what you're doing?”

Jaclyn folded her arms. ”About what?”

”He's obviously very attached to her,” Liz shot back as though Morgan wasn't in the room.

Jaclyn's voice was very cool when she said, ”Yes, he is. I think it's really sweet.” She moved closer to Morgan. ”It's important to me that they've bonded because Morgan lives here. It's a permanent arrangement. Didn't Maddie tell you?”

”No, she left that tidbit out. You're a mother. Your first priority should be your son.”

”He is,” Morgan interjected, ”that's one of the reasons I love her so much.”

Jaclyn glanced at Morgan and smiled.

Liz kept her focus on Jaclyn. ”And you think it's healthy for an impressionable boy to be raised in this atmosphere?”

”Obviously. Look, don't think that you can wander the country for months at a time, then come back here for a few days and dictate how I should live my life. Frankly, if you lived here, you still wouldn't have that kind of lat.i.tude.”

Liz's eyes narrowed as her jaw sagged. ”He is my grandson.”

”Part time, when you decide to breeze into town. But Austin is my son all the time, and how I choose to raise him is my business.”

”The impression you're making on him is that it's okay

to-”

”Don't start. We've been down that road a million times, and we aren't going to agree. Turn a blind eye for the holidays, then you can wander off again and forget all about us here like you normally do.”

Incensed, Liz stalked out the back door and slammed it behind her. Jaclyn stared after her with her eyes narrowed and her jaw set. ”I'm sorry you had to see that,” Jaclyn said lowly.

”I didn't think you could do anything to impress me more, but you just did.”

”They're here.” Ida stared out of Clarice's living room window. ”d.i.c.k and Jane, or as I like to call them d.i.c.k and d.i.c.k.”

”I hope they're at least civil this year,” Betsy said worriedly. ”I don't know what happened to Cliff. He was so nice before...before her.”

”He's a weak man if he'll let his wife turn him against his own child.” Ida returned to the table and sat. ”Personally, I'd like to take a chunk out of Liz Wyatt's a.s.s, and I just might.”

”I could whip up a brew that might do that, or at least it would take the edge off of those two,” Clarice said with a smile.

Ida shook her head. ”Liz would never drink anything you made. She's too highfalutin for that.”

”She'll drink it,” Clarice said with a smile. ”Betsy, it's time to give Maddie a call.”

Chapter Forty.

Jaclyn's stomach twisted into knots as she and Morgan waited at the cabin for Brad and Tonya to arrive. After giving it much thought, she understood why Morgan was so hesitant to tell her brother how far their relations.h.i.+p had progressed. It had moved very fast, but the last couple of months had been the best she'd ever had. Morgan was the perfect partner, a true partner in every sense of the word. She was diligent about taking care of things at the store. It was such a luxury to have someone to help with the daily ch.o.r.es, and she took good care of Austin.

But the nights, those were the most spectacular. In the evenings, they'd sit together on the porch wrapped in a blanket talking about everything that crossed their minds. Jaclyn felt that she could tell Morgan anything and knew she'd be understood. And their s.e.x life was off the charts. They would love each other until neither of them could move.

Jaclyn gazed at Morgan as she paced around straightening things that had already been straightened. She'd never dreamed she could love someone so much; at times, it was frightening. Could anyone be allowed to be this happy, she wondered as she studied Morgan's profile and prayed nothing would mess it up. ”I love you.”

The tense lines on Morgan's face disappeared as she turned and looked at Jaclyn. ”I love you, too.” She walked over, took Jaclyn's face in both hands, and kissed her sweetly. ”Everything is going to be okay. We'll survive this family stuff, and as you say, we'll begin the new year happy and content.” Morgan's eyes narrowed as she straightened. ”They're here. I hear the gravel crunching.”

Jaclyn stood on the porch as Morgan leapt onto the driveway. When Brad climbed out of the truck, they hugged each other as though twenty years had pa.s.sed. Jaclyn smiled as Brad showered Morgan's face with kisses, then hugged her again. He pushed her away and looked her over from head to toe.

”You look fantastic! I can't remember the last time I saw your hair on your collar.”

”I haven't found a place that I trust to cut it, and I've been busy,” Morgan said as she toyed with a lock of it.

”Eating, you've been busy eating. You look so healthy now. You were way too skinny before.”

”So I've been told,” Morgan said with a grin as she glanced at Jaclyn.

”Don't mind me, just a pregnant woman wandering the woods alone.”

Morgan pulled Tonya into her arms as she walked up. Brad moved toward the porch as Jaclyn came down the steps. ”So you're the lure of White Oak Lake,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. It's so nice to meet you, Jaclyn.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

”Nice to meet you, too, I'm so glad you're here.” Jaclyn enjoyed the warm embrace as it dispelled a lot of the tension she'd had in antic.i.p.ation of meeting him.

”This is my wife, Tonya,” he said with an arm around Jaclyn's shoulders. ”The b.u.mp on her stomach is Jacob. I'm sure he's waving right now.”

”It's great to meet you, Tonya,” Jaclyn said with a smile as Tonya hugged her.

”Nice to properly meet you, too. I remember you from the store when Brad and I were here prepping the cabin for Morgan.”

”Yeah, well, we didn't do this,” Brad said, waving a hand at the yard. ”It looks better than it did when Dad was keeping it up.”

”You have our extended family to thank for that.” Morgan pointed at the houses across the street. ”They were the ones that did all the work. I look forward to introducing you to them. For now, let's get your stuff inside, then we'll go down to the house because Jaclyn made lunch.”