Mistletoe Daddy Page 17

  Suddenly, she dropped her arms and slid the instruments of torture into the pockets of her apron.

  He lowered his brow. “What?”

  She merely smiled. “You’re done.”

  “What?” He looked in the mirror, confounded. What was the woman talking about? He couldn’t see any difference at all. And when he glanced at the floor, it gleamed back up at him, free from all traces of hair.

  “You haven’t done anything yet.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But I thought—”

  “You have no idea how difficult this is for me.” She groaned. “Just so you know, I’ll be washing Alexis’s laundry for two solid months because of this.”

  “Now you’ve really lost me.”

  Viv sighed dramatically. “I may have mentioned to Alexis that I could get you cleaned up by the end of the day of the grand opening and that if I did, she would do my laundry for two months.”

  “Cleaned up,” he repeated. His gaze widened. “And then if you didn’t, you have to do two months of Alexis’s laundry.”

  “Something like that.”

  He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, but in the end he had no choice but to give in to it.

  “You certainly like a challenge, don’t you?”

  “It makes life interesting.”

  Challenges certainly did make things interesting, and Nick had never known a challenge quite like Vivian Grainger.

  “So let me get this straight. Alexis will have to do your laundry if you manage to make me look like a dull lawyer instead of a rowdy rancher?”

  “Well, I hope it wouldn’t be as bad as all that.” She stepped back and folded her arms over her rounded belly.

  “If that’s what you need to do then I don’t mind,” he said.

  He felt like he was a specimen under a biologist’s microscope.

  “No, I don’t think so,” she said at last. “You’re good to go.”

  Nick spun his chair around. “Come on, Vivian. You have the opportunity here to get back at me for all the grief I’ve caused you—not to mention getting free laundry service for two months. How can you pass up on that?”

  He’d been thinking of Slade and the calves when he’d spoken and thought she would be laughing at the reference, but instead, a moment of anguish flickered in her eyes. She masked it quickly, but not fast enough. He knew her too well.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She looked as if she was about to say something—something serious—but then she apparently thought better of it. She smiled and gestured to the waiting line.

  “If we’re through here, you’re holding up my business.”

  He stared at her for a moment, completely baffled, but then he nodded. “Right. I belong behind the cash register.”

  The rest of the day went by in a whirl of familiar faces, names, cash transactions and credit card swipes. Nick was new to the appointment software but it didn’t take him long to pick it up. And thanks to Jo, Alexis and his mom, he and Vivian would have to work after-hours entering all the appointments folks had signed up for on the clipboards. The calendar went out for at least two months, and that was without repeat customers.

  Nick couldn’t have been more pleased with the overwhelming success of Tranquility’s grand opening. Vivian beamed with delight when lines of people filed through to congratulate her on her new business and wish her well.

  The altar guild made a killing on baked goods. A win-win, as far as Nick was concerned. They kept the ravenous hoard filled with sweets while the church’s donation box was filled with stacks of dollar bills.

  The grand opening celebration was supposed to go from ten in the morning until five o’clock at night, but it was well after six before they were finally able to turn the door sign from Open to Closed.

  Vivian immediately dismissed Nicole and Lauren, thanking them for all their hard work and sharing with them excitement at the future of Tranquility.

  As if there had ever been any question about it.

  Nick couldn’t believe he’d ever given Vivian such a hard time about her plan, especially in the beginning. Of course Serendipity needed a beauty salon. Everyone needed their hair cut now and again, and why shouldn’t the ladies of Serendipity pamper themselves with a manicure or a facial?

  Vivian had been right and he had been wrong, and he was man enough to admit it. More than that—he was happy to admit it.

  “Unbelievable,” Vivian said, slumping happily but tiredly into one of the styling chairs. “I honestly thought my grand opening was going to be a complete disaster.”

  “I was afraid you might be worried about that, although scaring you wasn’t intentional on my part. I didn’t realize when I started all this that my actions would cause equal and opposite reactions.”

  “Chemistry?”

  “Physics.” He shrugged. “I excelled in the sciences in high school, but when it comes to real life, my little experiment started bubbling over and I didn’t know how to keep it from exploding.”

  “I heard you talking to Delia and your mom about the grand opening the night we were at the doctor’s office.”

  “I thought I heard you come into the waiting room that night, but when I turned around, the examination room door was closed, and when I looked in on you, you were resting quietly. I decided I must have been mistaken.”

  “I didn’t want you to know I’d heard what you said. You really hurt my feelings.”

  “No, wait. If you heard me talking to my mom and Delia, then you would have known about the big surprise I had planned for your grand opening.”

  Her brow lowered and he thought she might have winced. “That’s not what I heard.”

  He was trying to follow the gist of the conversation, but somewhere along the way he’d become completely lost. He backtracked to the last place he had seen tracks, where he had any idea what they were talking about.

  “Vivian, what exactly do you think you heard me say that night?”

  “I believe your exact words to Delia were, ‘You don’t need to come.’ I don’t think that’s open to more than one interpretation.”

  He chuckled. So that was what this was about. He’d started to think he’d dug himself in so deep that he’d never get out, but this he could handle.

  “It might have changed your interpretation if you had stayed around long enough to hear the entire sentence.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She shifted in her chair, looking as if she was unable to find a comfortable way to sit. Nick imagined it probably would be difficult for her to get comfortable while carrying around an almost full-grown baby inside her. She was getting bigger every day, but not in a bad way.

  “What it means is that you didn’t hear what I really said to Delia, which was that she didn’t need to come at the same time as my mom did. I was afraid if too many people came early to the event, they’d start making too much noise and you’d figure out what was happening. I didn’t want you to know how big of a crowd awaited you until I pulled the butcher paper down from the windows. That was supposed to be the surprise.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  “So the reason you were canvassing the neighborhood ahead of me was in order to plan this...surprise party.”

  “Guilty as charged, although I never meant for you to get hurt in the process.”

  “Unbelievable.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s not that. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. Once again, I automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion about you, and I should have known better. I’m so ashamed of myself for being so distrusting. You deserved better from me. You have repeatedly shown me that I can depend on you, and what do I go and do? Leap to all the wrong conclusions. Again.”r />
  She reached for his hand. “I should have trusted you, Nick, and I’m sorry I didn’t.”

  His chest warmed, expanding until he thought it might burst, and his heart leaped into his throat.

  She trusted him?

  “Thank you,” he said, his voice gravelly. “You’ll never know how much those words mean to me.”

  She smiled softly. “Oh, I think I do.”

  They were silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Vivian shifted in her chair several times before attempting to stand.

  Even that movement was complicated. She braced both hands on the arms of the chair and strained to achieve the forward momentum she would need to roll out of the chair, but to no avail.

  He stood and reached out his hands to her, giving her the leverage she needed to rise.

  She groaned and then made a deep, eerie moaning sound that echoed throughout the salon.

  “I feel like a beached whale,” she explained when he looked at her funny.

  “That was supposed to be a beached whale?” He chuckled. “You sounded more like a mummy.”

  “I suppose that’s apropos,” she said, joining in his laughter. “Since I’m going to be one of those soon, too.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  She paced slowly back and forth across the room, stopping from time to time to stretch and rub the small of her back. Nick suspected she’d overdone it today, and she had definitely been on her feet too much.

  “We have an impressive list of new clientele to enter into the appointment database,” Nick told her. “I don’t know about you, but I’m too exhausted to tackle that project tonight.”

  She fought back a yawn and nodded. The dark circles under her eyes told Nick more than any words she could say.

  “It’s nothing that can’t wait,” he assured her. “But if today was anything to go by, I think you may have to consider hiring an assistant to make appointments, man the cash register and answer the phone.”

  She leaned against a counter and smiled weakly. “It’s incredible, isn’t it? The outpouring of love and support the community gave me?”

  “I’m not surprised.”

  “I can’t believe I need to consider hiring another employee. When I woke up this morning I thought I was going to have to let Nicole and Lauren go.”

  “Well, you can put all those worries to rest. Your biggest problem now is counting your piles of cash. And then put some of that money toward bringing in an assistant to take some of the work off your shoulders. Now that the grand opening is over, I expect you to follow Dr. Delia’s orders and put your feet up more often.”

  “Bossy much?”

  “My brothers probably thought so when we were growing up together.”

  Their gazes met and held. Nick felt as if all the oxygen had left the room. She was so beautiful.

  “But this isn’t me trying to be dictatorial,” he continued. “It’s me worrying about you and Baby G.”

  She broke eye contact with him, staring out through the front glass into the darkness beyond.

  “I’ll be all right. It’s not your job to worry about me, Nick.”

  A lance pierced his heart. What did she think? That after all of these months working together, he could just set his feelings aside and walk away from her? Didn’t she realize how much he cared for her?

  “I really appreciate all the help you’ve given me,” she continued, “both in remodeling my salon and everything you did to make my grand opening a success.”

  She still wasn’t looking at him, and her words sounded very much like a brush-off.

  It was happening again.

  “I was glad to do it.”

  What else could he say? His emotions were in turmoil.

  “It’ll be kind of weird not having you around here, but I know you must be anxious to return your full attention to your ranch.”

  That was the truth. He’d been neglecting his ranch in favor of helping Vivian.

  Now he was going to have all the time in the world to ride the range and care for his cattle.

  And think.

  Alone.

  That one word held a lot of impact.

  Not so long ago he was comfortable being by himself, didn’t see the need to seek out others for company. And then he’d been bought at auction by a vivacious woman who’d showed him that there was so much joy to be had in opening himself up to the world. It wasn’t going to be so easy this time to hibernate on his ranch and keep his head stuck in the sand.

  “I guess we’ll still see each other at church.” His voice broke on the last word.

  Her gaze returned to his. Large droplets of tears illuminated her impossibly blue eyes, making them into infinitely deep wells. He could happily lose himself in that gaze for the rest of his life.

  Was she feeling the shock of their future separation as much as he was?

  Was there another way?

  “Vivian,” he began, not sure how to ask the question that was burning inside him. He desperately needed an answer, but was almost afraid to hear what she might say.

  He reached for her, but she stiffened in his arms. Had he been reading the signals all wrong? Seen what he wanted to see in her gaze, heard the longing he was feeling in her voice rather than truly noticing what she was trying to convey?

  “Viv, I—” he started again.

  Vivian trembled and grasped at the material on the front of his shirt.

  “I’ve been trying to ignore this all day,” she said in a ragged whisper. “I thought maybe if I didn’t acknowledge it, it would go away.”

  A chill skittered up Nick’s spine. Was she speaking of her feelings for him? Had she, like he had, come to the place where she could no longer deny her emotions?

  He framed her face with his palms, allowing his joy to run free, wanting her to see the love in his eyes.

  But her gaze didn’t mirror his.

  Her expression was tight with pain and her eyes full of agony.

  “Nick,” she said on a groan. “I think I’m in labor.” She puffed out a breath. “For real this time.”

  Chapter Eleven

  As excited as Vivian was to meet her son and hold him in her arms at last, getting to that point ended up being a lot more time-consuming and complex than she’d anticipated.

  All through the day of the grand opening, she had been experiencing twinges and minor cramps, but they were nothing compared to the Braxton Hicks episode she’d had earlier, and so, in the excitement of the day, she’d ignored them.

  But what had started out feeling like a dull backache had progressed through the day until, by the time the last guest had exited and she’d changed the sign on the door to Closed, the contractions had become quite regular and she could no longer ignore them. They started at about fourteen minutes apart and then gradually grew closer together.

  Nick had immediately panicked when she’d informed him that she was in real labor, insisting that she sit down and rest while he made the necessary phone calls.

  Even as distraught as he appeared, Vivian was glad to have Nick with her. He was a take-charge kind of man, and for all that she teased him about it, his ability to put plans into motion was very handy.

  He’d called Dr. Delia first and had Vivian talk through all her symptoms and everything she was feeling. These contractions were different. Deeper and more regular. Delia assured her that first labors were usually quite long, but because Serendipity was so far from the nearest hospital, Delia told Nick to take Vivian there immediately, promising that she would meet them there.

  Nick called Alexis and Alice and told them the news, and then tenderly supported Vivian as they made their way out to his truck. His attention and hovering was adorable. She couldn’t bring herself to let him kno
w that she was perfectly capable of walking on her own, and that in the space between her contractions, she really wasn’t in a lot of pain.

  So instead, she let him fuss over her and enjoyed the extra attention. He drove to Alice’s house first and they exchanged Nick’s truck for Alice’s more comfortable sedan.

  As they drove to pick up Alexis, Alice took the wheel, while Nick sat in the backseat with Vivian, holding her hand and talking her through her contractions. In between, he cradled her in his arms and whispered encouragement to her.

  At his mother’s urging, Nick used the stopwatch feature on his cell phone to time the length of her contractions and how far apart they were.

  At first, Vivian had picked up on the anticipation and adrenaline of the moment, but it wasn’t long before the pain started to wear on her. She was already bone weary from a long day and she couldn’t seem to find any position that was comfortable to sit in for any length of time.

  And then there was her underlying fear—she wasn’t yet thirty-eight weeks along, which was technically the earliest date to be considered a full-term birth.

  By the time they got to the hospital, Vivian barely knew what was happening, other than what was going on within her own body.

  Nick tried to pull into the emergency parking lot, but Alexis assured him that Vivian would be better cared for if they used the hospital’s main entrance and went directly up to the maternity ward.

  Nick found a wheelchair just inside the main door and gently settled Vivian into it, wrapping her in his warm sheepskin jean jacket. The jacket smelled like him, all leather and spice, and the familiar scent helped to calm her.

  From there it was all a blur. Triage, being hooked up to a fetal monitor when she really wanted to move around. She missed Nick’s presence when he was herded off to the waiting room, but Alice and Alexis were right by her side, holding her hands and reassuring her that all was well.

  After several hours of labor, in which Baby G wasn’t making the progress Delia would have liked—Vivian, too, for that matter—Viv was convinced to get an epidural. She’d simply been too tired to continue the fight without assistance.

  After the epidural had been administered and Vivian was able to relax, her labor sped up again, and before long she heard the blessed sound of her son’s first cry.