“I thought so,” Cora Jane said. “Now that you’ve had some time, what do you think?”
“He’s signed the papers giving up parental rights. He’s a nonissue,” she said, her mood brightening. “This is my decision, isn’t it?”
“I’d say so.” Cora Jane regarded her approvingly. “So what are you thinking?”
“I’m scared to death, but I want to keep my child,” Gabi said.
Now she simply had to figure out how on earth she was going to live with that decision. Knowing how compulsively she’d always approached the major decisions in her life, she should have started detailed planning for this baby the instant she found out she was pregnant, not now, months later. The old Gabi would have decorated a nursery by now and started looking for the best preschools. That she was this far behind on making those decisions was proof of just how rattled she’d been by all these changes in her life.
But, she thought, grinning at last, she’d just have to catch up. And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she could do it.
* * *
Wade was stunned and delighted when he looked up and saw Gabi crossing his lawn in the direction of his workshop just as dusk was falling. It was the first time she’d deliberately sought him out at home, or anyplace for that matter.
He put down his knife and walked to the door to meet her. “Hey, you,” he said softly. “What brings you by?”
She regarded him hesitantly. “Is it okay? Are you busy? I don’t want to take you away from your work.”
“I can always make time for you,” he assured her. “Something on your mind? Let’s go into the house and I’ll make some tea for you. Even though the rain has finally stopped, there’s still a nasty chill in the air.”
“Tea would be great,” she said, following him. “And I never have seen your house, just the workshop.”
The reminder took him by surprise. “That’s right. I was so focused on having you see my work the day I brought you here, I never thought to bring you inside.”
In the kitchen, which he’d updated with all new appliances and cabinetry after buying the house, he made a pot of herbal tea and poured them each a cup as Gabi wandered around, commenting on the framed photos on just about every surface.
“The kids sure have grown,” she said. “This one’s Bryce, right? How old was he?”
“Four,” Wade said, glancing at the picture she held, a smile on her lips.
She picked up the one next to it. “And this one? Is it Chelsea or Jason?”
“Look at the curls. That’s Katrina.”
“Ah, yes. She’ll go through a period when she hates them, I’ll bet. Then she’ll discover that guys love to run their fingers through those masses of curls.”
She came back to the kitchen table and sat down.
“Why the sudden interest in the baby pictures?” he asked.
“I had an appointment with Louise’s gynecologist today,” she said.
Wade was instantly on alert, wondering if bad news explained her odd mood. “Everything okay?”
“Perfect,” she said, her lips curving slightly. “The baby’s a girl, Wade.” A full-blown smile broke across her face. “I’m having a girl.”
“And you’re happy about that,” he guessed based on her expression, but unsure what this meant for the future. Had she made a decision to keep the baby? Was that what this was really about? Heart in his throat, he asked.
“I had a good talk with Cora Jane this morning,” she replied. “She helped me to see things more clearly. I’d already pretty much decided to keep the baby, but this news clinched it.” Eyes shining, she said, “I’m going to have a daughter, Wade. How could I ever give away my little girl?”
“Any second thoughts at all?”
She shook her head. “I knew this was going to happen. I just knew it. I think Grandmother did, too. I think that’s why she encouraged me to find out the sex of the baby. She knows me too well. She knew that the second this baby became a real person to me, girl or boy, I’d never let go. Blast her for being so darned smart.”
Wade chuckled at that. “You think Cora Jane somehow tricked you into getting her own way?”
“Well, of course, she did, the sneaky woman. And it’s not just her way. She’s insisted all along that keeping the baby was the right answer for me, too. I was just filled with all these doubts about whether I could do it, whether I should, whether I’d take my anger at Paul out on the baby.”
“Nonissues,” Wade said with conviction. He reached out and took her hands in his. “Admittedly, I haven’t known you for very long, but if you ask me, there’s not a doubt in the world that you can do anything you set your mind to. Come on, Gabriella. You blazed a trail through your company’s PR department in record time. The way I’ve always heard it, you made a detailed plan, set your goals and never looked back. You can do the same thing when it comes to raising this baby.”
She regarded him with surprise. “You really have that much faith in me?”
“Absolutely. Name one reason I shouldn’t.”
“A total lack of experience with kids,” she said at once.
“Easy,” he said. “We’ll borrow Louise’s. She always welcomes a break. And I hear the two of you have made peace.”
“She told you that?”
“Yep, she told me all about her visit to Sally’s studio, the lunch the four of you had out there and the public apology she made to you.”
“I have to give her points for that,” Gabi admitted. “I’m
