As they hurried inside with their bags, Lacey was all too aware of the anxious glances they exchanged.
“Hi, Mom,” Jason said, his voice too cheerful. His gaze searched her face. “You’ve gotten a little sun.”
“I’ve been gardening,” she said, putting her cup down to hug Jason and then Dana. She smiled at her daughter-in-law. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. Jason’s finally stopped getting morning sickness.”
“Thank goodness,” he murmured fervently.
“All men should have a taste of what it’s like to carry a baby,” Dana retorted. “It might make them more sympathetic.”
“I’m sympathetic, all right. But we’re only having the one. I can’t go through this again.”
“You!” Dana retorted indignantly. “At least you’ll miss out on the labor pains.”
Lacey decided she’d better step in before the familiar battle worsened. “Enough, you two. Where’s Sammy?”
“We left him with Brandon,” Dana said. “Sammy said something about teaching him to shoot down some kind of creatures.”
“A video game created by a sadistic computer hack,” Jason explained. “I was awake until three in the morning trying to save some princess from those same evil guys. They multiply like rabbits if you don’t stay on your toes.”
“Sounds intriguing,” Lacey said. “You’ll have to teach your father sometime.”
“Not while he’s recuperating,” Dana warned. “It turns them into glassy-eyed monsters. I’m sure it can’t be good for their blood pressure. I dared to interrupt Sammy and Jason for dinner the other night and they both jumped down my throat.”
“I was winning for the first time in history,” Jason explained. “I wasn’t about to lose my competitive edge.”
Dana rolled her eyes. “See what I mean?”
Jason put an arm around her waist and hugged her. “I love you, anyway,” he said. “Where should I put our bags? The guest room across from yours and Dad’s?”
Kevin deliberately turned away, leaving Lacey to respond. “No,” she said, all too aware of the puzzled expression on Dana’s face and on Jason’s. There was no hiding the truth from them, though.
“Actually, my things are in there,” she said briskly. “Use the yellow room at the end of the hall. It has the second best view in the house.”
Jason shot her a sharp look, but fortunately he didn’t make an issue of it. He picked up the bags. “I’ll be right back. Dana, please go sit down.”
“I’ve been sitting down,” she reminded him very patiently. She regarded Lacey hopefully. “He will get over this, won’t he?”
“Kevin never did. He watched me like a hawk all during the entire pregnancy. So did Brandon. It almost drove me wild.”
“Fortunately Sammy and I made a pact. He’ll keep Brandon busy and I will buy him the latest video games. Hopefully they won’t release too many new ones between now and when this little one is born.”
She patted her rounded belly. “Do you think there’s any chance at all I’ll have a girl?” she asked wistfully. “I would sure like to buy dolls, instead of footballs.”
“The Halloran genes are against it,” Kevin said. “I have to admit, though, that I wouldn’t mind having a little girl to spoil rotten.”
“There will be no spoiling of this child, girl or boy,” Dana said firmly.
Lacey shook her head. “Then you married into the wrong family. The Halloran men take spoiling for granted, especially when it comes to grandchildren. I remember the first Christmas after I met Kevin. His grandfather was still alive then. He gave him the first ten-thousand-dollar installment on his trust fund.”
“As I recall, I wasn’t that impressed,” Kevin countered. “I wanted a new ten-speed bike.”
“That’s okay. I was awed enough for both of us. I got a sweater and a doll that year. They were both second-hand.”
Kevin smiled at her, his eyes gentle and filled with remembering. “You still have that doll, though, don’t you? While I gave that money away long ago.”
“To buy toys for the Salvation Army’s Christmas drive,” Lacey recalled. “You’d just turned twenty-one, which meant you could start drawing on the trust. I thought using the money to buy those toys was the sweetest thing you’d ever done.”
“Dad thought I’d taken leave of my senses. You were six months pregnant and I was giving away our savings to charity.” He shook his head. “Talk about irresponsible.”
“I didn’t think it was irresponsible,” Lacey argued. “We had enough. Those people didn’t have anything.”
“I agree with Lacey,” Dana said, leaning down to give Kevin a kiss on his forehead. “It was a noble gesture.”
Kevin reached up and patted her cheek. “That’s all it was, a gesture. It didn’t really solve anything.”
Lacey lost patience. “It gave those families and kids a decent holiday, one they’ll always remember. If more people made gestures like those, the world would be a better place. What’s happened to you, Kevin? When did you become so cynical?”
“Cynical? No, Lacey. I grew up.”
She was about to argue, when she saw the alarm in Dana’s eyes. She bit back a sharp retort and shrugged. “I guess we still see some things differently,” she said and stood up. “I think I’ll get busy on lunch. Dana would you like to help me?”
Her daughter-in-law cast one last confused look at Kevin, then followed Lacey into the kitchen.
“Things aren’t any better, are they?” Dana said as they prepared lunch.
“Better?” Lacey echoed with a catch in her voice. “If anything, they’re worse than ever.”
“But why? I don’t understand. Anyone who looks at the two of you can see how much you still love each other.”
Lacey shrugged. “When you get right down to it, love may not conquer all.”
“Now who’s sounding cynical?” Dana asked too gently.
Lacey had to fight off the tears that suddenly threatened. She tried to smile. “Come now, you didn’t drive all the way out here just to be depressed. Let’s have some lunch and then you and Jason can go for a walk on the beach. It’s a beautiful day.”
Dana looked as if
