Champagne and Moonlight by Joann Ross

Author:Joann Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1996-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Shiloh was relieved when she called the military academy and was told that the General had taken the senior cadet corps on a training exercise off the coast of Florida. Three weeks’ breathing room wasn’t much, but she’d take anything she could get.

Having grown up in the military, Shiloh was accustomed to fitting into new places, and she soon began to feel as if she’d lived in Paradise all her life. After she’d been working at the Silver Nugget for a month, she mentioned, during a conversation with the head guitarist for the band—Fletch’s brother, Kevin—that she’d written some country music. Immediately interested, he’d asked to see her work, and before she knew it, she was moonlighting as a songwriter for the Outlaws.

Rather than being standoffish, the people of Paradise welcomed her with open arms—a fact she attributed to Matt’s popularity—although she’d overheard more than one patron of the Silver Nugget grumble that Matt ought to just “marry the girl and make an honest woman of her.”

Not that Matt wasn’t proving supportive. He dropped by the hotel every evening to check on her, and on those nights when she wasn’t working, he’d buy her dinner in the hotel restaurant. He made the appointment for her with Dr. Susan Lucas, then surprised her by not only insisting on driving her to Aspen, but accompanying her into the doctor’s office to discuss her pregnancy. On the day of the ultrasound exam, Matt was also at her side.

“Looks as if it’s a boy,” the doctor said.

Matt leaned forward. Experienced with ultrasound images, he recognized the vital parts immediately. “It sure is.”

“A boy?” Shiloh squinted, trying to make out what the other two were seeing.

“Right here.” Matt was holding her hand. He used his free one to point out the baby. “See?”

“Oh!” Shiloh murmured, “Is that a—”

“It sure is,” Susan agreed. “And quite a nice one, too.”

Matt grinned wickedly. “Of course it is. We McCandless men have always been known for our—”

“Oh, my,” Susan interrupted him. “Look at this.”

Matt whistled. Shiloh felt his fingers tighten around hers. “What?” she asked, suddenly nervous. What if something was wrong with her baby?

“We’ve got a little girl.”

“Instead of a boy? But I thought—”

“Not instead,” Matt said.

Shiloh’s mouth went dry as comprehension sunk in. “Twins?”

“Got it on the first try.” Matt smiled down at Shiloh, his eyes filled with that same tender warmth she remembered from their night together. “We’re having a son and a daughter, Shiloh.”

Tears sprang to Shiloh’s eyes. This was too, too much.

Later, as they sat in Matt’s truck in the medical building parking lot, he turned toward her, his arm resting along the back of the bench seat, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair.

“Feeling better?”

Embarrassed at having wept at the news, Shiloh looked straight ahead out the windshield and nodded stiffly.

“You know, it’s not the end of the world,” he tried again. “Granted, twins are going to be double trouble, but people manage. And so will we.”

“It’s not that,” she murmured, still not looking at him.

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