The Chef's Surprise Baby by Brenda Harlen

Author:Brenda Harlen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-05-06T23:45:19+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The day after the outing to Jo’s Pizza, Erin sat with her phone in hand, desperately wanting to reach out to Lucy. Her friend’s contact information was displayed on the screen—she just needed to gather the courage to connect the call—but she wasn’t sure what to say after keeping a secret so big for so long.

Before she could figure out the answer to that question, a knock sounded, and opening the door, she found herself face-to-face with her best friend.

“Ohmygod—look at you,” Erin said, her eyes filling with tears as she greeted her very pregnant friend. “You are totally glowing.”

“I’m sweating,” Lucy corrected. “Because growing a baby has thrown my internal thermostat out of whack. But I don’t care that I’m sweating, I’m going to hug you anyway because I’ve missed you like crazy.”

Erin laughed as she returned her friend’s embrace. “I’ve missed you, too. And your whacked-out thermostat notwithstanding, you look absolutely fabulous.”

“I feel pretty good—other than the occasional flare-up of sciatica when the baby puts pressure on the nerve.” Her expression turned serious as she took Erin’s hands. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be with you for your dad’s funeral.”

“It’s okay,” Erin said. “You had the very best reason not to be there. Although, a heads-up that your brother was coming might have been good.”

“I didn’t think you’d be surprised to see him.” She met her friend’s gaze squarely. “Of course, I didn’t know you’d had his child, either, so obviously we need to work on our communication skills.”

“It’s been an eventful eleven-and-a-half months,” Erin told her, hedging.

“We’ve got a lot to catch up on,” Lucy agreed. “But first, I want to meet my nephew.”

“Apparently he wants to meet you, too,” she said, as a soft cooing emanated from the baby monitor on the counter.

“Oh.” Lucy pressed a hand to her heart. “Those cute little baby sounds just make me go all soft and gooey inside.”

“He makes other sounds, too, that aren’t nearly as cute,” Erin told her, leading the way to the baby’s room. “Especially at three o’clock in the morning.”

“I don’t believe it,” her friend said, reaching into the crib to pick up the baby. “Hey, there, sweetie. It’s your Auntie Lucy. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”

Joel, always happy to be the center of attention, responded with a happy smile.

“Oh.” Lucy’s eyes got misty. “Look at that—is he really smiling at me?”

“He’s really smiling at you,” Erin confirmed.

“You have no idea how much I wanted to camp out on your doorstep, waiting for you to come home, so I could meet him. The only thing that held me back was knowing that my mother would never forgive me if I got to see him first.”

“I guess she told you that we were at the pizzeria yesterday?” Erin said.

“She told me. Frank told me. Mrs. Eldridge who comes in for lunch every Friday told me. And Tom Gilchrist from the hardware store told me.”

“I almost forgot that the Haven rumor mill is a well-oiled piece of machinery,” Erin said.

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