Grandma nods. “He loves you.”
“Yeah, but he’s not in love with me, and I’m not in love with him. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
“Well, you’re young and beautiful. You’re going to find the man who will walk through fire for you.”
“Can we let the ink dry before you start your matchmaking?” I tease.
“Oh, the ink is dry, baby girl. It’s been dry for far too long. Last night doesn’t count.” She wags her eyebrows, and I can’t help it; I laugh.
“We are not having that conversation.”
“We don’t need to.” She takes her index finger and taps her temple. “I know these things.”
“So,” I say, dragging out the word, “how was your Christmas? I haven’t talked to you since before you left for Aunt Aggie’s.” My parents and I had lunch, and exchanged gifts and they left for a cruise, while I spent the rest of the day at my best friend Morgan’s with her husband and baby girl Iris.
“Oh, it was good. You know there is never a dull moment when your great-aunt Aggie and I get together.”
“Trust me. I know all too well.” I give her a pointed look, and she grins. We’re both thinking the same thing.
“What? I was bringing you and your roommate holiday cheer.” She holds her hands up in defense, but there is a twinkle in her eye.
“Grandma! You brought strippers to my dorm.”
She shrugs. “They were wearing Santa hats, and everyone enjoyed themselves. I have the pictures to prove it.”
“No.” I give her a warning look. “You said you were going to delete those.”
“What I said was that I wouldn’t print them.” She picks up her phone that’s lying next to her. “I’ve got it all right here.”
I open my mouth to scold her, but there’s a knock on the door. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Carol Kincaid says as she enters the room.
“Come on in.” Grandma motions for her to take the seat on the other side of the bed. “I was just getting ready to torture my granddaughter.”
Carol chuckles. “Sounds like I made it just in time.” She turns her eyes to me. “Good to see you again, Kennedy.”
“You too. Thank you for taking care of her for me.”
Carol waves me off. “That’s what neighbors are for.”
“Not all neighbors. I used to live beside this old geezer who would just as soon spit on me than help me do anything when I lived in Florida.”
“Grandma.” I laugh. “That old geezer graduated with you, and you used to complain about his mowing his grass where it would blow over into your yard. You never gave that poor man a minute of peace.” I shake my head when her smile grows.
“He didn’t know how to mow the lawn.”
My eyes find Carol’s. “He gave her a going away party. He even had it catered,” I explain, barely containing my laughter to tell the story.
“Maureen”—Carol places her hand over her mouth to cover her laughter—“tell me he didn’t.”
“Oh, he did. He even sent me home with all the leftovers.”
“Kennedy, I think you and I need to spend more time together. I need more of these stories.”
Grandma points at her friend. “I like you.” Her grin is infectious.
“Looks like I missed the invite to the party,” a gorgeous guy in dark blue scrubs says as he enters the room.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Carol says. She stands and hugs him, and he kisses her cheek. “I thought you were off today?”
“I’m supposed to be, but they were short. I told them I would come in until they could find someone else. I started at five. I just clocked out and wanted to come to check on Maureen.”
“That bride of yours let you out of the house?” Grandma asks.
His eyes light up, and damn, that makes him even sexier. “I left her sleeping in bed. She’s been wearing herself out with the wedding planning and the pregnancy.”
He turns to look at me. “Hi.” He walks around the bed and offers me his hand. “I’m Brooks Kincaid, Carol’s son.”
I take his offered hand. “Kennedy Edwards, Maureen’s granddaughter. Nice to meet you.”
“You as well.”
“So a wedding and a baby?” I ask.
He nods, and a smile lights up his face. “Yes, to both. We’re actually getting married at the Willow Manor on New Year’s Eve,” he explains.
“You’ll be working with Kennedy,” Grandma tells him. “I’ve got a bum leg.”
Brooks chuckles. “Can I get you anything?”
“Discharge papers?” Grandma asks hopefully.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He tosses her a wink, and I swear I can see her melt a little into her hospital bed. Not that I blame her. “Kennedy, it was good to meet you.” He waves before turning back to his mom. “Palmer is stressing about the flowers. Can you stop by the house on your way home and talk her off the ledge? I’ve tried, but I don’t know a damn thing about planning a wedding. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I just want her to be my wife.”
Now I’m the one who’s melting into my chair. Lyle loved me, but I know now that he never loved me like Brooks loves his fiancée. I never saw the look in his eyes like the one that Brooks currently has just by talking about his fiancée either.
“Sure. I need to swing by Declan’s and pick up Blakely first. She’s hanging out there for a while so I could stop and visit Maureen. And I already had plans to go visit with Palmer. She called me earlier and asked if I could meet her and her mother at your place to go over some final details.” Carol’s face is the epitome of happiness.
Brooks laughs. “She loves being there.”
“She does, but Declan always complains he never gets anything done during the day when she’s there.”
“I’ll stop and grab some donuts for us.”
“She’s going to love that, and Declan is going to yell at you for spoiling her.”
Brooks shrugs. “That’s my job as her uncle. I’m sure he’s been taking notes and is going to repay me when our baby is born.” There’s a sparkle in his eye when he talks about his unborn child.
Sadness washes over me. I don’t know if I’ll ever have that. If I’ll ever find a man who’s willing to adopt with me or foster, or even hire a surrogate, and potentially endure not only the emotional but financial burden to try IVF. My heart aches for the dream I’ve held on to. Even when the doctors told me it would never be possible, I knew there were other ways to be a mother. I can only hope that there’s a man out there who will love all the broken pieces of me and want to build a life and a family with me, no matter how unconventional that might be.
“Kennedy?”
I shake out of my thoughts and turn toward Grandma. “Sorry, I spaced out.”
“I was just telling you that Carol has nine boys.”
“Well, they’re men. Even my babies are now adults at nineteen.”
“You have nine sons?” I ask, a little wide-eyed. I’ve met Carol a few times, and I knew she had kids, but nine boys?