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  Once there, however, she couldn’t stop thinking about how to help him, so after dinner she kept the family at the table and put it to them.

  “I want to invite Stark’s family for Thanksgiving. I know it’s last minute, Callie, but I’ll do everything I can to help out. I—I just think he needs this, and Mr. Burns has told me point-blank that it would mean the world to them to spend the holiday with him.”

  “It’s fine with me,” Callie said, “but why doesn’t he go there?”

  Meredith blushed even as she smiled. “Frankly, we want to spend the holiday together.”

  Wes grinned at that, and Rex insincerely drawled, “No. Really?” He jumped when Callie jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “What I mean to say, baby sister, is that I’m glad you got over your Stark-anathema. He’s really a great guy.”

  “He is,” she said, “but it’s not just that we want to be together this Thanksgiving and I want to be here.” She told them what had happened to Stark’s wife and daughter. She’d promised she wouldn’t, but he was practically part of the family now. Surely he would understand.

  “I knew there was something,” Rex said, looking at Callie.

  “Losing a spouse can be tough to deal with,” she said softly. “To lose a spouse and a child...” She shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about how it would have been for me without Bodie.”

  “Because of that, Stark finds it difficult to be around his sisters’ families,” Meri explained. “I guess they have daughters the same age as his and they spent a lot of time together or something. I just know that going there wouldn’t be easy for him, so I thought if they came here, maybe...”

  “A whole new frame of reference,” Callie said. “Yeah, I can see that.”

  “Would you like me to make the call?” Wes asked.

  Delighted, Meredith beamed. “We could do it together by speakerphone.”

  “Housing could be an issue,” Callie murmured, “but Dad’s got room at his place, and Ann and Dean could put up at least a couple of people. Bo can bunk with us.”

  “I don’t mind sleeping on the couch,” Meri volunteered.

  “We’ll make it work.”

  They didn’t have to worry about providing beds. When Meredith and Wes spoke to Marvin Burns, he quickly conferred with his wife and accepted for the two of them and their younger son, Wayne, saying that “the girls” would spend the holiday with their grandparents. He also informed them that he and Mrs. Burns had purchased a motor home a few months ago and required only space to park it.

  “We’ve got plenty of space at Straight Arrow,” Wes assured them, “and any electrical hookups you might need, as well.”

  “This will be a real vacation for us,” Marvin Burns enthused. “I can’t tell you how excited we are. May I ask one question? Does Stark know we’re coming?”

  “Not yet,” Meredith admitted. “I thought it best to, ah, clear it with everyone else before I proposed it to him.”

  “Might I suggest that we surprise him?” Marvin said.

  Rex and Callie looked at each other and nodded. Callie said, “Oh, that would be fun.”

  Rex said, “We sure owe Stark for all he’s done around here.”

  “Your son’s quite the vet,” Wes put in. “I doubt one in a hundred doctors could’ve saved my old horse Soldier earlier this fall.”

  “That’s some compliment,” Marvin said. “We’re in agreement, then.”

  Meri had her doubts about this, but with everyone else going along, she hated to be the naysayer in the group, especially as this had been her idea. Besides, what argument could she offer against surprising Stark without making him seem unreasonable?

  “Meredith,” Marvin said, “I cannot thank you enough. I knew the first time I heard your voice that you were the answer to our prayers.”

  She hoped that was true. Oh, how she hoped that was true.

  “I look forward to meeting you all in person, sir.”

  “Not half as much as we look forward to meeting all of you and seeing our son again,” he said.

  Mrs. Burns got on then, her excitement palpable. She and Callie talked menu, and she said she’d bring a sweet-potato casserole and buttermilk-pecan pie, both of which were favorites of Stark’s from his boyhood. Finally, Wes and Marvin spoke of addresses and directions before they ended the call.

  “Something tells me this is going to be a Thanksgiving to remember,” Rex said, getting up from the table.

  “I’ll say,” Wes agreed. “Callie’s dad will be here and Dean’s grandma. And just think about how much we have to be thankful for.”

  “Boggles the mind,” Callie said, rising to take her daughter from her high chair. It was not an easy process.

  “Bodie’s just about outgrown that chair,” Wes noted, taking his granddaughter onto his lap. Callie shared a secretive smile with her husband, and sudden insight hit Meri with the impact of a hammer blow.

  “Oh, my word, you’re pregnant!” she blurted.

  Callie gaped at her, but Rex beamed. “How did you know?” Callie asked.

  “The way you looked at Rex just now.”

  Wes whooped, startling Bodie into grabbing him around the neck.

  “Papa yell!” she scolded, shaking a little finger at him.

  “Sorry, honey, I’m just so pleased,” he told her. Hugging her, he glanced around, his blue eyes sparkling. “There’s one more for the Thanksgiving list!”

  “At least you won’t have to cook for this one. Yet,” Rex teased his wife, wrapping his arms around Callie from behind.

  “We just confirmed it and were saving the news for a Thanksgiving surprise,” Callie explained, “but seeing as we have a surprise anyway, I don’t suppose it matters.”

  “If I’d known you were expecting, though, I wouldn’t even have suggested—” Meri began.

  Callie waved that away. “No, it’s okay. I feel fine. Not a bit of morning sickness or anything.”

  “Still, I’ll help every way I can.”

  “You would’ve anyway. I’m much more concerned about how my father is going to take this news now that he’s accepted me into his business.”

  “He knows you can handle any business concerns, motherhood, a household and anything else that comes your way,” Rex told her.

  “You mean that we can handle anything that comes our way. You’re the son-in-law he always wanted now, you know.”

  Rex chuckled. “True. Besides, he’s a long way from retirement.”

  Meri got up and went around the table to hug her brother and sister-in-law. “I’m so happy for the two of you.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Callie told her. “Stark is a good man.”

  “Let’s don’t get the cart before the horse,” Meri cautioned. “Things are a long way from being settled between us.”

  “I haven’t seen Stark Burns in church with anyone else,” Wes pointed out.

  That was true, but they knew so little about Stark’s grief and guilt, about the depth and duration of his separation from his parents and family, about the shallowness and barrenness of his life.

  What if Stark never wanted to have another child? She didn’t think she could live without that.

  What if he truly couldn’t bear to see his parents and brother on Thanksgiving again?

  What if he never forgave her for inviting them here?

  What if he simply did not care enough for her to put the past behind him?

  She trembled inwardly with fear even as she smiled in celebration of her brother’s joy.

  Chapter Twelve

  For most folks the week before Thanksgiving tended to be slow businesswise. They traveled or turned their minds to things other than commerce, but Stark didn’t travel and hadn’t expected to have any
thing on his mind other than business, so he’d agreed to board some local pets. Add to that a sick milk cow, a dog hit by a car, another that ate an entire package of chocolate bars, a gerbil that got into cleanser, and a stupid rooster and a cat that would not stop tearing up each other, and the two days remaining before Thanksgiving were anything but tranquil. He and Meri seemed to be running every minute of the day, and the place was rarely quiet.

  Young Hardy Wilson’s basset hound pup had howled from the moment it had been dropped off. The only time during the day that the pup was quiet was when it was draped over Meri’s lap. Unfortunately, with everything else going on, she couldn’t sit with the thing constantly, and when that pup howled, the Perkinsons’ blind old poodle barked. Shrilly. Even Louise Shepherd’s near-deaf bulldog could hear it, and he sounded like a foghorn when he joined in. Stark hadn’t seen his cat since the basset hound had arrived, and the only way to get any sleep at night was to take the pup into his bed, which was apparently what Hardy had been doing.

  Meredith had told him about Rex and Callie’s pregnancy, which had rocked him, though he’d tried not to show it. When the time came, he’d be happy for them. Surely by then he could be happy for them. He wasn’t that selfish and self-involved that he couldn’t be happy for a friend. They already had one daughter, and everything was fine. So far.

  He remembered the happy, warm, exhausting, joy-filled days of early fatherhood. And the endless, hollow, cold, sleepless, grief-stricken years of loss following the death of his daughter.

  Maybe if he and Cathy had had a surviving child he’d have managed better, found more reason to pull himself together and go on. He hoped so. He wanted to believe that was true. He chose to believe that was true. But the idea of bringing another innocent child into the world to suffer and die troubled him on a level that he couldn’t quite look at yet. With time and Meri’s help, maybe... He couldn’t face the possibility, and why should he? They were a long way from that. Weren’t they?

  By Thursday, Stark was more than ready to escape what felt increasingly like bedlam. Meredith had told him they’d eat around lunchtime, but that he should come on over as early as he liked. He didn’t pretend, even to himself, that he wasn’t looking forward to the day, so as soon as he’d taken care of his boarders, he cleaned up and headed over to the Straight Arrow, keeping breakfast to coffee and an overripe banana.

  The day had turned out surprisingly warm and bright. When he stepped up onto the front porch of the ranch house, Meri came out the front door wearing an apron over her jeans. She’d rolled up the long sleeves of her pink-and-blue plaid shirt and secured her hair with a clip atop her head in a messy pile that was altogether fetching. On her feet were sensible athletic shoes, and she hadn’t applied a speck of makeup. Just the sight of her made him happy and loosened his tongue.

  “You are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”

  He declared it without even thinking, without any sort of filter or consideration for who might be listening or watching. She laughed, but the sound had a nervous edge to it, and he regretted his impulsiveness at once.

  Had he been this impulsive and uncontrolled with Cathy? No, he hadn’t. He’d been self-assured and calm, completely certain of his path and his welcome, as well as the outcome. He’d never had a moment of doubt, and if Cathy had, she’d never let on.

  Meri twisted her hands in her apron, saying, “Stark, I have to tell you something.”

  Stepping up onto the porch, he took her hands in his. “What is it, babe?”

  Taking a deep breath, she began, “I, uh, I...” She grimaced and then spoke quickly. “I told my family about the accident.”

  Somehow, he was neither surprised nor upset. “You told them what happened to Cathy and Bel.”

  “Yes. I know I promised not to, but—”

  “It had to happen sometime,” he reasoned.

  She looked up sharply. “You don’t mind?”

  Smiling, he lightly grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, then positioned her head so he wouldn’t have to remove his hat and kissed her. She was what mattered now. He was working hard to show her that, and it must have been getting through, because she wrapped her arms around him.

  The screen door creaked, but Meri didn’t pull back. Pleased, Stark didn’t either. Statement time, then. That was all right by him. It seemed to be Declaration Day.

  Dean’s voice said, “Okay, you two. Break it up and get in here. There’s about to be a big announcement. Or should I say, another big announcement?”

  Grinning, Stark broke the kiss and lifted his head. “Is this about the baby?”

  Dean looked stunned, poleaxed. “How did you know?”

  Meri turned within the curve of Stark’s arm. “I figured it out Monday night.”

  His brows drawing together, Dean echoed, “Monday night?”

  She nodded. “Callie confirmed it for the rest of us Monday night.”

  Clearly flummoxed, Dean threw up his hands. “How did Callie know?”

  Meredith mirrored his gesture, throwing up her own hands. “Well, she’s the one who’s pregnant. Duh.”

  Stark thought Dean’s eyes might fall out of his head before he abruptly turned, yanked open the door and bolted inside, yelling, “Ann! Callie’s pregnant, too!”

  Too? Meri turned a shocked face on Stark, then ran for the door.

  He stood rooted where she’d left him. Two pregnancies. Whoa. That was a lot to take in.

  A second later, Meri burst through the door again, grabbed him by the hand and tugged him inside. Pure habit made him pluck off his hat. He tried for a peg on the foyer wall but missed it and so had his hat in his hand when they reached the living room. Callie and Ann—the former garbed in an apron, a wooden spoon in hand—were hugging and babbling about due dates and symptoms with an older woman whom Stark took to be Dean’s grandmother, while Wes cackled like a laying hen and Rex and Dean jabbed at each other verbally.

  “Didn’t waste any time, farm boy,” Rex was saying.

  “What’d you expect? I’m a young go-getter,” Dean retorted, playing on the fact that he was a few years younger than his wife. “You can’t afford to waste any time, old man.”

  Old man? That stung. At thirty-seven, Rex was actually three years younger than Stark, who suddenly felt ancient. Meri, on the other hand, was only twenty-six. Of course she would want babies. Lots of babies. He watched her hug her sister and sister-in-law, laughing and congratulating them. Then she hugged her brother and brother-in-law and finally her dad, while Stark stood there, feeling like an interloper—until she came and slipped her arm about his waist. With that one simple gesture, he somehow belonged, if only on the edges of it all.

  “Wow. This place is going to be a madhouse next year,” she said, laughing.

  Wes came over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders so that he and Stark bracketed her. “If only your mother were here,” he said.

  Meri nodded. “I know. I miss her, too.”

  “You, more than any of the others, I think,” Wes said, dropping a kiss onto the top of her head. “You’re so like her, the spitting image of her. She was the making of me, that woman. Didn’t know how I’d go on after she died, with all you kids gone. Now look at us. Life is good again. Life is good again. So much to be thankful for.” He reached over and clapped Stark on the shoulder. “Glad you’re here, son.”

  Suddenly, Stark could smile again, relax. He put aside his doubts and wrapped an arm around Meri’s shoulders while Wes went to answer Donovan’s questions. At “almost six,” as he made sure everyone knew, the boy wasn’t quite clear on what all these babies meant.

  “You’re getting one baby. Either a brother or a sister. Bodie’s also getting a baby brother or sister. Her baby brother or sister will be your cousin, and your baby brother or sister will be her cousin.”


  “Unless somebody has twins,” Meri put in.

  Both Ann and Callie glared at her and scolded, “Bite your tongue!”

  Dean’s grandmother laughed and winked at Wes. “We’d be okay with twins, wouldn’t we, Grandpa?”

  “Oh, yeah. Or triplets.”

  Callie and Ann both howled, while the two elders laughed. Stark bent low enough to speak into Meri’s ear. “That’s Dean’s grandmother, right?”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said. “In all the confusion, I forgot.” She dragged him over to introduce him.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Pryor.”

  “Oh, it’s just Betty,” she said, “or Grandma, if you like. Everyone else calls me Grandma.”

  “You’re not old enough to be my grandma,” he told her. “Betty will do. So, of course, I’m Stark.”

  Just then a loud hiss sounded from the kitchen. Callie yelped and ran in that direction, with Ann following her through the dining room.

  “Pleased to meet you, Stark,” Betty called, hurrying after them.

  Meri popped up onto her toes to kiss Stark’s chin, saying, “I’ll bring you something to drink when I get a chance.” Then she headed off after them. “What do you prefer? Coffee or iced tea?”

  “Coffee,” he called as she pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen.

  All at once it was just men and kids in the living room. Wes kicked back in his recliner, parked Bodie in his lap, picked up the remote control and pointed it at the flat-screen TV.

  “Gentlemen,” he announced, “it’s football time.”

  Stark hadn’t watched football since... He cut off the thought. This was a day for new beginnings. He hung up his hat, returning to sit on the end of the couch. It quickly became obvious that Rex and Dean chose opposite sides just to have a reason to bicker. If Wes had a preference, he wasn’t saying so. Thankfully, no one asked Stark, but he couldn’t help commenting from time to time. Whenever he did, everyone looked at him oddly.

  Meri came into the room with his coffee as Wes asked, “Did you play?”