Fate Interrupted: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Moonstone Cove Book 3), Page 2

  But Adam?

  Her boy had no idea what he wanted to do.

  Added to that, Adam had been a boy who adored his father. Seeing Rodney cheat on Megan so publicly and in such a small community had soured their relationship, and Megan wasn’t sure what she could do to help or if she was supposed to help at all. A part of her was glad that Adam was in her corner even though she knew that her son needed to resolve things with his father.

  It was a horrible place for a young man to be, trying to reconcile a parent’s bad actions with the person his heart still loved.

  Thinking about motherhood made her think about Toni again, which reminded her that she needed to call Katherine. She used her voice command to call the most awesome physicist she knew.

  “Hello?” Katherine’s distracted voice came over the line. “Megan?”

  “Wine Friday?” It was all she needed to say.

  “Oh, thank God.” Katherine let out a long breath. “Yes. I had office hours today. Freshman are so needy.”

  “I have three teenagers. Tell me about it.”

  “Are you picking Toni up from work?”

  Toni, much to her irritation, could no longer fit her belly behind the steering wheel of her Mustang. “Yeah. I’m gonna go get her right now.”

  “I’ll open a bottle.” There was murmuring in the background. “Baxter said I should just open two.”

  “Baxter is a very wise man,” Megan said. “We’ll see you in two shakes of a baby lamb’s tail.”

  Katherine was silent for a long time. “I don’t understand.”

  “Quickly, Katherine. It just means quickly.”

  “Buy why would you say baby lamb? I understand the idiom because lambs shake their tails very quickly, but the word lamb only refers to immature sheep, so I don’t understand baby lamb. It’s redundant.”

  “That’s just the way my mama said it. Don’t think too hard on it, okay?”

  “So it’s just two shakes of a lamb’s tail. That’s all you need to say.”

  “Yes.” And by the time they arrived at Katherine’s house, Megan fully expected that her friend would have a list of things that happened in nature that were even faster than a lamb shaking its tail and Toni would have given her the land-speed record of any number of vehicles that could also match a lamb’s tail velocity.

  And that was why Megan adored her friends.

  Chapter 2

  “Do you know hummingbirds beat their wings over fifty times a second at normal speed?” Katherine ushered Megan and a very pregnant Toni into the house. “So being here faster than a hummingbird’s wing would be an even greater use of hyperbole than a lamb’s tail.”

  “I’ll remember that.” Megan hugged Katherine, ridiculously happy to see her. It had been a week and a half since Megan had seen Katherine. Longer than that since they’d all been together; work and life had been piling up.

  “How are you feeling?” Katherine asked Toni.

  The tiny woman with the giant belly was already in the kitchen, picking at the cheese plate that had been set out. “Hungry. Cranky.” She glared at Megan over her shoulder. “I’m not happy with that one.”

  Katherine’s eyes went wide. “Why?” She looked between Megan and Toni. “What happened?”

  “She got in the car,” Megan said, “and she asked me, ‘I can’t get any bigger than this, right? My belly can’t get any bigger?’”

  “Oh.” Katherine’s frown fell. “And you confronted her with the biological realities?”

  Toni turned, showing her belly in profile. It truly was massive. “How? How can it possibly get bigger than this? I can barely fit through doors in my house. I can’t drive. I can’t put on socks. I can’t even wash my feet. How is this natural?”

  Katherine walked over and poured a bottle of fizzy water into a wineglass and handed it to Toni. “At least you’re not an African elephant. They’re pregnant for twenty-two months.”

  “Oh my God!” Toni’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t even comprehend that.”

  “You’re doing really well,” Megan said. “You still have enough energy to work. With my first pregnancy, I—”

  “Only.” Toni held up a forceful finger. “I want that made very clear right now. I am only doing this once. If Henry wants more kids, we’re adopting.”

  “I’m just saying that I had almost no energy by my last trimester. You still go to work every day.”

  “And sleep at my desk between yelling at the guys.” She sipped her drink. “Wait, am I only going so I can yell at the guys? That seems mean.” She took another drink. “Trying to decide if I care. I don’t think I do. They all tune me out anyway.”

  “Plus you don’t have a trunk,” Katherine added.

  Both Megan and Toni looked at her.

  “Like an elephant does. I’m just thinking that if you were pregnant for nearly two years, a trunk would be an incredibly useful appendage. Not that elephants have to wear socks.” Katherine poured a glass of wine and handed it to Megan. “And, of course, elephants don’t have to balance the stresses of modern working life with carrying calves.”

  Megan raised her glass and clinked it with Katherine’s. “To all the mama elephants out there in their twenty-first month.” She turned to Toni. “And to Toni, who will be able to drink wine with us soon.”

  Toni stuffed a slice of manchego in her mouth. “Not soon enough.”

  “We should go to the back deck,” Katherine said. “Do you need jackets? Baxter and Detective Bisset are playing chess in the office.”

  A male voice boomed from the room adjoining the kitchen. “I told you to call me Drew, Katherine.”

  “And I won’t be able to do that,” she whispered, ushering Megan and Toni down the few stairs to the sunken living room that looked over the glorious grey-blue stretch of the Pacific. “I still call the dean by his title even though we used to teach together.”

  “Do you hang out with the dean weekly though? Like Drew?”

  “Lately it seems that way.” Katherine grimaced. “They’re revisiting the ethics review of what happened with our Central Coast students during that study that went wrong.”

  “Again?”

  The tragedy that had brought Megan, Katherine, and Toni together had been prompted by a mysterious biofeedback study at Katherine’s university that had caused students to commit violent acts for no apparent reason.

  The very first Wine Wednesday had happened only a week after the first attack, and they’d happened almost weekly ever since, usually at Katherine’s house overlooking the ocean.

  Her house sat on the rocky shores of North Beach, surrounded by deep green cedars and other wood-shingled houses turned silver grey by the salty ocean fog. The sun was setting as they walked through the french doors; gold and pink washed over the deck overlooking the ocean.

  “Apparently they are reviewing the entire case because former Professor Kraft is protesting her firing. Or at least the record of it.”

  “After a year?”

  “She’s in Silicon Valley now, and it’s possible that she’s working on something with security implications that are negatively affected by a problematic academic record.”

  “That sounds like history I would not like to repeat,” Megan said.

  “Me either,” Toni added. “I thought we’d put that to bed.”

  Katherine’s goldendoodle, Archie, followed them onto the back deck and settled under the table while Katherine helped Toni into a chair and brought an ottoman for her to rest her feet.

  “Her criminal attorney was very good,” Katherine said. “She beat all the formal charges. The only things still on her record—officially—are the academic misconduct charges. She wants them expunged.”

  “I miss boots.” Toni flexed her ankles on the ottoman. “I miss my boots and my car. How did you do this three times, Megan?”

  “Pregnancy amnesia.” She popped a slice of apple in her mouth and crunched. “Hormones are powerful things.” Speaking of, the bre
eze coming off the ocean felt amazing. Megan was only forty-seven, but she was beginning to feel hints of “the change” coming. Her mother had gone through menopause right around fifty, so she only had a couple more years to go. “Toni, how are the pre-baby projects?”

  “Henry’s on top of everything,” Toni said. “He invited my sister over to give us a checklist of baby stuff, because you know I’m not going to remember all that shit. She went through with him about what we need to do to babyproof the house, what kind of gear we need, that kind of thing.”

  “Did you get a lot of hand-me-downs?”

  “Oh yeah. I’m not a sucker. We got a new car seat and a new bouncy seat thing that Henry wanted, but most of our stuff like the baby swing and all that is from my sisters or my cousins. The only problem is going to be keeping Shelby from smothering the kid in the swing, because that cat completely thinks we’re just getting her new cat toys.”

  “Keep the swing moving.” Megan moved her hand back and forth. “It’ll keep the baby happy and keep the cat off the kid.”

  Toni narrowed her eyes. “No whiplash, huh?”

  “On the swing?” Megan shook her head. “Just strap them in tight. With my three, it was the faster the better on those things. Babies are weird. Adam hated quiet rooms, but put on a recording of bagpipe music while he was in his swing and he’d fall right asleep.”

  Toni’s eyes went wide. “Please don’t tell Henry that; he absolutely will take up the bagpipes.”

  Katherine reached across the table for a cracker. “I am very glad I didn’t have children, because I’m fairly positive I would have ended up leaving one somewhere and been arrested for neglect. But I’m sure yours and Henry’s will be delightful. He is very good-natured.”

  Toni nodded. “I don’t even blame you for excluding me from the good-natured thing. Dusi babies are cute as shit, but we’re ornery. I’m completely hoping the baby takes after Henry.”

  “I’m envisioning a very chubby baby with lots of dark curls,” Megan said. “I’m only slightly annoyed you didn’t find out if it’s a girl or a boy.”

  “Does it really make that much difference?”

  “I just want to know.” It killed Megan to be able to know a thing and not actually know it. She’d found out the biological sex of her babies as soon as possible just to satisfy her voracious curiosity.

  Toni said, “I don’t want an avalanche of blue or pink shit. Not that you’d be able to tell my mom and my aunt Gina that. They’re in some kind of blue-pink cold war.”

  Katherine said, “Explain. Incidentally, I have not seen any visions related to the baby’s biological sex. It’s probably far too early to sense anything.”

  Katherine had precognition, but it came in flashes, sometimes only moments before an event happened. It’d helped prevent tragedy more than once, but it wasn’t exactly useful for lottery tickets or telling the future.

  “My mom is certain it’s going to be a girl because” —Toni used air quotes— “‘I’m carrying like it’s a girl.’ But get this, Gina is dead positive I’m having a boy for the exact same reason.” She spread her arms out. “They make no sense, and all babies kind of look the same, so I don’t care which one I get. I can’t tell from the little squirt’s feelings.”

  Megan felt her heart swell, and an olive from the plate jumped off and rolled toward Toni. “I cannot even imagine sensing my babies’ emotions! That must be incredible.”

  Toni’s smile was soft as she looked at her belly and ran a hand over the round rise. “It’s pretty cool.”

  “What is the baby feeling right now?” Katherine said. “I find this so fascinating.”

  “Just contentment. The baby likes hearing our voices. They’re calming. The little squirt gets all excited when it hears Henry’s voice, but with ours it just gets very… I don’t know. Cozy feeling.”

  Megan just about started crying. “I love that! We’re the cozy aunties.” She reached over and squeezed Toni’s hand. “Speaking of aunties and family and such, are you going to Dusi Sunday dinner this weekend?”

  “Of course. Aren’t you?”

  Megan shook her head. “I’m working at the winery tomorrow for a party, so I’m taking the day off. You couldn’t pay me to voluntarily hang out with your cousin after the week he put me through.”

  Toni cackled. “I knew you two would get on each other’s nerves until you sleep together.”

  Megan nearly spat her wine. “Not going to happen. He’s my boss.”

  “I mean…” Toni shrugged. “He’s kind of your boss. You’re more of an independent contractor than an employee. I’ve never heard him order you around or anything.”

  “Still, it would be incredibly unprofessional of me to sleep with Nico.”

  “Like anyone in Moonstone Cove cares about that,” Toni said. “Especially my family.”

  “If your boss was a friend or acquaintance first,” Katherine said, “would that mitigate the ethical implications? You knew Nico as Toni’s cousin before you knew him as a boss.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Megan said. “I’m not sleeping with Nico.”

  Even though his lips were sculpted by the devil’s own hand and the man had a body hot enough to melt Alaska. It didn’t matter.

  And if she kept telling herself that, she would absolutely start believing it.

  “The chemistry though.” Toni’s whisper to Katherine was loud and unguarded. “You could cut the tension with a knife when they’re in the same room.”

  “I’ve sensed it, and I’m not even an empath.” Katherine gave Megan a rueful look. “In fact, I’m quite obtuse about most emotional signals. But your sexual chemistry with Nico is very evident.”

  “Good.” Megan folded her hands across her lap and plastered on a face of innocence. “I’m glad that everyone but me is counting on this as a forgone conclusion. It will just make it easier to keep Nico at arm’s length.”

  Katherine was silent, but she gave Megan a smile and a nod.

  Toni was less sanguine. “You’re sticking with that, huh? You and Nico are never going to hook up?”

  “Toni, if you start making bets on this—”

  “Start?” Toni shook her head. “Do you know my family at all? The bets started months ago. Sorry, Atlanta, but that ship has sailed.”

  Megan woke up early on Sunday morning in an empty bed with a busy mind. She looked toward the giant picture window opposite her bed, staring at the rise of golden hills that rolled away from the miniature mansion her ex-husband had chosen on the slopes above Moonstone Cove.

  It was a beautiful home, though not one she would have picked. It didn’t have the soul of her 1930s colonial home in Atlanta or the charm of Katherine’s midcentury bungalow at the beach. It definitely didn’t have the rustic character of Toni’s Spanish cottage in the vineyards.

  But for now it was home, and she couldn’t complain about life when she woke up every morning to a gorgeous view from a luxurious king-size bed.

  And she absolutely had not been having sex dreams about her boss. In no way had that been a thing that happened. If anything, her dream was kind of a fuzzy memory, so she was going with… Oscar Isaac. Sure. That sounded good. Oscar Isaac was better than Nico Dusi.

  And just as unrealistic.

  It wasn’t that Megan liked being alone. She’d love to find someone great, but the last thing she needed was another egotistical man with a superiority complex running her life. She’d spent twenty years with Rodney, carefully molding herself into the perfect wife, accomplished businesswoman, and proud mother that her husband and greater Atlanta society demanded.

  Only one of those things was left. Her business was gone, dissolved when she’d moved to California for Rodney’s dreams. Her marriage was a joke. Her kids remained the single accomplishment that had lasted, and they were definitely the only one she still cared about.

  Megan rolled out of bed, turned some music on, and walked to the half-empty walk-in closet that housed her wardrobe. Si
nce the climate in Moonstone Cove was so mild, she threw on a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. She slipped on a pair of slides and a thin jacket that brushed her knees and brought out the vivid blue in her eyes.

  She was going to pick up Adam and Cami from Rodney’s apartment, and while she refused to dress up for the man, she’d rather eat glass than show up looking tired or slouchy. Let him regret every day he had to live without her. Megan knew she looked good.

  When Adam got his license, Megan had assumed her son would take over the dad-chauffeur duties, but he didn’t like taking his car to his father’s fancy apartment in downtown Moonstone Cove since there was nowhere to park and he’d gotten towed the only time he had.

  Rodney had picked them up on Friday from school, and Cami had texted the night before, asking that Megan not wait until the afternoon to get them.

  She walked to the bathroom and opened her makeup drawer, then brushed on a little bit of powder, a touch of concealer around her eyes, and a dot of blush on her cheeks. It was the bare minimum she needed to leave the house, along with earrings and polished nails.

  Her mother’s voice was hard to ignore, even from thousands of miles away.

  Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Cami.

  Are you on your way?

  Almost, Megan typed back.

  Adam and Dad are the worst.

  I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be there soon.

  It’s Dad, not Adam. He made reservations at the country club for us to meet his new girlfriend or something, but he didn’t tell us and now he’s nagging Adam.

  Yeah, that sounded like Rodney. Leave plans till the eleventh hour and then expect the world to accommodate you. And it had! For so many years, it had been Megan throwing things together at the last minute—dinners, outfits, vacation plans—so that Rodney’s whims could be satisfied.