Melissa rose, one hand pressed against her stomach. “It’s nothing. You were right. We should get back into the dining room. You know how Abby gets when things go off schedule.”
Yes, she did know. Oh, the divorce was going to upset Abby’s tidy world, but that didn’t mean that Diana wouldn’t be there for her other daughter, as well. She still had no idea what was bothering her youngest, but she would find out before this evening was through.
And she would make things right.
For both her girls.
She’d easily found the time to attend Abby’s debates, girl scout meetings and band concerts and never missed a dance recital, theatre production or football game while Melissa was on the cheerleading squad. Her daughters might be grown, but they still needed their mother.
Now more than ever.
Diana stood, as well. “Yes, let’s go back and join everyone.”
They walked into the room and Diana’s gaze locked with Frank’s. Her husband watched her every step as she moved around the table to retake her seat next to him. Thirty years of marriage honed his deduction skills to a razor-sharp point, and she knew that he knew she’d found out something.
“Okay, let’s get this celebration going.” Greg spoke from where he stood at the buffet filling tall fluted glasses with sparkling liquid, having already popped open the bottle. “Josh, why don’t you hand out the champagne to everyone?”
Frank leaned in close. “What’s wrong?”
Diana batted her eyes, determined not to cry as his gentle and caring tone was sure to bring on the waterworks. “Not now, darling.”
“So you were worried for nothing?”
“Of course not. I was right all along—” She cut off her words when Abby came in with a tray of desserts in her hands. “Dear, can I help with those?”
“No, you stay seated, Mom. It’ll only take me a moment to hand these out.”
True to her words, the etched-crystal parfait dishes were soon at everyone’s place setting and, immediately after, Josh placed a glass in front of Frank and Diana.
Diana watched as he then went back to get two more for Greg and Abby and one last trip for the final two glasses.
“Here you go, sweetheart.” He moved in behind Melissa and reached past her shoulder to place a glass in front of her.
“No, thank you.” Her baby girl’s voice was strained.
“You don’t want any champagne?” Josh was clearly confused. “You love the stuff. We practically finished off a magnum ourselves last New Year’s Eve.”
Melissa shook her head, her dark locks flying over her shoulder. “I’m sure. I’ll just h-have—” She paused, pressing her fingertips to her mouth for a quick moment. “I’d prefer a cup of coffee. Decaf, please.”
Oh, everything made sense now!
The tears, the exhaustion, the hand held protectively over her still flat belly, the refusal of alcohol. Her motherly intrusion might have been late in picking up on Melissa’s distress, but the realization over what her baby was facing hit Diana like a thunderbolt coming from the sky.
Her heart didn’t know whether to break for the certain pain Abby was facing over the end of her marriage or rejoice with the news that she was finally going to be a grandmother!
Her baby was having a baby!
Chapter Five
by Gina Wilkins
r /> During the year he and Melissa Morgan had been together, Josh Wright thought he’d come to know her family fairly well, but there were still times when he felt like an outsider who couldn’t quite catch on to the family rhythms. Tonight was one of those occasions.
The undercurrents of tension at the elegantly set dinner table were obvious enough, even to him.
Melissa had been acting oddly all evening. Abby and Greg kept exchanging significant looks, as though messages passed between them that no one else could hear. Even Melissa and Abby’s mom, Diana, typically the life of any dinner party, was unnaturally subdued and introspective tonight. Only the family patriarch, Frank, seemed as steady and unruffled as ever, characteristically enjoying the time with his family without getting drawn in to their occasional, usually Diana-generated melodramas.
Josh didn’t have a clue what was going on with any of them. Shouldn’t he understand them better by now, considering he wanted so badly to be truly one of them soon?