Where the Heart Is by Patricia Keelyn
EPILOGUE
“Come on, Lily-pooh.” Jon reached into the passenger side of the van and unfastened the harness of Lily’s seat. “Let’s go see Mom.”
“Mom, Mom, Mom,” echoed the two-year-old.
“You got it, Lily-pooh. Mom, Mom, Mom.” Jon lifted her from the seat and slammed the door, hoping none of his friends would see him driving Maddie’s car.
Her Porsche had been traded in long ago for the latest in family vehicles, but Jon didn’t mind too much. Because Maddie had bought him his own Jeep Wrangler in the process. His dad had hemmed and hawed about that for a while, but Maddie had insisted that as long as Jon maintained his grades, the car was his. Well, grades were never a problem.
With Lily resting on his hip, Jon headed across the hospital parking lot, listening to the little girl’s singsong. “Mom, Mom, Mom.”
“How about saying something else? Say Jon.”
“Shon, Shon, Shon.”
“That’s right. Shon.” Jon laughed and pushed his way through the hospital doors.
“Who have you got there, Jon?” asked the nurse at the reception desk as she came around to take Lily’s hand.
Lily pulled away and turned to bury her head against her brother’s shoulder.
“Maddie says she’s going through a shy phase,” he said to the nurse. “Personally,” he slid one hand up to tickle the little girl in his arms, “I think she’s just being a stinker.”
The nurse laughed and gestured down the hall. “Maddie’s in room 105. Go on back.”
Lily giggled all the way down the hall as Jon continued to tickle her. “Stinker, stinker,” he whispered in her ear. Maddie would love it when Lily came out with that one. “Here we go, Lily-pooh,” he said as he stepped into Maddie’s room. “Mom, Mom, Mom.”
Maddie looked up from the bundle in her arms and smiled. “Hi, you two. Come on in.”
“Mom, Mom, Mom,” Lily chanted, seeing her mother.
Jon moved up beside the bed and bent over to allow Lily to hug Maddie, while he checked out the small bundle in Maddie’s arms.
“Look here, Lily,” he said, straightening. “We’ve got a new baby brother.” He couldn’t remember Lily being so tiny or so fragile. But Lily didn’t look too pleased when she caught sight of the infant in her mother’s arms. “Can you say ‘baby’?” Jon asked.
Lily shook her head sternly.
“Uh-oh,” his dad said from the door. “It looks like our little princess is jealous already.”
“Da, Da.” Lily reached out her arms, and Nick crossed the room and took Lily from Jon.
“What’s the matter, Princess? Feeling a little insecure?”
“Right,” Maddie said. “Between the two of you, she’s spoiled rotten. She could use a little competition.”
“Well, she’s got some.” Jon sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the new baby. “Can I hold him?”
Maddie smiled and shifted so he could take the sleeping infant. A brother. He couldn’t believe it. “How ya doing, Adam?” He slipped his finger into the tiny fists.
His dad had legally adopted Lily right after marrying Maddie, and Lily would always be his first love. But a brother. He’d always wanted a brother.
“So, when are you coming home?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the infant.
“Miss my cooking already?” Maddie teased.
“Please.” Jon grinned. “I think we should have Selba move in with us permanently. We’ve got plenty of room now.”
They’d lived at Maddie’s while his dad had built their new house. Her place had been okay, and Jon had been glad they’d decided to rent it instead of selling it, but it had been a little crowded. The new house was really big and was in a clearing on the west side of town, overlooking Felton. Maddie said it was one of their favorite places when they were kids. “Selba could help you with Lily and Adam.”
“And cook,” added his dad.
“And maybe then we wouldn’t all starve to death.”
Maddie laughed. “Yeah, we’d all turn into little butterballs. Say, Jon, did you get that manuscript printed off for me and over to Carl?”
“Yes, boss,” Jon said, though his attention was back on the tiny bundle in his arms. “I took it over this morning.”
Maddie had taken over as business manager for the Felton Finder. Not much of a job for an MBA from Northwestern, his dad would tease. But Maddie claimed her job was the three of them—now four—and that she was just helping out at the newspaper. She could have fooled Jon. Besides working for the Finder, she was beginning to make a name for herself as a short-fiction writer in a couple of national magazines.
“And what about that article you wrote for Carl last week?” she asked. “Did you get it finished?”
“Maddie,” his father interrupted, moving to sit on the other side of the bed with Lily on his lap. “Can we forget about the Finder for a day or two?”
Maddie smiled and nodded, taking his dad’s hand in hers. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Then, turning to Jon, she reached out and took his free hand, as well. “Sorry.”
Jon returned her smile, his chest tightening with emotion. No one could replace his mother, but Maddie held a special place in his heart.
“It’s okay,” he said with a grin. “I’m used to working for a slave driver. Besides,” he said, nodding toward the baby in his arms, “you can bug me all you want as long as I’ve got Adam here.”
Maddie’s eyes glistened and she squeezed his hand. “We’ve all been very lucky, haven’t we?”
Jon smiled and looked back down at his new baby brother. Yeah, he thought. Who’d have thought he’d end up with Lily, a new baby brother and a stepmom like Maddie? Yeah, he was pretty lucky.
The End
If you missed the first book in the A Mother’s Heart series,
continue reading for an excerpt from
Keeping Katie.
If you enjoy romantic suspense,
click here for an excerpt from:
Blind Run
