When her phone alarm went off at ten, she looked at her water bottle and noticed half was left. She downed it fast, then got up to fill up another one and ran into Sage in the hallway.

  “Hi, Dahlia. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good,” she said. “Just one of those things. Nothing to worry about.”

  “I’m glad. If you’ve got a minute, can we go over a few expenses? I can talk to Melinda if you want, but sometimes she directs me to you.”

  Melinda was the one staff she had. Melinda paid the bills and did payroll, recorded all the receipts. Everything else fell on Dahlia. At some point she’d have to talk to the sisters too about what was going to happen when she was on maternity leave.

  Guess she should start making a list of her duties and what could wait and what couldn’t.

  “Sure,” she said when they walked back to her office and she took a seat. “What are you looking for?”

  “I wanted to see what was spent on a few marketing items in the past few years. I’ve got some ideas that Ivy and I have been talking about. If I can gather it all now before I go out and meet with Lily tomorrow it will help. I like to be prepared to say what was spent and on what prior.”

  “Thanks for that,” Dahlia said. “It actually makes my job easier to do it before and I’ve got time.” She pulled up the accounting software they used, then a spreadsheet to start. “I’ll get it organized for you and email it to you.”

  “You’re the best,” Sage said. “I appreciate it.” Sage had come in with a pad on her lap and shifted it over for Dahlia to see. “Here is a list of vendors that Ivy said had been used in the past. Or since she was here. I know Lily used some others.”

  “I can run a report just on marketing and advertising expenses and give you all the vendors for the past few years.”

  “That is exactly what I need,” Sage said. “If you can point me to the invoices, then I can pull them to get details on what it was spent for.”

  “I can have Melinda pull them for you,” she said. Though Melinda could be moody at times, but she was a good worker. To her, she wanted a worker, not someone to be a social butterfly. That was what she got with Melinda, but there were times her employee didn’t seem to fit in with the rest.

  “Whatever you think works, but if she’s busy, I’ve got no problem doing it and making copies. Really, I don’t.”

  “I’ll leave that up to you,” she said. “The files are in Melinda’s office either way.”

  The two of them got to work, her stomach grumbling. Normally she’d hold off eating in front of someone, but it was better to snack than hold it off and maybe get sick.

  She opened her drawer and pulled out a box of animal crackers. For some reason those worked great. She held it out to Sage, who grabbed a few.

  “I haven’t had these since I was a kid. Man, this is bringing back memories. Not sure why I never think to buy them.”

  “We didn’t have these as a kid. I guess it’s funny to see an adult eating them.”

  “Nope,” Sage said. “We all like what we like. No one should not eat or do something because they think they will get judged. More so at work. My last job, I just did grunt work more than I liked. I learned a lot of things. Including what not to do to someone else.”

  She grinned. “Yeah, I might know something about that too.”

  “I just love working here,” Sage said. “I can’t believe I was given the opportunity and know it had a lot to do with Violet.”

  “I felt the same way with Jasmine. Ivy did too. Maybe that is why we all work so much harder to prove ourselves.”

  Which was another reminder that she needed to relax.

  Poppy had mentioned acceptance and it was the right word to use.

  She was not only accepted but also comfortable in her professional life.

  Now she just had to get there in her personal one.

  33

  HERE WITH HIM

  “Do your parents know I’m living here?” Dahlia asked Hugh almost a month later.

  “No,” he said. “I don’t historically move that fast and they’d have questions. Best to tell them all at once when they get here.”

  It was hard to believe he’d been living with Dahlia and things were going smoothly.

  He expected more bumps in the road, but she was easy to get along with.

  She had her routines and he let her keep them. He’d been working around them.

  Silly things like laundry. If it made her feel good doing laundry on Wednesday night and Sunday morning, he stayed out of her way.

  He stripped the sheets on Saturday like he always did and then washed his clothes since Dahlia normally took care of the towels.

  Neither of them were messy people and he just picked up after himself as he went. It seemed they both did that during the week not leaving a ton of chores to be done on the weekends.

  He and Brooks had moved everything out of the girls’ apartment at the end of July, most of the furniture being sold.

  His house was coming together and he was pretty sure his mother was going to know right away a woman was living in it.

  Not one room was missing furniture, Dahlia having gone out and bought a dining room table on him. Her bed from her apartment was in a guest room and at some point when they found out the sex of the baby, they’d do the nursery.

  “How do you think they are going to react?” she asked.

  She was in the kitchen putting snacks together. He was staying out of her way. He was more thumbs than fingers when he was in the kitchen.

  “My mother is going to be thrilled,” he said. “With you and the baby. Don’t be nervous.”

  “Hard not to be,” she said. “What if they think I got pregnant on purpose to trap you or something?”

  “For my lovely Federal pension?” he asked, laughing.

  She threw a carrot stick at him. “Not funny.”

  He liked this playful side of her. One he hadn’t realized she had, but it came out with them living together.

  So many things did.

  From the TV shows and movies she watched. Those that she talked to the screen at, to the way she folded her towels and scolded him on the proper technique.

  He learned it because he found if he washed the towels and didn’t fold them the way she liked, she just quietly fixed them. He didn’t want her doing that. It defeated the purpose of him not having her do everything.

  She’d apologized more than once about being OCD about things, but he never saw it.

  “No, it’s not,” he said. “No one is going to think you did this on purpose. Who knows, maybe your father will think I did it on purpose to keep you with me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “So I can cook for you?”

  “I tell you all the time you don’t have to cook for me. But I do love it. Almost as much as I love you.”

  “Now you’re just trying to be sweet, but it’s fine.”

  She moved over and gave him a kiss, then went back to arranging the snacks. There was more food than they needed, but he let her do her thing. He’d grill later and help her set and clean up.

  “When are you going to tell your parents about the baby?” he asked.

  Her parents knew they were dating. They’d known for a while. He was going to ask to meet them, even via video but then realized that Dahlia had to make that decision. It wasn’t one he could force on her. It’s not as if it was a complete secret that she was pregnant.

  Her sisters knew.

  Her bosses even knew.

  Everyone was accepting and helpful and gave her the flexibility to work from home or not when she felt she was up to it.

  Though he wished he could help with her nausea, she hadn’t passed out again nor had she gotten lightheaded. He’d had this fear that she would have wanted to move out after a few weeks and maybe that was why he rushed her to move in and let go of her lease so she didn’t have a place to go.

  Horrible on his part, but he wanted her here with him.

  “Probably the next time we talk. I’m just out of the first trimester now. Everything seems to be going well. I don’t even feel as sick and that makes me happy. More so with Lily having had Remi a few days ago. Now I don’t feel as if I’m missing that much work.”

  Dahlia was at Lily’s house the day after she’d been released and holding the newborn girl. She’d confessed that it was scary to hold something that tiny.

  Hugh admitted he hadn’t held a newborn before. The first children he held were his nieces and they were almost six months old when he was able to visit.

  “You need to take care of yourself and you know it,” he said.

  “I don’t need a lecture from you too. My father will be asking me a million questions, so will my mother. It will get annoying.”

  “Because you don’t like a lot of attention,” he said. “You like it from me though.”

  “I do,” she said. “Do you know? I never thought of sex as much as I have since I’ve been with you. That’s not right, is it?”

  He laughed. “It’s totally right. It’s because we just click. Enough that you’ve got junior in there.”

  “A boy?” she asked. “That is what you think?”

  It was the first time he’d used the word junior. “I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. As long as everyone is healthy.”

  “The same,” she said. “I hear car doors. Do you think they are here?”

  “Most likely,” he said.

  His parents were renting a house a few miles away. His sister and his nieces flew in for the week, but his brother-in-law couldn’t make it.

  “Do I look okay? I don’t look pregnant, right?”

  “Stop,” he said. “You look fine. And nothing has changed other than your breasts are bigger. No one knows that but me.”

  She tugged the collar of her shirt up some and he laughed again, then went to the door when the bell rang.

  He opened it wide. “You could have just come in,” he said.

  “Give me a hug,” his mother said.

  He leaned down to give her a hug and kiss. “You look good,” he said.

  “Who cares about me,” his mother said, moving past him. “You look great, but where is Dahlia?”

  “I’m in here,” Dahlia said, moving out from the kitchen.

  He gave his sister and nieces, Emma and Emily, hugs too. “You two have gotten so big.”

  “We missed you, Uncle Hugh,” Emma said. They weren’t identical and he had no problem telling them apart.

  “I missed you too. Come in so I can introduce you all to my girlfriend. Then I’ll show you around the house.”

  “The house looks nice and put together,” his father said. “You’ve got throw pillows?”

  “And they’ve got flowers on them,” Hannah said. “You don’t decorate like that.”

  That hadn’t taken long.

  “No,” he said. “Dahlia has been putting her touches on things. Everyone, this is Dahlia Greene. Dahlia, my mother, Freya, my father, Ryan, my sister, Hannah, and my nieces, Emma and Emily.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you all,” Dahlia said, shaking everyone’s hand.

  “The house looks great,” his mother said. “Not fussy but put together more than you’d do.”

  “Come, have a seat,” he said. “Or we can go sit on the patio. That is the best part of the house, but I’d like to share the news first.”

  “Dahlia is living here,” Hannah said. “We can tell.”

  “That’s not the news,” he said. He held his hand out and had Dahlia move closer and put his arm around her shoulder. “We’re going to have a baby.”

  His mother’s jaw dropped and his sister started to laugh. “Really?” his mother asked.

  “I wouldn’t joke about this.”

  “It was as much a shock to us as it is to you,” Dahlia said.

  “How far along are you?” his mother asked.

  “I’m about thirteen weeks now,” she said, wincing.

  “You work fast, Hugh,” Hannah said. “You haven’t even been together for four months.”

  “Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” he said. “No, we haven’t. It wasn’t planned, it came as a shock, but we are still thrilled. Dahlia moved in almost a month ago. Why don’t I show you around some? I know you’ve got a lot of questions and this will give you time to put them together in your head. We’ve got all day. Or all weekend for that matter.”

  His parents were here for the week, but there were plans for them to visit today and tomorrow he’d show them around the area with Dahlia.

  “Your mother’s head might explode with everything she is trying to process,” his father said. “So, yes, give us a tour of the house.”

  “I’ll finish putting the snacks together and bring them out,” Dahlia said.

  “Don’t bring them out by yourself,” he said. “I’ll do it. Just finish up if you want or I’ll help you when I’m done.”

  “I’ve got it,” she said. “Give your parents a tour.”

  That was her way of saying she needed a minute.

  “Don’t bring it out alone,” he said to her again. He was squinting his eyes and she just grinned and then winked at him.

  “We always thought Uncle Hugh was scary when he did that with his eyes,” Emily said. “You’re not afraid of him?”

  “No,” Dahlia said. “He’s a big old teddy bear if you feed him when he comes out of hibernation.”

  He laughed. “Only then?” he asked.

  “You’ve got your moments other times too. Go. Let me finish.”

  “I’m going,” he said and pulled his parents through the house.

  34

  STRONG BY HIS SIDE

  “Idon’t know if I’ve ever seen my son act like he is today,” Freya said when she came into the kitchen to help Dahlia with the snacks.

  She knew that was going to happen the minute the tour was done in the house.

  Hugh had brought his sister, father and the twins outside and was showing them the river. He’d winced and said he was sorry when his mother marched in to help.

  “Is that a good or bad thing?” she asked.

  “Good,” Freya said. “I’m very happy about the baby.”

  “You are?” she asked, turning to look at Hugh’s mother. She didn’t know what to do, say or act.

  Ivy got along great with Brooks’s mother, Patty. Jasmine and Wesley’s mother, Mona, had a wonderful bond.

  Dahlia wanted to have something like that with Hugh’s family, but considering how their relationship started out, she’d take being respected.

  “Yes. I think it’s exactly what Hugh needs in his life. Aside from you.”

  “He’s what I need in my life,” she said. “I didn’t think that months ago, but he’s made me see parts of myself that I put down and didn’t realize.”

  “Like what?” Freya asked. “Tell me how you want these arranged. It’s your kitchen now. I know what it’s like when someone comes into my domain.”

  “I’m not fussy about that,” she said. “Though Hugh will tell you that I like things a certain way, but it’s not with everything.”

  Freya picked up the cherry tomato, stuck it through a toothpick and then added a basil leaf and a ball of mozzarella, then another tomato and put it on a plate.

  Dahlia was filling deviled eggs now while Freya worked on the Caprese skewers.

  “Hugh is the same way, but he will bend over backward for those he loves.”

  “I don’t want to change him,” she said. “No one should be forced to change who they are.”

  Freya smiled at her. “How much has Hugh told you about why he moved here?”

  “I’m not sure what I should say,” she said.

  “Tell me what you know. I can assure you I know more,” Freya said. “Though there is physical distance between us, my son and I are close. If he doesn’t tell me, he tells his father. He’s had a very hard year.”

  “I know,” she said. “He told me about his divorce and his relationship with Keri. That they both tried and realized it wasn’t working. He couldn’t be who she wanted no matter how much he tried. I think he shouldn’t have had to be someone he wasn’t when she knew enough about him before they married.”

  “I like you,” Freya said. “I’ve said the same things. And you know about what happened with his job?”

  “You mean Kevin and the serial killer?” she asked. “How he was there for one case and ended up on another?”

  She watched as Freya’s eyes filled. “Hugh doesn’t open up much. Never as a kid. The fact that he wanted to with Keri means it was important. That she shut him down again and again, made it worse. I had hoped that he wouldn’t be afraid to speak again.”

  “He doesn’t appear it to me,” she said.

  If anything, what Freya was saying didn’t sound like the Hugh she knew. She didn’t want to think that he was being someone he wasn’t since his mother said he tried in his marriage and it didn’t work.

  “That’s a good thing,” Freya said. “How is he sleeping? He can’t hide that from someone he is living with.”

  “He has his good nights and bad nights,” she admitted. She didn’t want to say much more.

  Not that Hugh tended to mumble in his sleep or toss and turn. That he got up so he didn’t disturb her in the middle of the night. Or came to bed later.

  “Like any person,” Freya asked. “I know, you don’t want to say much more. I understand.”

  “I’ve told him to talk to me,” she said. “More than once. I feel he has. When he’s ready. I’ve pushed him a few times too. I’m not going to be like his ex. I don’t believe in that. It takes me a long time to fully commit to someone because once I do I don’t walk away. Things happened fast with us, but the commitment isn’t any less.”

  Freya grabbed her hand. “I’m so glad to hear that. I worried when he ended up in the hospital.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “He didn’t tell you that?” Freya asked.

  “No, but I’d like you to.”

  Freya looked around. “I don’t want him mad at me.”