“I brought you a video of Grace doing this weird grunting thing that is typical of preemies. She’s lying in the infant gym that Keaton bought her and playing with the monkey. It’s her favorite animal. I know you can’t watch her yet, but I hope her voice reaches you.” Lark started the video and watched Skye’s face for some reaction. She had no idea if her sister was aware but if anything could reach a new mother, it was adorable baby noises, and Grace made more of those each day.
“Keaton bought a sixty-inch flat-screen and put it in my great room,” Lark complained, cuing up the video to play again. “Apparently he can’t live without football. The thing is monstrous. He insisted we watch a show on the Discovery Channel. It was interesting, but the programing on the History Channel was more to my taste. And then there’s this show about women in search of the perfect wedding dress.” Lark had found that one on her own. The gorgeous wedding dresses had left her contemplating what sort of bridal gown Skye would choose.
Lark surveyed her sister’s bare hand. Surely when she’d gotten pregnant, Jake would have proposed. He’d want to make sure Grace had his name. Lark shied away from considering that Keaton’s brother wasn’t the honorable sort. Had Skye been the one who’d balked? Why, when she’d adored Jake for so long?
After she’d connected with her sister, the rest of Lark’s day bordered on frantic. At least being busy kept her from worrying how Grace and Keaton were doing. Halfway through her shift, she was able to take a twenty-minute break to grab lunch and check her messages. Her inbox was filled with pictures of Grace sleeping peacefully in her bassinet or the mechanical swing Keaton had bought. Her relief was instantaneous. Why had she worried? Grace was in good hands.
Six
Keaton kept his ear tuned to the swing in the living room where Grace slept while he checked out the job the painters had done on what would become the nursery. He’d bought odorless paint, but until it was completely dry and the fumes had cleared, he didn’t want Grace in here.
He hoped Lark would be pleasantly surprised. After seeing her weariness this morning, he’d determined the best thing for her would be moving Grace into her own room so Lark could sleep through the nights she had to work the following day.
“Looks great,” he told the artist he’d hired to decorate the newly painted walls with images plucked from the crib bedding.
“Thanks.” Tracey had placed a monkey above where the changing table would go and a smattering of jungle creatures on the wall opposite the crib. “I hope your wife likes it.”
Keaton didn’t correct her. To explain the complicated relationship between him and Lark would take too much of his energy. Better that he say nothing. “Monkeys are Grace’s favorite, so I’m sure Lark will approve.”
Although Lark hadn’t been overjoyed that Keaton had hired painters, her scowl carried less punch than when he’d first brought up the idea of hiring Jen to clean house and prepare meals a couple times a week. He’d wanted her full-time, but Lark refused. She hadn’t quite given up her determination to do more than was physically possible, but Keaton had his own streak of stubbornness. Grace needed her aunt to be in tiptop shape, and Lark needed to be at full strength to support Skye. He intended to do whatever necessary to see that she was.
From the living room, his satellite phone beeped, announcing a call. Cell coverage had been disrupted at the ranch since the tornado damaged the equipment on the nearby tower. Keaton had picked up a couple satellite phones that he and the foreman used to keep in touch with the various contractors they had working on repairs.
Grace slept peacefully despite the phone ringing nearby, but Keaton decided to take the call in the kitchen. It was close to her feeding time, so he might as well get a bottle ready.
“Keaton, how are you?” His mother sounded relaxed and happy. “How are things at the ranch?”
“Fine, Mom. Everything’s fine. How are you and Dad?” His parents were shopping for retirement property on the Alabama gulf coast.
“We’re enjoying the beach, but your father is frustrated with the real estate market here.” His mother sounded amused. With Keaton in charge of the family ranch, David Holt had been free to throw his abundant energy into finding his wife the perfect home.
“Sorry to hear that.”
“And I think he’s anxious about the ranch. So we’re coming home in a few days.”
“I hope he’s not disappointed with the progress.”
“Do you think Lark would mind if we came over there and spent time with Grace when we get back to town?”