Page 110 of Don't You Dare Marry Me

“You’re telling me.” Nicola nervously glanced toward the door. “Abagail’s picking me up.”

“To help you move?” Nathalie’s voice boomed. “I never pegged her for manual labor.”

Nicola clenched her jaw tightly, trying hard to keep from giggling at what Nathalie had just said. Sometimes it really wasn’t worth the time and attention to bring up her dirty mind to anyone else. “I think she hired some help, but Alanna doesn’t have that much to move anyway. Most of our stuff has been in storage since we were in school.”

“Oh.” Lachlan frowned, as if the realization of what Nicola wasn’t saying was hitting her. Nathalie, however, still seemed oblivious to that.

“Well, this certainly does bring back memories,” Abagail said, stepping into the office and dragging her gaze from Nicola to the other two. “Though I can’t say I miss being here so frequently. The drama in this building is over the top.”

“Nice to see you too, Abagail,” Nathalie fired back, closing up immediately. Her shoulders tensed, and Lachlan slid to stand next to Nathalie and put a hand on her arm. “I didn’t think hiring Nicola would put you in my presence more often.”

Abagail let out a single chuckle. “I see not much has changed in your demeanor, Doctor. Ever take those classes I recommended to better your bedside manner?”

“No,” Nathalie said firmly. “No, I didn’t.”

“Not surprising.” Abagail focused on Nicola. “Are you done for the day?”

“Almost,” Nicola said, a nervous lilt in her voice. “Just need a few more minutes to close out some of these files and shut everything down.”

Nicola put her head down to get that done while Lachlan, Nathalie, and Abagail all stared each other down. She never wanted to be in the room with these three again if she could avoid it. Something about these three powerful women going head-to-head made her so nervous and jittery.

“How’s the baby?” Abagail asked.

“Dawn is great, thank you.” Nathalie smiled, her voice immediately softening.

Oh, Abagail was magic with that. She really did understand how to get to just about everyone, didn’t she? Nicola wished she had half that talent. Well, she did have about half of it, but she’d like the rest, thank you. It’d help so much in the long haul of life, wouldn’t it?

“Growing yet?”

“Yes, she is. It took a while for her to start to catch up once she was out of the NICU, but she’s started holding her head up. Greer sent me a picture of her doing that today.” Nathalie looked deliriously happy. It was such a nice change from her normal jadedness.

“How old is she now?” Abagail asked.

“Five months. Three adjusted.”

Abagail nodded as if that made sense to her. Nicola wondered if it actually did. It hadn’t to Nicola at first. She’d finally gotten the courage to ask Lachlan what that meant one day, and she’d kindly explained it.

“All done,” Nicola said, logging out of the computer and shutting it off. She stood up, making her way around the desk to where she stashed her jacket and her purse in the small break area that they had. She’d never loved having normal working hours until she actually had them. But being able to leave whenthe rest of the world seemed to be done with work for the day was a glorious revelation.

When she got back to the main room, the three of them were talking amicably. She stepped next to Abagail and caught her attention. “All set.”

“Good.”

Nicola went to loop her arm with Abagail’s and then stopped. That was something she’d do and want, but not necessarily what Abagail would do and want. Abagail must have seen her hesitate, because she nodded at Nicola and then held her hand out in front of her, beckoning Nicola to lead the way. Instead of putting her arm in Nicola’s, Abagail pressed a hand to the small of Nicola’s back as they walked toward the door.

As soon as they were outside, Nicola sank into Abagail’s side. This whole weekend was making her nervous, and Abagail had unfortunately borne the brunt of her anxiety in the last few weeks. She was determined to make this as easy a transition for Alanna as possible.

“The movers have most of her things packed up already,” Abagail said as she opened the car door for Nicola to get into the back seat first.

She slid in, nodding at Cal. He’d taken her to work that morning so they wouldn’t have to take more than one vehicle when they picked Alanna up. And this new vehicle, well, Abagail had it modified with all the bells and whistles that Alanna might need. The minivan wasn’t Nicola’s first choice, but it was the easiest to get Alanna’s wheelchair in and out of.

“She’s been texting me all day,” Nicola replied nervously. “I think she’s the most excited of all of us.”

“I bet.” Abagail nodded toward Cal to indicate she was ready for him to drive.

Nicola had asked her at one point why she didn’t drive, and Abagail had promptly corrected her that she did drive, just notin town. Nicola had yet to see that though. Any time Abagail had gone out to Windermere to visit with Elia, Nicola had to stay behind for work things or to be with her sister and make all these transitional arrangements.

Next time, though, she swore she’d go out with Abagail and meet up with Elia again. Their dynamic was fascinating to witness. Nicola ran her fingers nervously through her hair.

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