Page 28 of A Whisper of Summer Magic

Elise laughed. “You got the baby. That might have warranted a mention in the town’s FaceBook news and social site.”

“Please, no.” Meghan shuddered, once again cursing the short skirt and Jackson’s so-called heroic first responder moves.

It took a minute or two for the paramedic to clear her, and Meghan, humbled, cloaked herself in her tattered and bruised dignity, prepared to hobble to her car.

“Come check out the office,” Elise invited. “It’s close, and I think if the hot first responder is on offer, you should make the move sooner than later.”

“He’s not,” Meghan said firmly. “He’s like five years younger than me.”

“Even better.” Elise’s attention swung back to Jackson, who was back out of the building and conferring with several of his colleagues.

As if sensing their attention, he looked up. His bold gaze swept over her, assessing.

“Yes, please,” Elise practically purred. “You’re entering your sexual prime, and he’s still smack in the middle of his, so my professional advice as well as my friend advice is to pounce.”

Meghan nearly dropped her crutches again as she stared at this new side of Elise.

Elise laughed. “Your face.” She finished her latte and tossed the cup. “I’m happy you called, Meghan. Things are going to get more interesting around here for me and Rosalie.”

They walked toward the clock tower where the Greggor and Associates law offices had been for decades.

“Jackson held you longer than he needed. Does he have one of thoseVs that I’ve only seen in pictures or in movies, unfortunately?”

“I don’t know.” Meghan was a little shocked.

“You could find out.”

“That is never going to happen,” Meghan said darkly.

“If I were a betting person, I’d take you on, but since I might soon be your colleague as well as friend”—Elise grinned wickedly—“you should probably practice not disagreeing with me.”

Meghan followed Elise up Main Street, seeing everything through eyes that felt fresh. The warm morning air was fragrant with scents. The fire truck was packing up, and Meghan said a silent thanks that the fire alarm had not indicated anything too dangerous along the new riverfront development. Her father owned property there, and Rustin’s Wild Side was one of the anchor tenants. There was a calm inside of her, and a feeling almost like drinking sparkling water. Now that she had some breathing room from her clumsy near disaster, the humor began to edge out the humiliation.

Is this happiness?

It had been a while since she’d felt so light, so expectant, and that was with crutches and low-level pain and more than mild embarrassment. Imagine what the next few months would bring.

Meghan followed Elise up the stairs to the offices, hobbling a bit and leaning on Elise a lot, while she felt like the air around her shimmered with hope.

Chapter Six

“Iheard youand Jackson Roberts have a secret baby,” Jessica greeted her when she drove home a couple of hours later. “A girl. Her eyes favor Jackson and her chin you.”

Meghan hobbled the rest of the way into the kitchen and collapsed on the banquette in the breakfast nook with a sigh of relief.

“Actually, she has my eyes”—they were her best feature in her opinion—“his nose and mouth and yeah, she should have my chin. His hair though, please any deity that will listen.”

Jessica laughed, poured her some sparkling water with lemon, and joined her in the breakfast nook. Jessica had already plated apple slices, grapes, and cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches cut in quarters.

“We having a tea party?”

“Without tea, although my new brew”—she indicated a large glass jar sitting outside on a bistro table in a shaft of sunlight—“should be ready to taste-test for my afternoon break.”

“I’m happy to give a second opinion,” Meghan said, wiggled out of her blazer and settled back against the cushions, trying to get comfortable and failing. “If I give you my firstborn, will you please bring me the capri sweats I washed and folded on top of the dryer?”

“The ones that you turned into capris with my pruning shears?” Jessica got up and returned with the sweats, laughing when Meghan wiggled out of the skirt and folded it neatly on the table.

“Thanks.” Meghan sighed in relief.

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