Page 112 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
He broke the kiss, but kept his lips inches away. “I’d like to keep doing that, but you have more months to look at in the calendar. We’re only on September.”
What were a few more months? She pulled away and flipped the page. “All right, let’s see what we have next. Oh, my goodness!”
Danny smiled into the camera. He was wearing his PJs and holding the framed photo she’d taken for him of a baby camel in Egypt.
“He’s totally on board with this plan,” Andy assured her. “This was his way of letting you know it.”
“If your plan was to make me bawl, you’ve succeeded.” She turned to face him. “I need you to know I love him, and I hope you’ll let me be a good mother to him. I know Danny’s not mine per se, but I’d…want to treat him with the same love and respect I’d give all our other children.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” he said, his eyes shining with tears. “I’d want you to love him like that. He deserves it. He’s a…really special kid.”
“Yeah, he is,” she said, hugging him again. “And he has a really terrific father.”
Perhaps because he’d given her the permission to be Danny’s mother, Andy folded up and went to pieces. She held him through the storm.
Once his tears had quieted, he whispered, “I guess that was harder for me than I thought. It’s not that I don’t know you’ll be a great mom to him. It’s just… How can I explain? I’m still sad he won’t know Kim, you know? It doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”
“I understand that,” she said, caressing his back as heshuddered. “It’s okay to feel that way. And it will be okay when Danny misses her. It won’t hurt me, Andy. Kim was his mother, and she’s gone. We’ll figure it out.” Just like Arthur had said they would.
“Yeah, we’ll figure it out.”
“Shall I turn the next page?” she asked, sensing he was back to himself.
“By all means. This one’s my favorite.”
November was a simple portrait of Andy gazing into the camera. His eyes were as soft as the smile on his face.
“Do you remember the photo you took of me thinking about Kim?” he asked.
She nodded, and her heartbeat started to pound because she already knew what he was going to say. “Yeah.”
“This is me thinking about you,” he said, reaching for her hand again. “I wanted you to see how much I love you too.”
And she did. He’d looked straight into the camera, baring his soul to her. And those smile crinkles around his eyes spoke of joy.
“I love it,” she said, hugging it to her heart. “Out of all the photos I’ve ever seen in my whole life, this one might be my favorite. I take it Moira shot this one yesterday.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m so going to owe her for this.”
Lucy decided she was going to do something special to say thank you to his sister—her new friend. Then she realized Moira was going to be family one day, her family. “She wants you to be happy.”
“Yeah,” he answered easily, “and since she’s going to be the director of the Artemis Institute here in Dare Valley, I’m going to have plenty of time to make it up to her.”
“Oh, she got the job! That’s great news.”
“She told all of us last night after she signed thepapers. Another Hale returns to Dare Valley. Caroline’s a goner. There’s no way she’ll be able to remain the solo hold-out in Denver.”
Lucy wasn’t so sure about that, but who knew? She was back in Dare Valley, after all, and this would be home from here on out.
“Shall we look at December?” he asked, running his hand down her hair in the most soothing of caresses.
She flipped the page triumphantly. December was a repeat of the photo on the front—Andy and Danny sitting in white Adirondack chairs on his porch. “I love this photo of you two.” They were going to be her guys, she realized.
“You don’t get it, do you?” he asked, sighing. “I told Moira it was too subtle.”
“Let me look closer,” she said, and brought it closer to her face.
Suddenly everything came into focus.
