Page 13 of Moonlit Kisses

“You said you’ve been busy at work. When are you going to employ someone to help?” Mom asks. At Mom’s question, everyone’s eyes land on me. They’ve been nagging me for quite some time to get help at the workshop.

I place my knife and fork down and wipe my mouth with my napkin, hiding my smile. “You’ll be happy to know that I have an office manager starting at eight a.m. on Monday.”

Cheers sound out around the table. “Finally!” Mom raises her voice to be heard above the din as Lachlan covers his ears. When he was younger, he probably would have cried at such a sudden noise, but as he’s grown, he’s dealing with the stuff we take for granted.

“How did you find this office manager and are you sure they’re qualified?” Of course, Sarah would be the one to ask about Molly’s qualifications since she’s an office manager herself.

The thing is, I don’t know if Molly has all the qualifications or even if she has any at all. She showed me how capable she was and after she left; I checked the work she’d done, and it was top-notch. For someone who wasn’t familiar with my system, she did a good job. The only thing she hadn’t done on the bookings was assign each vehicle to a bay. I can easily show her through my specific requirements on Monday, knowing she has a good grasp of the overall system.

I must have taken too long to answer my sister. Her forehead creases as she asks, “Sheisqualified, right? You didn’t just hire anyone off the street?”

Leaning my elbow on the table, I rub my thumbnail across my bottom lip in thought. That’s exactly what I did. How do I break it to her?

“Oh my gawd! You did. Are you an idiot?” She rolls her eyes at me and Emma snickers.

“I’m not an idiot, Sarah,” I snap, but then temper my tone. She’s only looking out for my best interests. “She’s highly competent or I wouldn’t have hired her.” I tell them how Molly came to be employed, leaving out the part about her sleeping in her car behind my workshop.

“Has she got somewhere to stay?” Mom asks, fidgeting with her necklace.

I shrug. “I didn’t ask. I would assume she does.”

Mom’s worry increases. “If she’s new to the city, she might need some help to get around and learn the area. Oh, my goodness, will she know which areas she should stay away from?”

My stomach drops. Shit, I didn’t think about any of that. I assumed she knew where she was heading. What if she ends up renting a place in an unsavory area? I didn’t get any contact details for her, so I can’t check if she’s okay. She’d be okay, right? I mean, she drove across the country on her own, for fuck’s sake. Fuck. NowI’mworried about her. I check the time—only eighteen hours until I see for myself that she’s okay.

“Now, when you leave work for the day, you can leave your work behind. That’s great news, Son. It’s been a long time coming for you.” Dad pats my shoulder, drawing me back into the conversation, as he steps past me to place his dishes on the counter near the sink.

“How are things going at your office, Sarah? Any news on Eric’s retirement?” Emma asks.

Sarah blows out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping forward. “Something happened and delayed Adam’s move to the west coast. I’m not sure when things will change.”

Emma gives Sarah a sympathetic smile. “Well, on the positive side of things, it means you get to work with Eric longer.”

“That’s true, and it’s something I’m cherishing.” She tucks a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “I love working with Eric and you guys know how I feel about change.”

“Eric’s grandson might be a lot like him. You never know, it might be a seamless transition.” I do my best to put her at ease because I know how much Sarah dislikes change.

She nods as she places her silverware down, her expression serious. “I have something I wanted to talk with you guys about.”

We all give Sarah one hundred percent of our attention. “What is it, Love?” Mom asks.

She blows out a breath. “Please don’t judge me. I’ve thought long and hard about this and it’s the right decision for me. I’m hoping you’ll all be supportive.”

Creases form between Dad’s eyebrows. “Of course, we’ll support you.”

“Great.” She blows out a long breath. “I’ve decided I want to have a baby.” The silence in the room is loud. “I’m not getting any younger and it’s impossible to meet someone decent. Someone I’d want to raise a family with.”

Mom’s hand rises to fidget with her necklace. “Oh. Well … uh … that’s unexpected news. How will you make this happen?”

“There are agencies that help women like myself. I complete a whole heap of paperwork, give them a whole wad of money, and they give me sperm from a baby-daddy of my choosing.”

“My sister, Anna, did that.” Theo looks across at Kenny with eyes full of love and adoration. “That’s how we ended up with Kenny.”

“Do you know which agency she used?”

Theo thinks for a moment. “I don’t, sorry. Dad might know, though. I’ll ask him and let you know.”

Sarah smiles at him. “Thanks.”

“This isn’t the way we expected you to be having a baby, but we’ll support you in any way we can.” Dad reaches across, patting Sarah’s hand with love and affection.

We all offer our support to Sarah in any way we can as she finds a baby-daddy and into the future, through her pregnancy, and then into motherhood. We clean up from dinner and then Sarah places a chocolate birthday cake on the table for Emma. I’m incredibly thankful we still have Emma with us to celebrate her birthday. I was worried we were going to lose her this time last year, before she got her proper diagnosis, and we didn’t quite know what was going to happen. We sing happy birthday in our usual terribly off-key fashion and then enjoy the delicious cake baked by my younger sister. She’s been the designated birthday cake maker since she was old enough to bake.

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