Page 210 of It Happened on the Lake

Joel swung wide for a corner, and the car skidded a bit, then settled back into the lane. There was more traffic now as they were heading back to the city, flashes of bright illumination as cars passed them. “Do you really want to live with your dad and stepmom?” he asked.

“No!”

“If you think it’s bad now, how do you think it will be once the baby arrives?”

She didn’t have to guess. “Marcia isn’t happy about it. You know that. I don’t think she’s gonna be one of those hands-on grandmas.” Not like Gram was. Warm and loving and always hoping to spend time with Harper and Evan. Her heart twisted. Oh, how she missed Gram, the woman who knew the answer to anything, it seemed, and who had loved her with all her heart. Clearing her throat, Harper ignored the pain and said, “I can’t really see Marcia heating bottles and changing diapers.”

“Me, neither.”

“But you can see yourself doing that?” she asked. She didn’t think he was being as up front with her as he’d like her to believe.

“Sure. How tough can it be?” He threw her a cocky grin.

She thought about it. Not buying it. Sensing there was something more going on here. “And what’s in this marriage for you?” she finally asked.

“You.”

“Got to be more,” she said, drawing away so that she was leaning on the passenger door.

“My future,” he said, elaborating. “Maybe it’s time for me to settle down. A wife and kid. It could be cool.”

“And if it’s not?” she asked, hardly daring to believe that Joel Prescott was the answer to her prayers.

“If it’s not?” He slid her a glance. “Let’s just make sure it is.” He smiled then and again, that hard, ice-cold part of her heart, the space where distrust dwelled, started to melt.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We barely know each other.” And that was the truth. They’d been dating less than three weeks.

“So, we’ll get to know each other after we tie the knot. Come on, Harper, what’ve you got to lose?”

She bit her lip. “If Chase comes back—”

“He isn’t coming back, Harper.”

“Butifhe did.”

“We would figure it out,” Joel insisted, and that’s what she liked about him, his self-confidence.

Something she could use a little of herself.

“If he loves you as much as you think he does, then he’d fight for you, right?” Joel reasoned. “He wouldn’t rest until you were back in his arms.”

That stung.

Because, deep down, she wasn’t sure.

She bit her lip. She was tempted. Why not throw caution to the wind?

“Look, Harper, I want to take care of you.”

They came to a stop sign. Literally a crossroads. One way was to the security and tension of the apartment with her father and stepmother. The opposite direction led to the bright, shimmering lights of Las Vegas. Sin City. The unknown. Her heart thumped at the thrill, the daring of it all.

Was she going to be a scared, coddled little girl, hiding her pregnancy? Living with parents who didn’t want her, didn’t want her child?

Or was she going to step forward, live her own life, become a mother on her own terms?

And a wife.

Remember that, Harper. You’ll be Joel Prescott’s wife.

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