Page 41 of Reunion at Mistletoe Lodge
“I’m voting yes, too,” Courtney said, smiling at Liam. “And I go where Liam goes.”
Liam smiled at Courtney and lovingly put his arm around her.
“I have to stay where Miss Paige stays.” Herschel’s eyes filled with apology as they met Liam. “But, sir, if I might speak honestly.” Zac nodded. “I, for one, have seen the lengths you’d go to for your family. You sacrificed your heart for your brother. I have no idea where to even start, but I’d be proud to help you try to win back your wife and kids—they’re the family you need to make sacrifices for now.”
“I second that!” Liam stated, turning to look at his younger twin. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help repair your relationship with Barb.”
“I’m with them,” Paige stated, pointing from Liam to Herschel.
“I’m voting yes too,” Courtney told them. “So even if you want to run away,” she warned, “the four of us are going to stay and fight for you.”
Zac felt a lump burn his throat as he looked into four pairs of eyes, waiting for his reply. His heart skipped a beat as he glanced toward Barb’s bungalow. Zac remembered the bunch of roses she’d gotten, and he had no doubt they’d come fromDoctor Reece. A surge of anger washed over him, and he turned to the group in the room.
“Like Herschel, I have no idea where we’d even start or if Barb will ever forgive me,” Zac told them. “But I’m willing to try and fight for the woman I love and my kids.”
“Good, so operation Win Back Barb and the Kids begins with the Christmas Decorating Competition!” Paige said, grinning.
CHAPTER 12
Barb
Barb’s entire body felt like it was vibrating with waves of pain after Zac and Liam had left. She moved on autopilot, tending to Charlotte and trying desperately to maintain a facade of normalcy, a thin veil over the emotional storm raging within her, to shield her daughter.
“Here you go, sweetheart,” Barb smiled into her little girl's eyes as she fed her. “Not too hot, just right for you.”
As she watched her daughter drink from her bottle, Barb felt her heart warm to a point where she could push the pain of Zac aside. There wasn’t even a slight victory to be had from knowing she’d been right about Zac having literally stepped into his brother’s shoes. A part of Barbhad hoped she’d been wrong, and it really had been Zac who had lost his memory.
At least then, the pain of seeing him in that newspaper clipping with a woman attached to his arm or not being told about his accident would make sense to her. It would still be excruciatingly painful—but it would make sense! Barb could’ve at least clung to some part of Zac that hadn’t been a lie in the two years they’d spent together. At least she’d be able to believe he really had loved her and Oscar—they weren’t just a way to pass the time in Africa.
Zac had lied to her about everything. He’d known Trevor was still alive. He’d changed his phone number. Barb closed her eyes and swallowed, the bitter taste of betrayal lingering in her mouth, remembering staring at the text messages she’d sent Zac over the past eleven months. Like the voice messages she’d sent him, they had either not gone through or remained unheard. Now Barb knew it was because Zac had changed his number. The realization of Zac's deception was a bitter pill to swallow, intensifying her senseof betrayal.
Zac hadn’t just changed his number but his entire personality to morph into his older twin brother and then try to deceive even her. Barb was so happy that Oscar hadn’t yet seen him. It was one thing to break her heart but she wouldnotlet Zac and his family confuse or hurt her son.
“Maybe we should leave Mistletoe Lodge?” Barb suggested to Charlotte as she picked her up to rub feeding wind from her. “At least I don’t have to worry about your father breaking your heart just yet, sweetie.” Her protective instinct towards her children was palpable. Her unwavering determination to shield them from the harsh truth was like a fortress.
Barb stood, gently patting Charlotte on the back as she walked to the window. She could see the Shields’ chalet from the kitchen and dining room window. Her heart hammered wildly at the thought that Zac was just a few feet away. But she reigned her feelings and wayward thoughts in.
“If my time with Zac taught me anything,” Barb muttered to herself, her voice tinged with bitterness, “it’s that I hardly know Zac Shields at all.” The bittertruth of her lack of knowledge about Zac was a painful realization, shattering the image of him she had held.But you knew him well enough to know he wasn’t really Liam, her subconscious argued. “Oh, shut up!” She mentally shook the thought away as Charlotte expelled a few winds. “There you go.”
Barb cradled Charlotte in her arms. “You are looking so much better, my angel.” She kissed her daughter's forehead. “And you feel so much cooler.”
Walking into Charlotte's room, Barb found the baby rocker chair with brightly colored characters hanging from the bar. She took it through to the living room. After moving the coffee table to one side of the room, she placed the rocker where it had stood.
“There you go,” Barb said to her daughter, putting a blanket over her. “Nice and warm. Mommy’s going to heat her breakfast.”
Barb had just put her food in the oven to heat it when there was a knockat the door.
“Great!” she muttered as she hesitated for a moment, wondering if she kept quiet, whoever it was might go away. But the knock came again, and she went to answer it. “I’m obviously not meant to have breakfast today.”
Barb swung the door open and found a young woman with golden hair peeking out from beneath a woolen cap and big, warm brown eyes that enhanced the smile on her face, which was dotted by deep dimples.
“Hi!” Even her voice was bright and cheery. “I’m Jackie Reece. Emily and Heather hired me to help you with Charlotte.”
“Uh…” Barb gaped at the woman, and for a moment, she was sure she had seen a shimmering light surrounding Jackie’s head and the outline of her wings. She shook her fanciful thoughts aside and got a grip of herself. “Hi.” She held out her hand, and Jackie’s gloved one took it. “I’m Barb.”
“Emily called me this morning and asked if I could come in. I believe you and Charlotte had a rough night,” Jackie told her, pulling the large envelope from beneathher arm. “This is for you. It’s a copy of my nursing degree, my work experience at the last hospital I worked at, and proof of my current studies to further my degree to become a nurse practitioner specializing in pediatrics.”
Barb’s eyes widened in surprise as she took the envelope. “Wow!” She was impressed. “May I ask why you’re working as a nanny when you are so overqualified, and the healthcare industry is so in need of nurses?”
