Fall to You (Here and Now 2)

But I can’t do that, so I’m left here, helpless in the darkness, jealous of a dead man.

MAYBE IT’S the hormones, but looking at William and Cally’s wedding cake has my eyes watering and my chest feeling painfully full. Simple tiers of white cake covered with silky fondant, it’s beautiful—just like they are together.

“It’s done,” Liz says behind me. “And it’s gorgeous. Quit fussing and go get a shower.”

The gallery is decorated for the ceremony, and since this is where the reception will be as well, I set up the cake in the back corner by the big windows that overlook the New Hope River.

“Need any help?” a deep voice asks behind me.

I turn and see Max holding a baby girl with a mop of dark hair.

I open my mouth. I should say something. Anything. But I can’t. My mouth is dry and my heart feels like it’s trying to claw its way out of a shallow grave because Max is holding a baby—cradling her in his arms—his lips curling into a smile every time his gaze dips to her face, and she keeps reaching her pudgy little fist up to touch the scruff along his jaw. The sight has so many conflicting emotions racing through me that I can hardly stand up straight, let alone sort them out.

“Is that Meredith’s baby?” Liz asks, maybe a little too much hostility in her voice.

Max raises a brow. “This is my daughter, Claire,” he says patiently.

I reach for her. It’s instinct. I need to hold that baby. I’m rewarded with Max’s slow, easy smile as he settles Claire into my arms, and as soon as I feel her warmth and smell her skin, I remember that I’ve held her before. And I loved her then too.

That doesn’t even make sense, but she’s a baby, a part of Max. Loving this child is as natural as breathing.

“How can something that came from Meredith be so cute and loveable?” Liz asks under her breath.

“She gets it from me,” Max says, winking at my sister. “Do you two need any help this morning? I was about to take Claire to my mom’s for the day, so I’ll be available.”

Reluctantly, I hand Claire back to Max. “I think everything’s set here. I’m going to go grab a shower and then start getting pretty.”

“Too late,” he says. “You’re already beautiful.”

I look down at my yoga pants and my stretched-out old T-shirt covered in smudges of white flour and frosting. “You need to raise your standards.”

Max drops a quick kiss on my forehead before leaving. It’s not until he’s gone that I realize Liz is staring at me like I have two heads.

“You want to tell me what that was about?” she asks.

Feeling my cheeks warm, I shrug and turn to pack up my supplies to haul back to the bakery.

She gasps. “You had sex last night.”

My cheeks go from warm summer day to inferno. “He is my fiancé,” I whisper defensively. I grab a towel from my supplies and wipe at my shirt, more for something to do than anything.

Liz clears her throat. “So how was he?”

Is there something hotter than an inferno?

“Man!” Her blond curls bounce as she scoops a box of supplies into her arms. I load up too and we head toward her car. “I am so freaking jelly. Do you know how long it’s been since I had sex?”

“I’ve offered to help with that.”

Somehow, I’m not surprised that Sam appeared on the sidewalk at just that moment. He has a tendency to appear any time Lizzy is complaining about her sex life.

Liz shoves the box she is carrying into Sam’s arms. “Thanks.”

He doesn’t even complain, just loads it into the trunk when she opens it then helps me load mine. “Need anything else, ladies?”

“I think that’s everything,” I say.

“Anything else at all?” he asks, running his eyes over Liz.