Heath stood up then, still seeming not to acknowledge Sachet’s outstretched hand. Sylvie was about to say something when he moved, quick as lightning, and took Momma in his arms, surprising all of them. He gave her a massive bear hug that left Momma laughing and batting at his big biceps.
Heath let her go. “I look forward to having you as a mother-in-law, Mrs. Ford.”
Sylvie clapped her hands in delight. She sat up straighter in the bed. “Now the real question is, where are my boys? I miss their faces.”
“Now that you’re awake, Neesa is going over to pick them up from Meg’s house,” Momma said.
Heath smiled down at Sylvie. “I’m excited to see our boys too. I missed them more than I imagined possible.”
Sylvie sniffled and rubbed her nose. He said our boys.
“Ours,” she agreed.
Epilogue
SYLVIE LOVED PHAE AND KENT’S house. Kent had renovated the old Belleterre Mansion and turned the place into a glorious blend of Victorian architecture and modern technical wizardry. Whenever she was there, she loved to study the intricate carving in the woodwork and imagine who might have created it so long ago. And the robot that roamed the house doing general housework was beyond fascinating.
Phae sat in her favorite easy chair, her roly-poly belly looking ready to pop. She was close to her delivery date now. “Thanks for coming over for dinner, Sylvie. I needed the distraction.” She rubbed her belly and no other explanation was needed.
“You know I love hanging out with you,” Sylvie said. “And they seem to have their own bromance going on over there.”
They looked fondly at their husbands. Heath had spread out the blueprints for the renovation they had planned for the decaying docks down by the river. Kent bent over beside Heath, both of them studying the paper avidly. They were talking away about details that flew over Sylvie’s head.
“They sure are into that,” Sylvie said. “I don’t know what they see in it, but I’m glad they have each other to talk it to death.”
Phae grinned. “I don’t mind talking about it either.”
“Great. I’m the only one who doesn’t get it.”
“Oh, you get it well enough. You just don’t care about it. You’re all artsy and everything, not into construction details.”
Sylvie considered that. It was true … mostly. “I helped design our new house. It’s taking forever to get in all the finishing details, Phae! I don’t know how you could stand waiting while Belleterre was redone.”
“Yeah, it’s tough. Oh! He kicked.” She smiled down at her belly. “Or she kicked. Whichever.”
“You know, you made me lose ten bucks to Aunt Chelly,” Sylvie complained. “I bet her you would have given in by now and found out if you’re having a boy or a girl. I can’t believe you’re still holding out.”
“It’s exciting, not knowing. And it gave me the excuse to buy lots of extra stuff for the nursery and everything, so I have the possibilities covered.”
“If I’d known you were using it as an excuse to buy baby stuff,” Sylvie said, “I never would have accepted Aunt Chelly’s bet.”
“That’s okay. We all know you can afford to lose a little cash now.”
Phae and Sylvie had long since confessed to one another that their husbands were embarrassingly loaded. It was nice, finally, to have someone with whom to share their secrets. They had told no one else, including Neesa.
Of course, anyone who cared to do it, could search Heath on the Internet and find the truth. When Heath had divested himself from the company he had created, there had been some buzz in the financial news. Heath had somehow stifled it. How, Sylvie didn’t know.
The thing was, Heath and Kent just wanted to be regular citizens of Zeke’s Bend, and the best way to accomplish that was to pretend they were no different from anyone else. And at their core, it was true. They were just a couple of married men who loved their wives. Same as a bunch of other guys in town.
Phae brought Sylvie back to the topic of her baby. “It’s driving Neesa crazy, not knowing what I’m having. She’s already made up babysitting schedules for you and me both and seems to think that it’s necessary to know my baby’s sex for the schedule to work properly.”
“She’s just trying to get you to spill the beans.”
“She refuses to accept the fact that the pods are empty. There are no beans to spill.”
Phae’s maid came in and announced that dinner was ready, effectively ending any more speculation about Phae’s baby.
Later, when dinner was over and they were gathered in one of the small, charming sitting rooms, having coffee out of the most exquisite, tiny cups Sylvie had ever seen, Heath leaned over to Sylvie and whispered in her ear.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked.
She nuzzled against him and murmured a choice word or two. She wanted him to know exactly what she was thinking, and it had to do with the big, empty bed waiting for them at home.
“Geez, can you guys save the mushy stuff until you get home, at least?” Phae said teasingly. “You newlyweds are —”
“Wonderful,” Kent supplied with a wink.
“That’s not what I was going for,” Phae said.
“Remember, you were once a newlywed.”
“That was forever ago,” Phae teased. “We’re an old married couple now.”
Sylvie pushed Heath away and grinned. “How funny is it that we should wind up like this, Phae. Both of us old, married ladies. Who’d have thought?”
“I don’t know about you, Kent, but they don’t look like old ladies to me.”
“Oh, go on,” Phae said. “Seriously, go on. I’m huge as a house.”
“But you’re not old,” Kent quipped, ducking when Phae threw a pillow at him.
Sylvie and Heath left not long afterward, knowing Phae needed her rest. And anyway, Neesa was babysitting at Sylvie’s new house and probably needed to get home soon so she could work the next day.
Heath had situated their house on thirty acres of land outside town. She didn’t know how he did it, but he’d somehow gotten the whole thing built
while they were on their honeymoon. They’d only been gone six weeks, so Sylvie shuddered to think what it cost him to get it finished so quickly.
It was a spectacular mansion, two stories, surrounded by sprawling grounds that took half a dozen gardeners to maintain. The house itself was an eclectic mix of styles, bits and pieces of Sylvie’s favorite styles, masterfully blended together to create something new. Sylvie loved it for its color and playful grandness.
Neesa was waiting up when they got home.
“The boys are sleeping soundly,” Neesa said. “They’re the best.”
“They didn’t give you any trouble?”
“What trouble? They’re just being babies,” Neesa answered.
Because it was Neesa saying this, Sylvie knew the boys must have been a trial. Neesa never said a thing against children, but Sylvie could read between the lines.
She hugged Neesa. “You’re the best, you know that?”
“Mmmhmm. Hey, what days are you going to be at the shop this week?”
“I’m taking clients by special appointment on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for now,” Sylvie said.
“Great. Make me an appointment, will you?”
“Sure.”
Meg had taken on a bigger portion of Shear Stylin’s clientele, and they had hired another stylist because business was booming. Sylvie figured she’d ramp up her hours again when the boys went to school in a few years, but right now she was taking the opportunity to spend more time with them.
Since she married Heath, she didn’t have to work unless she wanted to. And as it turned out, she did want to. She was a talented stylist and she loved it. She didn’t want to give it up.
Heath went upstairs to check on the babies while Sylvie walked Neesa to her car.
It was a warm June night and the crickets were chirping along with night birds and the shrill trills of cicadas.
“Think about the loan we offered,” Sylvie said. “It could really help the farm.”
“I know, but I can’t take it,” Neesa said. “It’s gotta make it on its own or it’s not something I should be doing, right?”