“Oh, nothing for me,” Annajane said, as her stomach grumbled the message that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She looked at Mason, who’d removed his tux jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “Any news about the patient?” she asked.

“The nurse just came out and said Sophie’s doing fine,” Celia volunteered. “So I was hoping maybe I could lure this crazy man of mine into finally relaxing and eating something.” She reached over and gave Mason’s knee an affectionate squeeze.

“And I was just trying to tell her that this hospital gives me the creeps, and I really don’t want to eat anything here,” Mason said, looking up at Annajane with an expression she couldn’t quite fathom.

“Well,” Annajane said brightly, looking from Mason to Celia to Pokey. “It’s been a long day. And if the nurse says Sophie’s all right, that’s a huge relief. Maybe I’ll go on home and check back here in the morning. I’ll get here early, hopefully before she wakes up.”

“I think that’s a very sensible idea,” Celia agreed, nodding her head vigorously. “There’s really nothing you can do here tonight, Annajane. The nurse said they’ll only let family back, once she’s in the recovery room. Mason and I will keep a vigil, won’t we, darlin’?”

Mason frowned slightly. “Annajane is family.”

Celia laughed a silvery, hollow little laugh. “Of course. But she probably wants to go home and shower and get out of that stinky dress, don’t you think?” She studied Annajane’s face dispassionately. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you do look pretty beat.”

Annajane looked down at herself. Her shoes were spattered with something unspeakable, her stockings had runs in both legs, and the dress was history. She felt her shoulders slump. She was no match for Celia’s effortless perfection. She should go.

“I’ll call you if there’s any change,” Mason said as he stood.

Clearly, Annajane thought, he wants to be alone with his bride.

“I’d better get home to make sure Pete puts the little heathens to bed,” Pokey announced.

“I’ll walk you both to your cars,” Mason offered.

10

“I’m right there,” Pokey said, pointing to the Range Rover she’d parked in the ambulance loading zone.

Mason and Annajane watched Pokey scramble into the driver’s seat and zoom off into the darkness.

It wasn’t until she saw her friend’s taillights disappear that Annajane remembered that she’d arrived at the hospital in the ambulance—and that her own car was parked back at the church.

“Oh hell,” she told Mason. “I don’t have a car here, and neither do you.”

“That’s right.” Mason scratched his neck absentmindedly.

“I’ll call her and get her to come back for me,” Annajane said, reaching in her purse for her cell phone. A moment later she disconnected. “She must still have her phone turned off,” she said.

Mason reached in his pocket and brought out a set of keys. “I’ll give you a ride,” he said. “We can take Celia’s Saab.” He pointed in the direction of the parking lot and started walking. “It’s right over there.”

“Shouldn’t you check with her?” Annajane said uneasily.

“I don’t have to ask Celia’s permission to give you a ride, Annajane,” Mason snapped. “She’s my fiancée, not my supervisor. And she trusts me.”

That last sentence hung in the air. Trust. Celia trusted him. Annajane hadn’t. And here they were, many years later. Some things hadn’t changed.

“Suit yourself,” Annajane said finally. “I just meant maybe you should let her know you’ll be gone for thirty minutes. So she won’t think you’ve disappeared.”

He scowled. “Be right back.”

Fifteen minutes passed. It was getting dark, and the temperature had started to dip as the sun dropped. Annajane hugged herself and rubbed her arms, shifting from one foot to the other in an attempt to keep warm. But she would not go back inside the waiting room. Obviously Mason had underestimated his need for Celia’s approval for this little outing.

She grinned and wished Pokey were around to enjoy the drama.

Finally, Mason strode through the emergency room doors. “Let’s go,” he said brusquely.

An uneasy silence fell between them as Mason expertly shifted the Saab into gear.

“Everything okay?” Annajane asked.

“It’s all good,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road. “Thank you for insisting we get Sophie to the hospital. I guess … I guess I was kidding myself thinking the wedding could go on.”

“I’m sorry about your wedding. Celia was a beautiful bride. But I’m glad things turned out all right with Sophie,” Annajane murmured.

“Celia really adores Sophie,” he blurted out a moment later.

“I’m sure she does,” Annajane said, although she was certain of no such thing.

“It’s a lot for anybody to deal with,” Mason went on. “Not just being a stepmother, but, you know, taking on my, uh, daughter by a woman she’s never met.”

*   *   *

As far as Annajane knew, nobody in the family had ever met Sophie’s mother.

One day, while they were still legally separated, but before the divorce was final, Mason knocked on her office door and stepped in and closed it carefully.

The visit took Annajane by surprise. Since their split, Mason had gone out of his way never to be alone with her.

He sat stiffly on the edge of the chair facing hers and cleared his throat.

“Look,” he said finally. “I’ve got something I need to tell you. I was seeing this woman…”

Annajane held up her hand. “Stop right there, Mason. You’re single now, and who you see, or what you do, no longer affects me on a personal level.”

He scowled. “Will you just listen? This is important. The thing is, we’re not really together now, this woman and I. We were only together for a short time, actually, and then she got pregnant. But I only recently found out about the baby.”

Annajane heard herself gasp out loud.

Mason cleared his throat and plunged ahead. “Sophie is three months old now. Her mother, Kristy, is single, divorced, actually. And she and the baby had been living with Kristy’s mom, down in Jacksonville. But Kristy’s mom just died of breast cancer. And Kristy—she’s not a bad person, but she’s probably not mother material. She could handle the baby, while her mom was living there and helping out. Now, though … she’s pretty overwhelmed. She wants to go back to her job, and Sophie is kind of cranky, I guess you’d say, right now. So, uh, here’s the deal. Sophie’s coming to live with me.”

Annajane laughed despite herself. “Right. You’re gonna be raising a baby. Three men and a baby. Only not.”

“Yes,” he said, glaring at her. “I am. Is this somehow funny to you?”

At that moment, it dawned on her that Mason was perfectly serious.

“Are you telling me that you’re an unwed father?” she said finally.

He shook his head in disgust. “If that’s what you want to call it.” He stood. “Okay, I can see this was a mistake. I just thought I owed you an explanation, because I realize, as soon as it gets out that I’ve adopted Sophie, some people are going to just assume I was having an affair with Kristy while I was married to you.”

Annajane swallowed. “Were you?”

“No,” Mason said quietly, getting up from his chair. “I never met Kristy until after we were separated. You can take my word for it or not, but as God is my witness, that’s the truth, Annajane.”

Sophie’s arrival had, as Mason predicted, stirred up a lot of gossip in Passcoe. And although the knowledge that Mason fathered a child with another woman had come as yet another searing blow to Annajane’s already-battered ego, she found herself curiously drawn to the motherless infant.

“Is she not the yummiest little thing you’ve ever seen?” Pokey crooned, the first time she held the sleeping child in her arms. “No denying she’s a Bayless, either. Look at those eyebrows! And that high forehead. She is Mason made over.”