Maddie took a few more steps that brought her to within inches of him. He never failed to take her breath away when he looked at her as if his every hope and dream were tied up with her, which they were. And hers were just as tied up with him.

“Where else was I supposed to be when you were finding out whether we’re having another baby?” He reached out and flipped her sunglasses up, making her wince from the shock of the sunlight on her aching eyes. “You’ve been crying. So it’s a no?” Before she had a chance to respond, she was wrapped in his strong arms, sobbing all over again. “I’m so sorry, honey. We’ll try again next month. We’ll try every month until we get it right.”

She shook her head.

“You don’t want to try again?”

“We don’t have to.”

“I’m confused.”

“I’m pregnant.”

As long as she lived, she’d never forget the expression on his face when her words registered with him. Shock, amazement, awe, love… And then his eyes filled with tears, and she fell in love with him all over again. “You are? Really?”

“Really.”

He crushed her to him, holding her so tight she could barely breathe.

She held on just as tightly to him, her rock, her love, her life.

“If the news was good, why were you crying?” he asked after he held her for several minutes.

“Because I can’t not cry. It seems to be all I do lately.”

“Have I told you today how much I love you?” he asked.

“Don’t be nice to me. It makes me cry.”

His hands on her face made her feel loved and treasured. “I love you more than anything. You have no idea how happy you’ve made me—today and every day.”

“So you’re happy about the baby? Even though we didn’t plan him? Or her?”

“How could I not be thrilled about a baby we’re having together, no matter how he or she came to be? It’s our baby, Maddie. Yours and mine, and I’ll love him—or her—as much as I love you and Thomas and Hailey.”

Maddie held on tight to him, fortified as always by his love.

“But you’ll be having this one in the biggest, safest hospital I can find—on the mainland. You got me?”

“Yes, Mac. I’ve got you.” And she was never, ever letting go.

***

David discharged Marion Martinez at two o’clock with instructions to follow a bland diet for a couple of days. Paul had left to deal with the store and its employees while Alex waited with their mother, who’d been asking every two minutes when his father was coming to get her. The same question, repeated over and over again, had worn on Alex’s already frayed nerves.