Authors: Laura Bradford
A Mom for Callie (18 page)
“Are you ready?”
With a final glance in the floor-to-ceiling mirror Tom had propped against the tree for their use, Betsy nodded. “I've been ready since the moment he asked.”
“Then let's do it,” Angela said. Peering over Betsy's shoulder, she blew a kiss at herself. “You know what?”
“What's that?”
“You were right. I can stop traffic all on my own.”
“I'm not too shabby for an old married lady.”
Betsy smiled at the reflection of her friend. “Are you kidding? You'd stop traffic, married or not.”
Angela smiled. “Well, in about six months, Tom and I will have a little traffic-stopper of our own.”
“You're pregnant?”
“Yep.”
Squealing, Betsy turned from the mirror and wrapped her arms around her friend. “How long have you known?”
“I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so tired all the time. And then one night it hit me.”
She peeked through the line of oak trees that sepa
rated them from the bridge, her eyes searching for Kyle's best man. “Is he ecstatic?”
“Well, I've gotten a foot rub every night for the past week along with a box of chocolate and a bouquet of flowers, too.”
“Flowers and chocolate every day?” she asked as she pulled her focus from the crowd of people who'd assembled by the foot of the bridgeâa crowd that included most of the Cedar Creek Police Department, as well as her agent and editor and a photographer from
Dreams Come True Magazine.
“Every day. Like clockwork.”
“I'm glad. You deserve it.” Glancing into the mirror one last time, she inhaled deeply, the setting sun warm against her face. “Angela?”
“Yes?”
“I've never been this happy in my entire life.”
“And this is just the beginning. It's only going to get better from here on out.”
Stretching her hand outward, she grasped her friend's hand inside her own. “Thank you, Angela. For everything.”
“You're welcome. Now let's get out of here before my little traffic-stopper sends me off in search of a porta-potty.”
“Roger that.” Squaring her shoulders, she inhaled deeply once again, willing her mind to remember every detail of this day. Every detail of Kyle's face when he saw her, every word they exchanged in the presence of their friends and family.
She looked toward the keyboardist for her cue as Angela headed down the pathway that would lead her to the bridge. When her friend had reached her final
destination, the music started, signaling the start of a life she couldn't wait to embrace.
Step by step she walked down the path, the faces of their guests blurring in her memory as she rounded the corner toward Paxton Bridge. As she began her ascent onto the stone structure that had started it all, their eyes metâhers, Kyle's and Callie's.
And while the official proclamation was still moments away, she already knew it to be trueâ¦
They were a family. Forever and always.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6061-4
A MOM FOR CALLIE
Copyright © 2010 by Laura Bradford.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected]
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
