She stared straight ahead at nothing in particular. Her eyebrows twitched, her mouth firmed—and then relief overshadowed everything else.

  Animated, she reached for his forearm. “She’s going to be okay.”

  Though he kept his attention on the road, Austin grabbed that promise like a lifeline. “You think, or you know?”

  “I know.”

  A quick glance showed him her blinding smile. The confidence that was such a part of Cory allowed Austin to believe, too. “You see something?”

  “Yes, and it’s a wonderful scene.”

  He still needed to find out what had happened, but optimism lifted the heavy weight from his chest, allowing him to drink in a cleansing breath. “You can give me the details in a minute.” For now, he wanted to hurry inside to his sisters. Rapidly, he parked and rounded the hood.

  Her smile still in place, Cory hopped out before he reached her and fell into step beside him. “She’ll be fine,” she murmured. “She’ll be fine.”

  Amazing Cory. She was his life.

  “I love you, Cory. So damn much.” He pushed open the entry doors, and they stepped inside. “Thank you for being you.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  They almost collided with Joe on the way to the ER, each of them hurrying, coming from different directions. Seeing Austin, Joe said, “Stay with your sisters,” and continued his ground-eating stride.

  “Wait.” Austin snagged his arm. “Have you seen her yet?”

  “Just got here.” Looking tortured, Joe pulled free, anxious to get to his wife.

  “Cory says she’ll be okay.”

  The words stalled Joe. Slowly, he turned, his gaze first on Austin, then shooting past him to land on Cory. With near savage intensity, he stepped closer and demanded, “Tell me you’re sure.”

  Amazing. So Joe would believe Cory without question?

  Cory didn’t balk at Joe’s intensity. “I see her a few years from now with my daughter—our daughter,” she clarified, smiling at Austin. “Though she’s too young to understand, Luna is holding her and telling her about the special gifts she inherited from Dad and me.” Cory touched his arm. “I don’t know how badly she’s injured right now, but I do know she will be fine. I swear it to you.”

  Some of the volatile emotion left Joe’s expression, making him look less dangerous. With one sharp nod, he drew her in for a quick hug. “Thanks, hon.” Then he was off again.

  Keeping Cory close, Austin looked toward the seating area, where his sisters waited. Raine, who stood in the open doorway, had one fisted hand pressed to her stomach, the other to her mouth. Her eyes were wide and swimming with tears.

  Behind her fist, she smiled.

  So she’d overheard? Then those must be tears of relief.

  He had that confirmed when she charged out and threw herself against Cory. “I’m so glad you’re here and that you know Mom will be all right.”

  “I’m glad I’m here, too,” Cory said, looking over her head at Austin. “It’s where I belong.”

  With him. In good times and bad. Austin’s throat went thick. Cory didn’t just have a gift. She was a gift.

  And she was his.

  “Will you tell me everything?” Raine asked. “I don’t want to be afraid.”

  “Of course.” Cory led her to where two cushioned chairs sat together. Heads close, they spoke in quiet conversation.

  Willow hadn’t been near enough to hear, and Austin could see she was still scared. Clay held her against his chest, rocking her slightly, kissing her temple. Consoling her and caring for her. Neither of them had yet noticed his arrival.

  In their darkest times, after their mother’s death when they’d been left alone, in that void before Luna had arrived, Willow had looked out for him. She’d protected him and done her best to care for him.

  As a little boy, he couldn’t do much in return except be disgruntled at his helplessness—and show his gratitude in how fiercely he defended her against anyone who dared to insult her. Now, thanks to Cory, he could finally give his sister something substantive, something more than his love and loyalty.

  Walking into the room, he said softly, “Willow?”

  Her head lifted. “Austin.” She rushed over, dragging Clay in her wake.

  Before she could say a word, Austin spoke. “Cory says she’ll be fine, and you know Cory is never wrong.”

  Coming to a jarring halt, Willow stared at him. Her dark eyes, so much like his own, filled with hope. “She was wrong about you two marrying.”

  “No,” he whispered. “She wasn’t.”

  Willow’s expression brightened. “You believe Cory?”

  “I do. About everything.”

  Smile tremulous, Willow swiped at her wet cheeks. “Good. Me, too.” She gave Austin an approving hug, then stepped back to Clay. “I’m so relieved, but I still want to see her.”

  “Of course you do.” Cory rejoined them, a smiling Raine beside her. “And you will, very shortly, in fact.”

  Awed, Raine whispered, “Is this something else you know?”

  “Actually, I just heard her.” Cory tilted her head. “You didn’t?”

  They all paused . . . and Luna’s strident voice carried to them, insisting she was fine and demanding that Joe reassure her children.

  Together, they all laughed, the sounds varying from amusement and joy to a release of bone-deep fear.

  That was Luna, always caring for her kids first and foremost. She’d made them into a close-knit family of which she was the heart and soul.

  She wasn’t his mother, but she was his Mom, and that was far more important.

  Opening his arms to his sisters, Austin embraced them tightly—and relished the way they hugged him back. Willow snagged Cory and brought her into the group hug, too. Clay stood back smiling, until Raine grabbed him. They ended up in a big cluster, laughing a little, overwhelmed with relief.

  Beleaguered, Joe stuck his head around the corner. “She’s fine,” he said first, drawing everyone’s attention and breaking them apart. “It looks bad, but I swear it isn’t. A few bruises on her cheek and forehead. Before she was found, she was helping the idiot driver who veered into her lane, and he had a head wound that got blood everywhere.” Half under his breath, Joe muttered, “Damn near stopped my heart.”

  Jamie and Faith came onto the scene just then. In his sage way, so unlike his daughter and her blurted insights, Jamie said, “The other driver has a broken arm, but is otherwise fine, as well.” He held out a bag. “We brought one of Faith’s shirts for Luna to change into.”

  Without missing a beat, Joe not only accepted the proffered shirt, but thanked Jamie with a one-arm hug and a firm clap to the back that left the other man staggering.

  Joe didn’t seem to notice as he turned to Austin, Willow, and Raine. “Give them a few minutes to finish checking her over and cleaning her up. Then you can see her. Oh, and she said to tell you she loves you all—that includes Clay and Cory—and she’s sorry for the fuss.” His gaze rolled over to Jamie. “Anything I’m missing?”

  Jamie shrugged. “We’ll celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday together, at our house, so Faith can pamper Luna.”

  “She won’t like that,” Faith said cheerfully. “But I’ll insist.”

  “Got it. Luna can return the shirt then.”

  Austin took in the group of them and couldn’t help chuckling. There may have been a time when Joe didn’t trust Jamie’s insight, but he certainly did now. He hadn’t even questioned how Jamie knew about the blood or the other driver.

  Not only that, Joe trusted Cory, too. They were all wonderfully unique, all part of his life, and knowing that filled him with satisfaction.

  “Someone hit your funny bone?” Joe asked.

  “I’m going to love tying our families together through marriage. That is, if Cory will—”

  “She will,” Jamie said, which earned him a slug in the shoulder from Faith.

  “Let her answer, will you?” Faith turned to Cory with a wide smile. “Go on, honey.”

  “Yes.” Cory stepped close to Austin, squeezing him tight. “Definitely yes.”

  Grinning, Joe made an about-face. “If I don’t tell Luna the news right away, I’ll catch hell.” He headed back to his wife with a quickened step.

  Seconds later, they all heard Luna’s triumphant, “Yes!”

  And then they heard Joe insisting that she couldn’t yet get out of the bed, and he couldn’t parade them all through.

  It was another ten minutes before Luna was allowed visitors.

  Only one person was allowed back at a time, and by silent agreement, Willow and Austin let Raine go first—not because Luna was more her mother; that wasn’t possible—but because Raine was the youngest.

  When Raine returned a few minutes later, crying happy tears, Willow didn’t give Austin a vote, she just shot to her feet and jogged to the curtained alcove.

  Austin didn’t mind. He was with Cory and her parents, and for once, Jamie wasn’t watching him with dark intent.

  Faith started making plans for Mother’s Day at their house, but Cory recruited Austin, and together, they took over. Raine joined in, as did Clay, to insist that they’d handle the food prep, serving, and cleanup, so that the moms, for once, could take it easy.

  When Faith started to argue, Jamie confided, “They’re going to win,” so she gave up gracefully.

  Why put in the effort when she knew how it would end?

  Finally, it was Austin’s turn to see Luna. Cory said, “Give her a hug from me.”

  “She’ll like that.” With a little trepidation and a lot of love, Austin headed to the curtained-off alcove. He found Luna sitting up on the side of the bed, her hair wrecked, since an attendant had obviously washed parts of it to remove blood. Her makeup was smeared, her cheek and forehead bruised, but she wore a beautiful smile.

  Gently, aware that she’d been hurt and he could so easily have lost her, Austin enfolded her in his arms. “That hug was from Cory. This one is from me.” Again, he cradled her close, relishing the fact that she was with him, alive and as effervescent as ever.

  “I do love that girl.”

  “Me, too.” Emotion crowded his throat, making his voice thick. His life might have started out a little rough, without a father, with a mother who died too soon, but thanks to Luna, he now had more blessings than he could count.

  “Congratulations.” Luna pressed him back. “I am so, so happy for you.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” He saw her eyes flare, and a second later, her face softened with the love she so freely gave.

  Typical of Luna, she didn’t make a big deal of it. She didn’t have to. From day one, she’d always understood him to the point that sometimes, words weren’t necessary.

  Austin took a seat beside her on the flat mattress, her hand cradled in his. “Do you remember when you first moved in, and I wouldn’t stay in my bed?”

  “You broke my heart,” she admitted, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Such a little guy, so young, but you didn’t want anyone to know about the nightmares you had when you tried to sleep.”

  “I used to dream that I lost Willow, too.” The memories flooded back, some bad, others incredibly good. “You didn’t tell me I had to go to bed. You didn’t demand I stay in my room. You didn’t even get upset with me.”

  “Of course not, but neither could I let you wander around outside alone, no matter how many times you’d done that.”

  Before Luna. The previous string of relatives who’d stayed with them hadn’t really cared what he did, as long as he didn’t bother them. He’d gotten really good at sneaking out.

  But not good enough.

  Once Luna had arrived, she’d curbed his nocturnal activities in the kindest way.

  “You walked with me, night after night. Down the stairs, around the living room and through the kitchen, along the hall and up the stairs again . . .”

  “Sometimes for hours.” Grinning, she nudged him with her shoulder. “You had boundless energy, it seemed.”

  “But you didn’t, and still you kept our nightly routine. For me.”

  “I loved you on sight. You know that.”

  Yes, he did. “You’ve been loving me for years.” Many years more than his own mother had lived. “You’re my mom, and eventually, you’ll be grandma to my kids.”

  Her eyes went damp. “You’re my son, and I love you with all my heart.”

  Same as she did Willow and Raine.

  Suddenly, she twisted to face him. “Wait! You said grandkids?” Eyes rounding, she warned, “Don’t you dare tease me, Austin. You know how much I’ll love being a grandma.”

  He couldn’t suppress a grin. “Bet you said the same thing to Willow.”

  “I did, but she and Clay want to wait a bit, and that’s okay, too.”

  “Well.” Austin gave her a slanted look. “I don’t know how soon it’s happening, but Cory did mention that we’d have two sons and a daughter.”

  “Oh my. Three?” Putting a hand to her heart, Luna said, “I wonder if Faith already knows? Jamie probably told her, and she hasn’t said a word.”

  “I’m not sure Cory wanted anyone to know, so she might have kept it locked away.”

  “Such wonderful news.” With her smile so big, the bruises were barely noticeable. “Tell me everything quick, before the nurse returns with my discharge papers, and don’t leave out a single detail.”

  * * *

  Out in the waiting room, Cory watched as Luna’s laughter drew Joe’s heated gaze. No special talents were needed to know he loved Luna more than life.

  Much as Cory loved Austin.

  And now that she’d opened up to him, she knew Austin felt the same. The level of his love stunned her.

  Today, as she’d shared what she knew about Luna, she’d felt his pride. He loved her, all of her, and though she knew they’d have their conflicts, as all couples did, she also knew they’d grow old together.

  She hoped he didn’t want a big wedding, because something small would suit her perfectly. Just their family, maybe at the courthouse.

  Soon.

  Her dad said, “Next weekend will work. Mother’s Day is this weekend, and you don’t want to step on that.”

  Accepting that she and her dad communicated on a different level, Cory agreed without surprise.

  Faith said, “Wait, what’s happening next weekend?” “Austin and I will marry.” She looked toward Willow and Clay, cozied up together. They’d marry in June. Would they mind if she and Austin married before them?

  “No, they won’t. Willow will be happy for Austin.”

  Faith grumbled, “Damn it, include me in this conversation.”

  “You’ll be included,” Cory promised. “We have so much to discuss.”

  “You’re fretting for no reason—and you know it.” Jamie smiled at Faith. “But even so, sometimes a daughter wants to share with her mom.”

  Coming up behind Cory, Austin said, “She shouldn’t be fretting at all.” He bent to kiss her forehead. “I love you, you love me, we’ll get married as soon as I can convince you, and we’ll have a wonderful life together.”

  “Wise man,” Jamie said.

  Cory came quickly to her feet. “How’s Luna?”

  “Thrilled that she’ll be a grandma.” He pulled her in close. “When does that happen, by the way? Mom wanted to know.”

  She didn’t miss the way he’d referred to Luna, and it pleased her. Not because he’d ever shortchanged Luna, but because it was a sign they were moving forward, instead of looking back.

  Jamie opened his mouth, but Cory replied before he could. “How does a year from now sound for the first?”

  Startled, Faith said, “I’ll be a grandma in a year?”

  “A boy,” Jamie and Cory said at the same time, prompting Austin to laugh.

  Faith swatted at Jamie. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”

  “Someone”—his look made it clear that he meant her—“told me to let the romance unfold naturally.”

  Dissatisfied by that answer, Faith narrowed her eyes in speculation. “What else do you know, Jamie Creed?”

  Dark eyes filled with affection, he tucked back her red hair. “I know you’d rather be celebrating our daughter’s engagement than giving me hell.”

  “Well . . .” Begrudgingly, she agreed. “You’re right about that.”

  Leading Austin a few feet away, Cory smoothed a hand over his chest. “Just so you know, Sully will be around to meet our kids.”

  A little boggled by that news, he put a hand to his head. “They’ll all be born soon?”

  “Yes, like stair steps.”

  Slowly, the shock eased away, and he smiled, accepting, happy. In love with her.

  “I was worrying about him being home alone,” he admitted. “I was distracted when we left.”

  “Sully’s fine, but he’s waiting for you.”

  “For us,” Austin corrected. “Now that we know we’ll be married, there’s no reason for you to leave me.”

  That sounded like both a plea and a demand, but it was what she wanted, so she agreed. “I’m glad to stay.” Her future with Austin was secure. No, it hadn’t quite rolled out the way she’d figured, but this, family, fun, and laughter, was even better. “We’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”

  * * *

  Mother’s Day was overcast and gray, but it didn’t put a damper on the gathering. With two upcoming weddings to celebrate, Luna recovered, and all of them together, nothing could really do that.

  Sitting with Luna at one end of the table, Faith watched as Austin and Cory carried in platters of grilled meat and vegetables. Willow and Clay had set up everything inside, and Raine made sure everyone had iced tea. Sully sat between Joe and Jamie while they looked over the house plans Cory and Austin had settled on.

  The kids had all refused to let the moms do a single thing.

  That suited Faith, since it also made Luna kick back and relax. In the last couple of days, Luna was getting out more, though she still wore a few fading bruises.

  “Thank you for having us over.” Luna glanced at Joe. “This is the first break I’ve had from his hovering.”

 

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