"Burke?" she asked, a questioning note in her voice. "Is something—"
"Nothing." He shook his head and rang the bell.
A second later, Nicole threw open the door and gave her a happy smile. She quickly pulled Maddie into a hug.
"I am so glad you decided to come," Nicole said with genuine delight. "It's been ages, Maddie. You haven't changed a bit."
"Neither have you," Maddie said.
"That's sweet of you to say, but a complete and utter lie," Nicole retorted.
Burke cleared his throat, and his sister gave him a surprised look. "Burke, I didn't even see you there."
"I noticed."
"Come in, come in," Nicole said, waving them into the house. "Everyone is here."
"I brought a little something for your potluck." Maddie handed Nicole the covered platter.
"I told you not to worry about that, but thank you."
"It's nothing, just some vegetable tarts."
Nicole took a whiff. "They smell delicious. I remember how well you could cook, even as a teenager, so I'm sure they're going to be great."
"Where's Mom?" Burke asked.
"She's in the living room."
"I'll go say happy birthday."
Nicole gave him a dismissive shrug as she led Maddie down the hall toward the kitchen. His sister had been so happy to see Maddie she hadn't noticed that he and Maddie had arrived together.
He wasn't going to have to explain anything—well, at least not until it was time to leave.
* * *
Nicole's big country kitchen was filled with Callaways. Maddie was immediately swept up in a flurry of introductions and hugs: Emma and her attractive husband Max; Aiden and his wife Sara and their cute toddler daughter Chloe; Drew and Ria and an exotically pretty teenager named Megan; Shayla, who'd grown into a beautiful young woman in the years since Maddie had last seen her and Shayla's boyfriend Reid, who could definitely hold his own in the looks department; and finally Colton and his girlfriend Olivia.
Burke was right. All of his siblings were paired up. As the oldest, it must be strange for him to be the last of his siblings to be single. Not that he would be single if Leanne hadn’t died. Or maybe he would have been. She couldn't help wondering if they would have actually made it down the aisle now that she knew there were problems and maybe even cheating.
"What will you have to drink?" Nicole asked her as the large group broke into smaller conversations. "We have wine, beer, sodas, water…"
"Red wine is good. Whatever is open."
"We're so glad you came," Emma said, joining them by the makeshift bar set up on the kitchen counter.
"Me, too. Your family seems to have tripled in size."
"Add in significant others and lots of cousins and that happens," Nicole said, handing her a glass of wine. "Let's go out to the back deck. We have the heat lamps on, so we'll be warm, and there will be fewer people."
"I don't want to take you away from your mom's birthday party," she protested.
"Oh, it's just getting started," Emma said, leading the way outside. "We can't start eating until Grandma and Grandpa arrive, and they won't be here for another half hour."
"How are your grandparents?" she asked, following them out to the deck.
"My grandmother has Alzheimer's," Nicole replied as they sat down at a round table.
"Oh, I'm sorry. She was such a nice lady. She always had freshly baked cookies for you when you came home from school. And remember that day when she taught us how to make old-fashioned wedding cookies?"
Nicole laughed. "I think I bailed out on the lesson in about five minutes, but I do remember you loving every second of it."
"I always think of your grandmother when I make those cookies."
"You should tell her that," Nicole said, her gaze soft and a little sad. "I think she'd love to hear it. But don't feel bad if she doesn't remember you. Sometimes she doesn't remember anyone, including herself."
"That must be so difficult."
"It makes us appreciate the good days."
"So tell us about your life, Maddie," Emma said. "I think you're the most adventurous person I know."
"I've had a good time," she admitted.
"Like?" Emma persisted. "What was the most fun?"
"Traveling throughout Italy and learning to cook the foods of the different regions was probably my most memorable experience."
"Wasn't there an Italian restaurateur in the mix?" Nicole asked, a curious light in her eyes.
"There was, and he was quite handsome with dark eyes and a charismatic smile, but in the end he was much more in love with himself than with me."
"Has there been anyone serious in your life?" Emma asked.
"I was engaged last year, but it didn't work out, so I'm as single as can be."
"We'll have to find you someone. I work with a lot of single firefighters, and some are very good-looking."
She could believe that. Most of the firefighters she'd met were Callaways, but they were all very attractive, especially Burke. Her heart squeezed at the thought of him. The way he'd looked at her just before they'd rung the bell tonight…It had almost seemed like he wanted to say something or that he wanted to kiss her.
One of these days she wanted one of those moments to actually happen, not to almost happen.
"Emma loves to matchmake," Nicole put in. "So beware."
"She's right, and I've run out of siblings, well, except for Burke. But he wouldn't let me set him up in a million years." Emma paused. "And I wouldn't want to set him up until he was really over Leanne. No woman wants to come in second to a memory."
That was true. Probably another reason not to let one of those
almost
moments happen.
"What's happening with you two?" she asked, changing the subject. "How's your son, Nicole?"
"Brandon is seven years old now. He was diagnosed as being autistic when he was three, and it's been a struggle dealing with his issues, but he's improved in some areas the last few years. It's a long story, and I want to tell you all of it, but tonight is probably not the best night for that."
"Another time then. But you and Ryan are good?"
"Stronger than ever," Nicole said. "In fact…" She licked her lips. "I wasn't going to say anything yet, but I've recently received some incredible news. Before we adopted Brandon, we had tried for years to have a baby, and we weren't able to. It appeared that I wasn't going to be able to have my own child. But somehow I've now ended up pregnant. It's a crazy, beautiful, amazing miracle."
"Oh, my God," Emma squealed. "I can't believe this."
"It took me a while to believe it, too. I'm only nine weeks, and I was going to wait until I got through the first trimester to tell anyone, but it's too hard to keep the secret."
"I'm so happy for you," Maddie said, seeing the joy in Nicole's eyes.
"Thank you. We had thought about adopting again after Brandon joined our family, but then his problems really wore me down. But since Ryan and I started working as a team, when we remembered how much we love each other, and since Brandon and his twin were reunited—that's another story I'll have to tell you—I've felt like another baby would be a blessing. I don't want to take anything away from Brandon, though. I do worry that he'll react negatively to a sibling."
"I don't think he will," Emma cut in. "He's adjusted really well to Kyle. This is just such amazing news, Nic. Do you know what you're going to have?"
"I have an ultrasound appointment next week. I think we'll be able to find out the sex then if we want to know. I'm not sure if I do."
"Why on earth would you want to wait?" Emma asked. "Let's find out if we can start buying some little girl clothes. Actually, if you have a girl, you can get Chloe's hand-me-downs. And it would be fun for Chloe to have a little girl cousin to play with."
"Stop," Nicole said with a laugh. "We'll figure it all out, but not right this second."
"You need to tell everyone tonight," Emma said. "It will be the perfect present to give Mom. She'll be over the moon."
"I was thinking about it, but I don’t want to steal the attention from her birthday."
"Are you kidding? Come on, she would love it. You have to do it."
"Ryan wants to make the announcement, too," Nicole admitted. "We'll see how things go."
As Emma and Nicole talked about baby names, Maddie couldn't help but feel a little envious of their happiness. They were both settled with men that they loved, and they were surrounded by extended family. She and her parents made up a very small group of three. And the one set of cousins she had lived out of state.
"Do you want to have kids, Maddie?" Nicole asked.
She started as the focus turned back to her. "I do—someday. I have to find the right man first. But you've already found your man, Emma. So are you next?"
"We've actually just started trying," Emma said.
"Really?" Nicole asked. "Wow, we might have kids close together then."
"We'll see. I don't know how long it will take."
"What about your job?" Maddie asked.
"I want to keep it. I'm planning on working after I have a baby. Basically, I want to have it all."
"What are we talking about, ladies?" Sara interrupted, joining them at the table.
"Emma is trying to have a baby," Nicole said.
"Hey, I wasn't planning to announce that to the world," Emma protested.
"I'm not the world. I'm your friend and your sister-in-law, and I'm thrilled," Sara said. "I need some kids for Chloe to play with."
"Then you might want to talk to Nicole," Emma said.
Sara's gaze swung to Nicole." Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Later. We'll talk later," Nicole promised.
Sara hesitated, then shrugged. She turned to Maddie. "It's so good to see you again. I remember when you and Nicole drove Emma and me around. You actually encouraged Nicole to drive the getaway car when we TP'd Ronnie Hartman's house."
"I forgot about that," Maddie said with a laugh.
"That's right," Nicole said. "I was so nervous; I thought we were going to get caught." She wagged her finger at Maddie. "You were a bad influence on me."
"She was a good influence," Emma said. "She showed you how to have fun."
"Well, that's true," Nicole said with a grin.
"Hey, Nic," Ryan said from the doorway. "Your grandparents are here, and everyone is in the living room. I'm thinking this is a good time…"
"Okay," Nicole said, getting to her feet.
"A good time for what?" Sara asked with interest.
"Come inside and you'll find out," Nicole said.
"You're such a tease," Sara complained.
Maddie followed the other women into the house. It took a while to get into the living room, and when they did so, she could see Callaways perched on every available piece of furniture with some of the younger generation sprawled on the floor.
While Nicole, Emma and Sara moved into the room, Maddie paused in the doorway. She saw Burke across the room. He was standing next to his father. His gaze met hers, and neither one of them could seem to look away. It felt sexy and a little exciting to have a secret relationship. She silently laughed at herself for that thought. What relationship did they have? She was just crashing on his couch, she reminded herself. But there was still something in his gaze that made her shiver just a little.
"Before we get started on the birthday festivities," Ryan said, quieting the chatter in the room. "Nicole and I have an announcement." He put his arm around his wife and gave her a loving smile. "Do you want to tell them or—"
"I'm pregnant," Nicole said.
Cheers broke out in the room followed by hugs and high-fives and questions about due dates and how this amazing news had come to be since everyone had thought Nicole could not have children. There was so much love in the room, Maddie felt overwhelmed and a little emotional. She hadn't thought about family much in the last ten years, but now she couldn't help feeling like fun and adventure were great, but wasn't family what it was really all about?
She moved back a few steps to get out of the way, and a moment later Burke came over to join her.
"I wasn't expecting that," he said. "You didn't look surprised."
"Nicole told me outside. I'm really happy for her. It sounds like she's had a difficult few years."
"That she has, but she's a strong woman."
"With a strong family behind her. That helps. You're really lucky, Burke, to have all these people who love you and have your back."
"They're okay," Burke said lightly, but she could see the pride in his eyes.
"Burke?" An elderly woman interrupted their conversation. She had white blonde hair, light blue eyes and her smile lit up the room. Maddie would have known Eleanor Callaway anywhere.
Burke stepped back to let his grandmother into their conversation. "Hi Grandma. How are you doing?"
"Well, I'm very excited to know I'm going to have another great-grandchild." As she finished speaking, she turned to Maddie. "I know you, don't I? You're Nicole's friend, the one who liked to make cookies with me."
"I am. I'm Maddie Heller. You taught me to make old-fashioned wedding cookies."
"You got more sugar on yourself than you put on the cookies."
"I was a pretty sloppy cook back then."
"But very enthusiastic. Do you still cook, dear?"
"As often as I can."
Eleanor patted her on the arm. "I am so glad. I always felt good when I was cooking. It's something I miss these days. But I have a little problem remembering things, so no one likes me to go near the stove."
Maddie smiled. Eleanor might be sick, but tonight she was very much like the woman Maddie had known in high school: vibrant, cheerful, with a dry wit. Cooking with Eleanor had not just been about the cookies; Eleanor had also cheered her up after Dani died. Their conversations had not been all about butter and sugar.
"So are you married, Maddie?" Eleanor asked.
"Not yet."
"You'll meet the right person, probably when you least expect it."
"I'm not worried."
Eleanor gave Burke a sly look. "You should take Maddie out sometime. Introduce her to some of your single friends."