It felt like an eternity.
She saved the photo to her phone. She would download it to her laptop later and put it with the others he’d sent—photos of the aspens at his cabin starting to change, of Austin and Lexi on their deck, of a black bear that had wandered into his yard. Every photo was precious to her, a link to a place—and a man—she loved.
There came a knock at her door, and Jeff poked his head in. “Word is Merced is over the moon. Congratulations. I thought you’d want to know that I heard Abigail talking in the elevator. It looks like you’ve got that promotion on lockdown. I hope it comes with a hefty raise.”
Jeff had done so much to help her through her first weeks back, when headaches and short-term memory problems had made it hard for her to work.
“Thanks for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you, and I’m going to make sure Abigail knows that.”
“Hey, we’re a team, right?”
As he disappeared down the hallway, Vic wondered why this news about the promotion had left her feeling … nothing.
* * *
Two weeks later
Eric walked backto Rescue One, first-aid kit in hand, the ambulance heading down the canyon. Two guys had gone hiking off-trail, had gotten lost, and had spent the night out in the open in temps that had dropped almost to freezing. They’d been too embarrassed to call for help until it was clear they were in trouble. They were both suffering from exposure and dehydration, but they’d be fine.
Taylor walked up behind him. “Hey, got a minute?”
“For you?” Eric opened the rear doors of the vehicle, put the first-aid kit back in its place, and shut the doors. “Let me check my schedule.”
Taylor stood there for a moment with a big grin on his face, then lowered his voice so the rest of the Team wouldn’t hear. “Lexi’s pregnant.”
The words hit Eric in the face. “What?”
“Pregnant. You know—knocked up, with child, in the family way, bun in the—”
“I know what it means, but … Wow.” He hadn’t known they were trying for kids. They’d only been married for two and a half months. “That was fast.”
“We’re both thirty-three. We figured we’d better start soon if we wanted kids. I thought it would take longer than it did.”
“It must be all that second-chakra energy Rose talked about at your wedding. Do I detect a hint of disappointment?”
Taylor shrugged. “I liked being in demand for my sperm. My days as a stud ended too quickly.”
“Don’t ask me to feel sorry for you. You’ve apparently been going at it like bunnies while I’ve been doing my best imitation of a monk.” Apart from fucking his own fist, that is. He doubted monks did that. Then again, what did he know?
Taylor laughed. “Someone’s grumpy. Heard from Vic lately?”
“She’s finally got a free night, so we’re supposed to talk on Skype.”
“Good.”
“If it were up to me, she’d be here right now, and we’d be starting a life together. But she’s still working it out.”
“Lexi says she’s crazy about you. Give her time.”
Give her time.
Isn’t that what he was doing? It shouldn’t take this long. It shouldn’t be this hard. If she loved him, she should want to be here with him.
Shit.
Eric set his own frustrations aside. They had no place in this moment. He clapped Taylor on the shoulder. “Jesus, man, you’re going to be a father. Congratulations. I’m so happy for you both. Is this a big secret?”
“Not really. Rose knows so—”