jacqueline nodded. "obviously tammie lee's a breeder, just as i suspected."

reese frowned; he disapproved of her natural wariness toward paul's wife. but they knew practically nothing about her family. what little jacqueline had unearthed, between the girl's tales of aunts and uncles and god-only-knew how many cousins, had been disheartening to say the least.

the sound of a crane overhead distracted reese momentarily and when he returned his attention to her he was frowning again. "you don't seem happy about this."

"come on, reese! how do you expect me to feel?"

"like a woman who's about to be a grandmother for the first time."

jacqueline crossed her arms. "well, i for one am not thrilled." several of her nearest and dearest friends had delighted in their status as new grandmothers, but jacqueline doubted she'd make this latest adjustment as smoothly as her friends.

"jacquie, this is our grandchild."

"i should've known better than to say anything to you," she said angrily. jacqueline wouldn't have mentioned it at all if not for the argument with paul. she'd always been close to her son. he was the reason she'd stayed in this empty shell of a marriage. her son was everything she'd hoped for: handsome, smart, successful and so much more. he'd gone into banking and was quickly climbing up the corporate ladder-and then, a year ago, he'd done something completely out of character. he'd married the wrong woman.

"you haven't given tammie lee a chance," reese insisted.

"that is blatantly unfair." to jacqueline's horror, her voice shook with emotion. she'd given this awkward relationship with tammie lee her best effort. for the life of her, jacqueline couldn't understand why her sensible son would marry this stranger, this...this little girl from the swamps, when so many of her friends' daughters were interested in him. paul called tammie lee his southern belle, but all jacqueline saw was a hillbilly. "i took her to lunch at the country club and i've never been so mortified in my life. i introduced her to mary james, and the next thing i know, tammie lee's discussing a recipe for pickled pigs' feet or some such with the president of the women's association." it had taken jacqueline weeks to gather up enough courage to face her friend again.

"isn't mary in charge of the cookbook? it makes perfect sense that the two of them would-"

"the last thing i need is for you to criticize me, too," jacqueline blurted out. there was no point in trying to explain anything to reese. they couldn't even have a civil conversation anymore. besides, this construction dust was ruining her makeup and the wind was playing havoc with her french twist. reese didn't care, though. appearances were important, but he had no appreciation of everything she did to maintain herself physically. he didn't have any idea how much work was involved in styling her hair and doing her makeup properly. she was in her midfifties now, and it took a subtle hand to hide age lines.

his voice rose slightly. "what exactly did you say to paul?"

jacqueline squared her shoulders in an attempt to preserve her dignity. "just that i wished he'd waited a while before starting his family."

her husband offered her his hand to assist her into the construction trailer. "come inside."

jacqueline ignored his gesture of help and stepped into the trailer. although reese routinely visited his work sites, this was the first time she'd been inside one of these trailers. she glanced around and took note of the blue-prints, empty coffee cups and general disarray. the place resembled a pigpen.

"you'd better tell me everything." reese poured coffee and silently held out a cup. she declined with a shake of her head, afraid the cup hadn't been washed in weeks.

"why do you assume i said anything more than the fact that i was disappointed?" she asked.

"because i know you."

"well, thank you very much." her throat was thickening but she refused to let him see how his rebuke had hurt her. "to make matters worse, tammie lee's nearly six months along. naturally paul had a convenient excuse for keeping us out of the picture. he said they didn't want to say anything until they could be sure the pregnancy was safe."

"and you don't believe him?" reese crossed his arms and leaned next to the open door.

"of course i don't. people usually wait three months before they share their good news," she said sarcastically, "but six? you and i both know he put off telling us because he knew how i'd feel. i've said from the first, and i'll say it again, this marriage is a very big mistake."

"now, jacquie..."

"what else am i to think? paul goes off on a business trip to new orleans and meets this girl in a bar."

"they were both attending the same financial conference, and met for a drink later that evening."

why did reese have to drag up unnecessary details? "they were together all of three days and the next thing i know he announces that he's married to a girl neither of us has ever met."

"now i agree with you there," reese conceded. "i do wish paul had told us, but it's been almost a year."

it still upset jacqueline that her son hadn't had a large church wedding the way she'd always envisioned. jacqueline felt it was what paul was entitled to-what she was entitled to. instead she hadn't even been invited to the wedding.

that wasn't territory she particularly wanted to revisit. her son's only excuse was that he was in love, knew he wanted tammie lee with him for the rest of his life and couldn't bear to be apart from her any longer than necessary. that was the reason he'd given them, but jacqueline had her suspicions. paul must've known she wouldn't be pleased-and he must have realized that his in-laws would be an embarrassment. she could only imagine the kind of wedding tammie lee's family would hold. the reception dinner would probably consist of collard greens and grits, with deep-fried hostess twinkies instead of wedding cake.

"tammie lee got pregnant within six months of the wedding." she didn't hide her contempt.

"paul's over thirty, jacqueline." reese had that disapproving look in his eyes. she'd always hated it.

"and old enough to know about birth control," she snapped. paul had sprung the news on her the same way he had the marriage: over the phone without a moment's warning.

"he told me he wanted a family," reese murmured.

"not this soon, i'll bet," she burst out. talking to reese was impossible. he didn't seem to care that paul had married beneath him. her daughter-in-law was nothing like the woman she'd envisioned for their son. jacqueline had honestly tried to welcome tammie lee into the family, but she couldn't bear to be around her for more than a few minutes. all that sweetness and insincere southern charm simply overwhelmed her.

"but paul's pleased about the baby, isn't he?"

jacqueline leaned against the table and nodded. "he's thrilled," she muttered. "or so he says..."

"then what's the problem?"

"he...he doesn't seem to think i'm going to make much of a grandmother."

reese's eyes narrowed. "what did you say to him?"

"oh, reese," she said, feeling terrible now. "i couldn't help it. i told him i thought he'd made a terrible mistake in marrying tammie lee and that this pregnancy complicates everything." she'd assumed that a year or two down the road, paul would recognize his lapse in judgment and gracefully bow out of the marriage. a child made that a whole lot less likely.

"you didn't actually say that to paul, did you?" reese sounded furious and that only made jacqueline more defensive.

"i realize i should've kept quiet, but really, can you blame me? i'm just getting used to the fact that our only son eloped with a stranger and then he hits me with this pregnancy."

"it should be happy news."

"well, it isn't."

"it is to our son and tammie lee."

"that's another thing," she cried. "why is it every girl from the south has two names? why can't we call her tammie without the lee?"

"it's her name, jacqueline."

"it's ridiculous."

reese studied her as if he was really noticing her for the first time. "why are you so angry?"

"because i'm afraid of losing my son." paul and her close relationship with him was the only consolation she had in a life that brought her little joy. now she'd done something stupid and insulted her son.

"call him back and apologize."

"i intend to," she said.

"you could order flowers for tammie lee."

"i will." but the gesture would be for paul's sake, not his wife's.

"why not go to the flower shop on blossom street."

jacqueline nodded. "i plan to do something else, too." she prayed it would be enough. she hoped her son realized she was making an effort to accept his wife.

"what?"

"i saw a sign in the window of that new knitting shop. i'm going to register for a knitting class. the sign says the beginning project is a baby blanket."

reese so rarely approved of anything she did that the warmth of his smile moved all the way through her.

"i might not like tammie lee, but i will be the best grandmother i can." someone had to provide the appropriate influences for paul's child. otherwise her grandchild might grow up eating deep-fried pickles. or going through life as bubba donovan...

chapter 3

carol girard

c arol girard had never imagined that getting pregnant could be this difficult. her mother obviously hadn't had any trouble; carol and her brother, rick, were born two years apart.

before they were married, doug and carol had talked about having a family one day. because of her high-powered job with a national brokerage firm, he wanted to be sure she was as interested in a family as he was. doug had asked if she'd be willing to put aside her career for a few years in order to have children. the answer had been an unqualified yes. babies were a given with her. she'd always pictured herself as a mother, always saw kids as an important part of her life. doug would be a wonderful father and she was deeply, passionately, in love with her husband. she wanted to have his children.

heating her lunch in the microwave, carol glanced around the kitchen of her sixteenth-floor condo overlooking puget sound. she'd quit her job only a month ago and she already felt restless and impatient. she'd left the brokerage firm with the sole intention of allowing her body to relax, to unwind from the demands of her routine. doug had convinced her that job-related stress was the reason she hadn't conceived, and her obstetrician conceded that it was possible. a barrage of humiliating tests for both her and doug had revealed that in addition to her age, thirty-seven, she had to contend with something called asa or antisperm antibodies.