“Anytime.” She smirked and got to her feet. “I’m heading back to the inn, but think about what I said, okay?”
“I will.” Erin smiled promisingly.
Marg made her way back to the inn, feeling accomplished.
“Marg, Ben called looking for you. He said it’s urgent,” her assistant informed her the second she walked in.
“Okay, I’ll call him back. Thanks.”Taking her cell from her handbag, she dialed Ben’s number and placed it against her ear. After the third ring, the phone was answered.
“Hello, Marg?”
“Hi, Ben.” She beamed.
“Oh thank heavens I got you.” Ben sighed with relief.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, going on high alert.
“Miss Lalor, the social worker, she called,” Ben informed her.
“Is something wrong with our application? Oh no! Please don’t tell me we’re not eligible to adopt,” she spoke, her voice becoming frantic.
“Marg. Relax. Breathe,” he instructed her calmly.
She took in a deep breath, trying to calm her frayed nerves.
“Miss Lalor called because there is a pregnant girl who is putting her baby up for adoption when it’s born. She saw our application video, and she’d like to meet us.”
“My gosh, you scared me.” Marg released a relieved breath as she leaned against the desk. “Don’t ever do that again. Always lead with the good news.” Ben chuckled.
A broad grin lit up her face as realization set in. “We’re going to be parents,” she breathed out in awe.
“We are going to be parents,” Ben affirmed.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Erin sighed for what felt like the fifth time since she’d positioned herself on the porch swing. The campaign Archie had sent for her to fix the errors was now finished and resent, but instead of feelings of accomplishment and relief, her chest was tight with angst.
She was bored out of her mind, and it had left her with time on her hands to think about Brian and how much she missed him. He still hadn’t called. On numerous occasions, she’d dialed his number, and her thumb hovered above the call button, but at the last minute, she always erased the number and put the phone down.
Using her weight to push back the swing, she anchored her feet to the floor before lifting them, allowing the bench to swing forward before going backward. She lifted her legs onto the bench and folded them under her as they swung like a pendulum. Her head rested against her knuckle as her hand gripped the rope on one side. Her eyes drifted shut.
“Penny, for your thoughts?”
She opened her eyes and craned her neck until she found mother by the door. “Hi,” she greeted simply. Cora walked over to the swing, and Erin scooted farther over in the chair, giving her enough room to sit.
The two sat in silence as the swing continued its pendulum swing. “Erin, is everything okay?”
She looked over at her mother, brows furrowed. “Yeah. Why?” she asked.
“I’m worried about you, sweetie,” her mother responded.
“Why are you worried about me?” she returned, her brows jogging up her hairline.
Cora sighed and looked at her seriously. “You’ve been so preoccupied with your new hobbies, and it worries me because I can’t understand why you would choose to take up extreme sporting activities.”
“Mom, nothing is going to happen to me. It hasn’t,” Erin said.
“Not yet,” Cora continued to say. “Nothing has happened to you yet, but the possibility is real, and it could.” She shook her head. “I can’t pretend to like what you’re doing, sweetheart, nor can I wait for something to happen to you before I let you know how I feel about what you’re doing.”
