Opposites Attract

since Liam already made it clear if I had a girl he wouldn’t stoop so low as to play with her, I think he’ll be especially pleased.”
    “What about your due date?” Hope asked. “Earlier with twins?”
    “A little. They told me November 21. So, Thanksgiving babies instead of Christmas or New Year’s.”
    “Gobble, gobble,” Avery said, and made Clare laugh again.
    “You have to let us help set up the nursery,” Hope began. Planning was in her blood.
    “I’m counting on it. I don’t have a thing. I gave away all the baby things after Murphy. I never thought I’d fall in love again, or marry again, or have more children.”
    “Can we say baby shower? A double-the-fun theme,” Hope decided. “Or what comes in pairs, sets of two. Something like that. I’ll work on it. We should schedule it in early October, just to be safe.”
    “Baby shower.” Clare sighed. “More and more real. I need to call my parents, and I need to tell the girls,” she added, referring to her bookstore staff. She levered herself up. “November babies,” she said again. “I should be able to shed the baby weight by May and the wedding.”
    “Oh yeah, I’m getting married.” Avery held out her hand, admired the diamond that had replaced the bubble gum ring Owen had put on her finger. Twice.
    “Getting married
and
opening a second restaurant, and helping plan a baby shower, and redecorating the current single guy’s master suite into a couple’s master suite.” Hope poked Avery in the arm. “We have a lot of planning to do.”
    “I can take some time tomorrow.”
    “Good.” Hope took a moment to flip through her mental list, rearrange tasks, gauge the timing. “One o’clock. I can clear the time. Can you make that?” she asked Clare. “I can fix us a little lunch and we can get some of the planning worked out before I have check-ins.”
    “One o’clock tomorrow.” Clare patted her belly. “We’ll be there.”
    “I’ll be over,” Avery promised. “If I’m a little later, we had a good lunch rush. But I’ll get over.”
    Hope walked out with Clare, grabbed another hug before separating. And imagined Clare telling her parents the happy news. Imagined, too, Avery texting Owen. And Beckett slipping off to check on Clare during the day, or just stealing a few minutes to bask with her.
    For a moment she wished she had someone to call or text or slip away to, someone to share the lovely news with.
    Instead she went around the back of the inn, up the outside stairs. She let herself in on the third floor, listening as she walked down to her apartment.
    Yes, she thought, she could just hear Carolee’s voice, and the excitement in it. No doubt Justine Montgomery had already called her sister to share the news about the twins.
    Hope closed herself into her apartment. She’d spend a couple hours in the quiet, she decided, researching their resident ghost, and the man named Billy she waited for.
    * * *
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Nora Roberts is the #1
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bestselling author of more than 200 novels. She is also the author of the bestselling futuristic suspense series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 400 million copies of her books in print. Visit her online at www.noraroberts.com and facebook.com/noraroberts.

Nora Roberts
     
    Hot Ice
    Sacred Sins
    Brazen Virtue
    Sweet Revenge
    Public Secrets
    Genuine Lies
    Carnal Innocence
    Divine Evil
    Honest Illusions
    Private Scandals
    Hidden Riches
    True Betrayals
    Montana Sky
    Sanctuary
    Homeport
    The Reef
    River’s End
    Carolina Moon
    The Villa
    Midnight Bayou
    Three Fates
    Birthright
    Northern Lights
    Blue Smoke
    Angels Fall
    High Noon
    Tribute
    Black Hills
    The Search
    Chasing Fire
    The Witness
    Series
    Irish Born Trilogy
    Born in Fire
    Born in Ice
    Born in Shame
    Dream Trilogy
    Daring to Dream
    Holding the Dream
    Finding the Dream
    Chesapeake Bay Saga
    Sea Swept
    Rising Tides
    Inner Harbor
    Chesapeake Blue
    Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy
    Jewels of the Sun
    Tears of the Moon
    Heart of the Sea
    Three Sisters Island Trilogy
    Dance Upon the Air
    Heaven and Earth
    Face the Fire
    Key Trilogy
    Key of Light
    Key of Knowledge
    Key of Valor
    In the Garden Trilogy
    Blue Dahlia
    Black Rose
    Red Lily
    Circle Trilogy
    Morrigan’s Cross
    Dance of the Gods
    Valley of Silence
    Sign of Seven Trilogy
    Blood Brothers
    The Hollow
    The Pagan Stone
    Bride Quartet
    Vision in White
    Bed of Roses
    Savor the Moment
    Happy Ever