“Everything will be okay,” Margery told Jill as Luke pulled up to the ER entrance.

“Can you take her in while I park?” Luke asked.

Margery nodded and helped Jill out of the truck and into a nearby wheelchair. She wheeled her into the emergency room and straight up to the front desk.

“She’s pregnant with twins and is bleeding,” she told the triage nurse in a low voice.

The nurse nodded and motioned for them to follow her as Luke rushed up behind them. Margery wheeled Jill after the nurse, Luke on her heels. As they walked, the nurse asked Jill a few questions—how far along she was, if she’d experienced any cramping or other symptoms—and led them to a small exam room. After instructing them to help Jill into a hospital gown, the nurse rushed off to find a doctor. Minutes after Margery and Luke maneuvered a wobbly Jill into the gown and onto the bed, a knock came at the door, and a doctor stepped inside.

“I’m Dr. Avery,” he introduced himself, giving them a warm smile. “What seems to be the problem?”

Jill recounted the incident in a shaky voice, telling him how far along she was and that she was carrying twins.

The doctor nodded as a nurse wheeled in an ultrasound machine. “I’m going to take a look at the babies and try and find their heartbeats, okay?”

“Okay,” Jill agreed, her face pale.

Margery held one of her hands while Luke held the other. It took a few stressful minutes, but Dr. Avery found two strong heartbeats. Margery, Luke, and Jill all breathed a sigh of relief as the nurse took the ultrasound wand from Dr. Avery.

“I put in a call to your OB/GYN’s office,” he told Jill. “They’re sending their on-call doctor. She should be here soon.”

Jill nodded as Luke helped her wipe the ultrasound jelly off her stomach. Before any of them could say anything, another doctor—a woman this time—walked into the small room.

She smiled warmly at them. “My name is Dr. Casey. I’m on call for your usual OB/GYN, Dr. Elliot, tonight. I hear you’re having some bleeding?”

Jill nodded.

“But no cramping?”

Jill shook her head.

“I’ve taken a look at Dr. Avery’s notes, and it looks like everything is fine, but I’d like to take another peek just to make sure.”

Jill nodded and rested her head back on the bed. Margery stroked the hair off her forehead and smiled down at her.

“Thank you for coming,” Jill said, returning Margery’s smile. She winced slightly as Dr. Casey pushed the wand against her stomach.

“No need to thank me,” Margery answered, still stroking her hair.

Dr. Casey moved the wand around and studied the screen for a few minutes before wiping the wand off and helping Jill wipe off her stomach.

“It looks like everything is okay with the babies,” Dr. Casey said. “But I’ll send the images to our in-house radiologist to be extra sure. Now, I’ve read your chart, and it says you’re quite active?”

“I’m a wilderness expert for the Twin Peaks Inn, but I’ve cut my activity down a lot,” Jill told her.

“Well, I’m going to need you to cut it down even more. Your body is going through a lot right now, Jill. It’s your first pregnancy, and you’re having twins. A little bleeding is normal, especially with a lot of activity, but it can obviously be scary. I’m not putting you on bed rest, but try to take it easy relative to your usual activity level. Listen to your body. I know it’s hard for athletes and people with active lifestyles like yours to dial it down, but you need to try. For yourself, and for your babies.”

Jill nodded, looking chastened.

“I’m going to let you go home tonight, but I want you to rest for the next few days before resuming any strenuous activity. And you tell Rose Callahan that if she has a problem with that, she can call me.”

“I’m sure Rose won’t mind,” Margery said, smiling. “Jill is family. We’ll all take care of her, I promise.”

Dr. Casey nodded, satisfied. “I’ll also set you up a follow-up appointment with Dr. Elliott so you can discuss any concerns with him.”

“Thank you,” Jill said, sounding relieved.

With another warm smile, Dr. Casey ducked out of the room.

“I’m going to go call Rose and give her an update,” Luke said, leaning over to kiss Jill on the forehead.

“Love you,” she whispered.

“Love you, too.”

After he left, Jill wasted no time in turning to Margery. “Now that all that’s taken care of,” she said. “What the hell is going on between you and Niyol?”

Margery blinked at her, a fierce blush climbing up her face.

“Oh, not that,” Jill said, laughing. “I already know you two are seeing each other, and I’m happy for you. I meant, why was he acting weird before we left?”

Margery hesitated, not wanting to betray Niyol’s confidence.

“Please tell me, Margie.”

“I think he feels guilty,” Margery replied with a sigh. “Because he came here to spend time with you, and he’s spent a lot of his time with me. I think he still feels guilty because of your mother’s death. And maybe he feels he’s betraying her by being with me…”

“But I talked to him about all that,” Jill said, frowning. “I thought he was mostly over it. I told him I was fine with the two of you together and that my mother would feel the same.”

Margery blinked at Jill. So, he wasn’t feeling guilty? Then… what was the problem? Maybe… maybe he just didn’t want to be with her. Had she imagined the affection between them? Had he just been trying to be nice to her out of pity?

Swallowing her pain and humiliation, she forced a smile onto her face. Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to cry in front of Jill. She didn’t want to worry her.

“Will you excuse me a moment, Jill?” she asked, standing up and striding from the room.

“Margie!” Jill called after her, but Margery didn’t turn around. The tears had already started to fall.

Frustrated, Jill threw herself back on the bed. She couldn’t follow Margery out of the room, but as soon as she could, she would give her father a real piece of her mind.    

Jill didn’t have to wait long for the opportunity. Niyol came barreling into the room not long after Margery left, Luke at his heels. Jill glared at her father as he looked around the small room.

“Is everything okay?” he asked her.

“With the babies? Yes,” Jill replied tersely. “With you? Not at all. Sit.” She pointed to a chair next to her, and Niyol lowered himself into it while Luke wisely made himself scarce. “Now, tell me what the hell is going on with you and Margery, and don’t beat around the bush.”

“What do you mean?” Niyol asked, his eyes widening.

“I said not to beat around the bush,” Jill growled. “You were awful to her back at the house, and I want to know why.”

Niyol shifted uncomfortably in his chair before throwing her a guilty look. “I felt bad that you had gotten hurt while I was out playing with Ainsley and the others. I feel bad that I haven’t spent a lot of time with you since meeting Margery.”

Jill rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over this! It doesn’t bother me, Dad. I have you in my life. You aren’t going anywhere, and you deserve to be happy. But so do Margery and Ainsley.

“I’ve gotten to know Ainsley over the last several months. Her father rarely spends any time with her, and she needs that fatherly relationship in her life. Do you really think I would begrudge her or you that? You missed my childhood. We can’t go back and change that. It isn’t your fault, and it isn’t something I blame you for, but it is the way things are. You’re there for me in different ways than you are for Ainsley and Margery, and that is okay.

“Besides, Luke was out playing with you guys, and you don’t see him beating himself up over it. If anyone should feel guilty, it’s him, since he’s the one who put me in this position in the first place, but he doesn’t, and I’m glad. You can’t live your life feeling guilty over every little thing you can’t control. And you are not allowed to hurt Margery.”

She glared at Niyol who looked miserable. “I know what a life full of loneliness feels like,” Jill said, her voice gentling. “I would never wish that on you or Margery—or anyone. Plus, I know how it feels to have parents that don’t spend time with you. Ainsley is lucky she has Margery, but she deserves a father who will shower her with attention. It won’t upset me if that person is you.”

“Do you know where Margery is?” Niyol asked quietly.

“She ran out of the room, but she went that way,” Jill answered, pointing down the hall.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Thanks, Jill.”

“Any time. Now, can you send my husband in here for me? After all,” she said with a wink, “it is partly his fault I’m here, is it not?”

Niyol grunted, preferring not to think about that train of logic. He stepped into the hall and nearly ran into Luke.

“I heard her,” Luke said, smiling. “Margery is down in the waiting room.”

Niyol nodded gratefully before heading off to find her. He found her in the waiting room near the vending machines, struggling to get one of them to give up her drink.

She spotted him as she straightened up, a soda clutched in her hand, and she eyed him warily. As he strode over to her, Niyol couldn’t help but note how beautiful she looked and felt even worse for how he had treated her. Before he could say anything, Margery spoke, her words coming out in a rush.

“I’m sorry, Niyol. I think I imagined more between us than there is, and if that caused you any awkwardness of grief, I really am sorry.”

Niyol stared at her in shock.

“I haven’t dated much since Mitchell,” Margery continued. “And I guess I don’t really know what I’m doing, and I think I asked too much of you. I just want you to be happy, and I didn’t mean to be so—”

Niyol’s lips descended on hers, interrupting the jumble of words. He buried his hands in her hair, deepening the kiss and pushing all his affection and love out of himself and into her. He hoped he’d conveyed how much she meant to him as he released her and gazed down at her. She swayed slightly, eyes hazy with desire. He smiled, reaching up to brush her hair off her face and trail his fingers over her cheek.

“I love you, Margery,” he whispered. “I don’t know if it’s possible for you to make me happier than you’ve already made me, but I am more than interested in finding out if it is.”

A bright smile spread across her face as she pulled him into another kiss, her heart soaring with love and joy.