Waking Up Married
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Reese Ryan
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One
Zora Abbott sat in the nursery at her brother and sister-in-lawâs home, holding her new niece, who was barely a week old.
Remington Renee AbbottâBlake and Savannahâs baby girlâwas the newest addition to their growing family. And Zora was already obsessed.
Zora smoothed down her nieceâs headful of soft, shiny black curls as she stared into the girlâs wide, dark, expressive eyes. She gently tapped Remiâs adorable button nose. Baby girl blinked in response, her mouth opening slightly.
Remi stared at Zora as if she was both slightly amused and mildly disinterested at the same time.
Zora glanced over to where Savannah had suddenly appeared in the doorway. âRemiâs facial expressions crack me up. She definitely has her mamaâs no-nonsense fierceness.â
âAnd her aunt ZoZoâs ability to look right through you and make you question yourself,â Savannah added, smiling.
âTrue.â Zora grinned. âYou and Blake are going to have your hands full with this one.â
âI donât doubt that,â Savannah agreed. âAnd I hate to break up the lovefest, but your brother asked me to remind you that you need to leave for the airport soon or youâll miss your flight to Vegas.â
âI know.â Zora brushed the backs of her fingers against the babyâs rosy cheeks. Remiâs skin was the same soft brown as her motherâs. âI just hate to be away from her for three whole days.â
âRemi will be right here waiting for her aunt ZoZo when you get back.â Savannah stepped into the room with its mauve-painted walls and straightened the dusty-rose bedding draped across Remiâs crib.
Zora kissed her young nieceâs forehead, then reluctantly handed the baby to her mother. A hint of a smile ghosted over Remiâs little face as her eyes lit up with recognition. Savannah cooed softly in the babyâs ear, then nuzzled her forehead.
Zora bit back the envy that knotted her gut the tiniest bit. More than anything, she wanted children of her own. A startling realization sheâd made nearly two and a half years agoâthe moment sheâd first held Remiâs older brother, Davis. Zora had been sure it was a hormonal phase. A passing mood sheâd get over once sheâd had her fill of changing dirty diapers.
But the feeling hadnât passed.
Her desire to be a mother grew with each additional child born into their family. Davis. Her cousin Benjiâs twins, Beau and Bailey. Now Remi. Each wedding or baby shower sheâd attended made her painfully aware of her deepening desire. Made her ache with a sense of loss over something sheâd never even had.
The night after Remi was born, Zora had lain in bed, staring at the ceiling, preoccupied with her growing desire to be a mom. Sheâd climbed out of bed in the middle of the night, opened her laptop and researched the idea thatâd been brewing in her brain for months.
Who said she needed to wait for Prince Charming to come along to become a mother?
Zora was the sales VP at their world-renowned family-owned distillery, Kingâs Finest. Her family was among the wealthiest in the region. She certainly had the financial means to raise a child alone. And her grandfather, parents, brothers, and their significant others were all the village sheâd need to raise a child.
She was days away from her thirty-second birthday. Why should she wait for some phantom husband who might never come along?
âEverything okay, Zo?â Savannah laid Remi down.
âOf course.â Zoraâs cheeks burned, as if her sister-in-law had been privy to her thoughts. âGoing over a few things in my head before the trip.â
âWell, Iâll go let your brother and nephew know youâll be ready to leave shortly.â Savannah squeezed her arm. âThatâll give you two a few more minutes.â
Zora nodded at her sister-in-law gratefully, then returned her attention to her niece, whose heavy eyelids drooped as she drifted off to sleep.
She glided her fingertips over the signature burned into the wood of the crib. It was a gorgeous original piece, handcrafted by Zoraâs longtime best friendâpremier furniture maker Dallas Hamilton. The reason for her Las Vegas trip.
Dallas was being honored with an award for innovation, thanks to a stunning line of furniture heâd designed the previous year. Heâd spent months in Thailand working with native furniture artists, studying their designs and learning their craft.
Heâd designed breathtaking pieces that were a marriage of Western and Eastern aesthetics, inspired by intricate Thai designs. And the award-winning collection included pieces designed by native artists.
Zora couldnât be happier for her best friend.
The award presentation in Vegas capped a whirlwind year in which Dallas had graced the cover of high-profile magazines, been asked to design furniture pieces for a growing number of celebrities and done a handful of television interviews.
Since they were both currently single, heâd invited Zora to Vegas as his plus-one for the award ceremony. Afterward, they would spend their final forty-eight hours in Vegas partyingâan early nod to her impending thirty-second birthday.
It was nothing unusual for them. Dallas had been her plus-one at countless weddings and business or family events. And whenever they were both single, which was far more often than she liked to admit, they vacationed together at least once a year.
Dal still owned the cabin his grandfather had left him years ago, complete with a workshop where he handcrafted piecesâlike Remiâs cribâor developed new designs. It was the workshop where his grandfather had taught him how to make furniture and cabinetry when he was just a little boy. Dallas still considered Magnolia Lake home, but he spent most of the year at various places around the world, opening new showrooms for his company, Hamilton Haus, teaching workshops and being inspired by the unique furniture designs of various cultures.
Zora tucked the soft blanket beneath her nieceâs chin and smoothed down her hair. âGoodbye, sweet pea. Auntie ZoZo will be back soon,â she whispered to the sleeping newborn before slipping out of the room and quietly closing the door behind her.
Zora hated to leave her niece behind, but she was eager to see Dallas. Sheâd made an important decision, and she needed to ask a huge favor of him. Her stomach twisted in a knot when she imagined how he would react.
