The Wedding Fling by Meg Maguire Page A

this is the first time in ages I’ve been calling the shots for myself, and look where I’ve chosen to be.”
    His smile deepened. “Either your taste reflects really well on me, or my company reflects rather poorly on you.”
    She gave him a long, searching look. He could pretend to be a scoundrel all he liked, but having spoken to him so intimately the night before, Leigh didn’t buy it. Maybe Will really did have a low opinion of himself, or maybe he just favored the image, but she could see through it now.
    A worker hurried in from the front of the complex, dodging scattered chairs and blankets and clutter, to rouse the children. Leigh caught the words a little girl, and smiled to herself as the kids shoved their feet into flip-flops and were hurried off to the infirmary to meet their new sister. Leigh turned to find Will also smiling.
    “God help the parents if she’s as much trouble as Ninna,” he said, shaking his head.
    “How exciting,” Leigh replied.
    “You want kids?”
    She nodded. “Someday. Not for a while, though. Not until I know what the heck I’m doing with my life. But yeah, I think so. You?”
    Will looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been with a woman where I could picture it. Picture any kind of grown-up, permanent future, I mean.”
    Another pang, another reminder that Will wasn’t built for long hauls. Silly thing to feel let down by, but it tightened Leigh’s chest nonetheless. Rebound crushes weren’t nearly as simple as she’d been led to believe. This one had her downright mixed up, in the head and heart.
    They finished their breakfast and sat in easy silence for quite a while, until the nurse came striding in, grinning when she caught sight of them.
    “You want to meet the island’s newest resident?” she asked quietly as she reached them. “They wanted to invite you both.”
    Leigh sat up straight, looking hopefully at Will.
    He shrugged. “What’s one more breach of visitor-worker separation?”
    They followed the woman back to the infirmary. The kids had gone, but Oscar was lounging in a chair beside the bed, Bethany propped up, the baby bundled in her arms. She wore a wide, exhausted smile.
    Leigh and Will came close to stare down at the adorably pissed-off-looking infant, her eyes scrunched closed, head dusted with fine black hair. Leigh couldn’t help herself when a gooey “awww” tumbled from her lips. She hadn’t seen a baby so new since her little brother had been born, when she was five. It tugged at something in her middle, something that said Yes, let’s make one of these someday. Bad timing, considering she’d ended the most serious relationship of her life five days earlier. Someday, she agreed nonetheless. Someday not at all soon.
    “Have you named her?” she asked the couple.
    “Sesane,” Oscar said proudly.
    “She’s beautiful. Congratulations.”
    “Thank you,” Bethany said. “And thanks so much for your generosity last night.”
    “Yes,” Oscar said. “Was a long labor. Long labor. It was so nice for Bethany to be able to watch television, get her mind off things.”
    “It was my pleasure,” Leigh said.
    “We better leave you three to rest,” Will said, reaching down to smooth the baby’s wispy hair. “She’s gorgeous. Congratulations.”
    “God save us all if she takes after her sister,” Oscar said.
    Will laughed. “My thoughts exactly.”
    They said their goodbyes and left, closing the door quietly behind them.
    “I better head to the cove and see how the settlement’s held up,” Will said. “I hope they get your window fixed soon, so you’re not stranded too long.”
    Leigh shrugged. “I’ll cope.” She was dying to volunteer to help, but she couldn’t follow Will around any more than she already had, couldn’t continue to foist herself on the workers like a motherless duckling. “Thanks for letting me impose.”
    “The pleasure was all mine,” he said, and though his tone was lofty his words