Page 106 of The Pilot

“The newest Lobsterite sounds angry as hell,” Walt said with a chuckle.

That seemed to break the ice, and everyone chuckled.

“Does that mean Britt had her baby?” Kash asked, coming up beside Harper and putting his arm around her waist, leaning into her.

“Sure does,” she told her son.

“Is it okay?”

“Not sure, but by the sound of it, I’d say probably.”

Another tense few minutes went by as everyone waited for news of how Britt and the baby were doing. Then the back door of the ambulance flew open, and the EMT exited with a huge grin on his face.

“Mom and baby are doing great. Baby is just a little premature and underweight and will probably spend a few nights in the hospital, but lungs sound okay, color is normal, and so far so good!”

A huge sigh of relief went through the entire family.

Harper hugged Kash to her side, and she felt Linc relax against her other side.

“Is it a boy or girl?” Evelyn asked, taking a step forward.

Chad’s head popped out of the open door, and he was grinning from ear to ear. “It’s a girl!” he announced. “Apparently she wanted to be born literally on Lobster Cove. We’ve named her Carleigh Evelyn Young.”

Harper looked at Linc’s mom. It took a moment for the name of her first granddaughter to sink in, but when it did, her lip trembled and she burst into tears.

Zach moved to her side and took her into his arms.

“These are happy tears,” she said with a shaky smile.

“We couldn’t think of a better namesake than you, Mom,” Chad said. “You’re the glue that holds all of us crazies together, and we knew if we had a girl, her middle name would be Evelyn.”

“I love you!” Evelyn said. Knox and Linc had joined their brother around their mom, and the four of them remained in a huddle as they watched Chad wave, then disappear back into the ambulance.

“See you at the hospital!” Britt called out, just before the doors shut.

“Everyone divide yourselves up,” Knox ordered. “Mom, you’re with me. Brad and Chuck, do you want to come to the hospital, or should we drop you off at home?”

“Hospital!” both boys said without hesitation.

Harper smiled. Apparently, a birth was way more exciting than anything they could do at home.

“They’ll come with us,” Linc said.

Everyone else quickly got themselves sorted. Marit’s coworkers, Ginger and Alistair, and Barry and Walt all offered their congrats—and their thanks for an exciting party—before heading home.

Minutes later, Harper was in Linc’s SUV, and they were headed to the hospital in a mini caravan of cars.

“This is so exciting, isn’t it, Mom?” Kash asked from the back seat.

“It is, indeed,” she said.

Linc had a huge smile on his face as he drove. And without looking away from the road in front of him, held out his hand to Harper. She went to grab it . . . then saw something on his finger. Looking closer, she saw it was a ring.

An engagement ring, to be exact.

She gasped.

“Since we don’t need to be a distraction now, I didn’t want to wait any longer to see this on your finger.”