Her Best Friend's Baby
Page 25
Cursing himself for letting her stay alone in Austin, he dressed so quickly he buttoned his shirt wrong. He didn’t discover it until he was in the cab on the way to the airport. Once there he threw down his gold card at the first airline ticket desk he came to and told them to do whatever it took to get him to Austin ASAP.
The process of getting booked was interminable, but finally he raced down the jetway of a plane that was in its final boarding. When he sat down, his seatmates looked at him strangely, and he wondered if he’d bothered to comb his hair. Probably not. He didn’t give a damn. Several times during the flight he found himself leaning forward as if he could will the plane to go faster.
And all the way, he prayed that Mary Jane would be all right. He gave a passing thought to the baby, but it was Mary Jane who occupied most of his worry time. Finally, somewhere over Kentucky, he thought to question why that was so. The answer wasn’t hard to find. He loved Mary Jane with all his heart and soul.
Logically he shouldn’t be capable of falling in love with her that fast, but logic had nothing to do with the way he felt about Mary Jane. He’d stay in Austin until the baby was born, just to make sure Mary Jane was okay. Maybe he’d bunk at Garrett’s so he wouldn’t put any pressure on her by living in the same house. Of course, with Jake and that Camille person still staying at his cabin, Garrett might be getting tired of houseguests.
So he’d stay in a hotel. Except then he wouldn’t be very close to Mary Jane if something did go wrong. Damn. There had to be a solution that wouldn’t make her feel crowded. He’d come up with something. A motor home. He could rent one and park it…somewhere. At the back of the property, maybe.
Living close by and not getting physically involved with her again would be tough, but he loved her too much to stay away at this critical time of her pregnancy. Once the baby was born, once she could think clearly about her future, he’d be able to let her go, if that was what she wanted. And maybe, if heaven smiled on him, she wouldn’t want him to leave.
By the time the plane touched down he’d decided a motor home parked some distance from the main house would be his best bet. But first he had to make sure that Mary Jane was okay.
He was out of his seat the minute the plane taxied into its berth. Pushing his way to the front of the plane, he mumbled apologies while he continued to bull his way forward. Once in the jetway he started running and didn’t stop until he was in a cab. He gave the driver the address and told him to step on it.
Dawn was still a good hour away when the cab turned onto the road leading to the Slattery place. Morgan’s stomach was in knots, and his pulse raced. If she wasn’t there he’d take the truck and head straight for Maitland Maternity. Thank God he had such faith in that clinic. As long as she got herself there, she’d be fine.
Then he heard the siren.
The cab pulled over to let the vehicle sail by.
When Morgan saw it was an ambulance and not a police car, he nearly had a heart attack. “Get going!” he yelled to the driver. “Follow that ambulance!”
Oh, God. This was too much like another night filled with the wail of an ambulance siren. Cold sweat ran down his backbone as he struggled for breath. Mary Jane had to be all right. She had to be.
He had a moment of confusion when the ambulance passed the Slattery place and turned in at Garrett’s. Mary Jane must have gone over there to get a ride, he thought. Garrett had decided to call an ambulance instead. Good man.
When the cab stopped, he leaped out and charged toward the front door, which the ambulance crew had left open on their way in. He nearly collided with Mary Jane coming out.
He grabbed her. “What the hell are you doing out here? The paramedics went inside looking for you!” Scooping her up, he started toward the house.
“They’re not here for me!” She squirmed in his grip. “Garrett called them for Camille, the lady Jake brought here! She’s in labor! Abby’s on her way, too.”
“The ambulance is for Camille?” He stared at her. “Not you?”
“No. I came over to stay with Camille until the ambulance arrived. Oh, Morgan.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I had no idea Camille would go into labor tonight, and it was your bad luck that you showed up right along with the ambulance.”
He shook his head, still not understanding. “As long as the ambulance is here, you might as well ride in it to Maitland.”
“I don’t need to go to Maitland. I’m fine. The baby’s fine. I’m just heartsick. I need you here with me, Morgan.”
“But…you said you felt strange. Not good.”
“I sort of exaggerated.” She searched his expression, her gaze worried. “I didn’t think this would happen. I thought you’d come straight to the house and find out I was fine and…”
“You made that stuff up about feeling bad?” He could hardly believe it. “Mary Jane, you took ten years off my life!”
“I didn’t mean to. And I was telling the truth, in a way.” She regarded him earnestly. “I’ve felt horrible without you, Morgan. For all I know that does affect the baby.”
“You made up a story just to get me down here.” He was still having trouble assimilating the information.
“I knew the only way you’d come to Austin was if you thought something might be wrong with the baby.” She stroked his cheek, as if to soothe his agitation.
He took a shaky breath and looked into her eyes. “Wrong. I didn’t come because I was worried about the baby. I came because I was frantic about you. I’ve spent hours in absolute panic, afraid something might happen to you before I could get here.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked miserable. “I should have been up-front with you. I should have just said, ‘Morgan, I love you desperately, madly, passionately, and I can’t go on without you. Please come home.’”
He gulped. Words like that had the power to wipe out all traces of anger from his system. “Are you sure?”
“That I should have been honest? Yes. You didn’t need another scare like that in the middle of the night. It was irresponsible of me, and I—”
“I mean, are you sure about loving me desperately, madly and passionately?”
She gazed at him, eyes shining. “Oh, yes.”
His heart lurched, but he told himself to be cautious. “It could be the effect of being pregnant with my baby, you know.”
“I really don’t think so.” Her expression was serenely happy. “But if you’re worried about it, feel free to keep me barefoot and pregnant. Our house has lots of room for a passel of kids. Oh, and speaking of being barefoot, did I ever tell you how much I enjoyed having my toes sucked? And another thing. I love being called pet names. You can call me honey, or sweetheart, or honey bunch. I especially like honey bunch.”
He was aware that he was fast losing control of the situation. Visions of carrying her to the house and making love to her had replaced all thoughts of motor homes and abstinence.
“See, I knew I had to tell you these things face-to-face. I could never have communicated this very well over the telephone.”
His vocal cords didn’t seem fully functional. “What…what exactly are you trying to communicate?”
“I’m proposing to you, Morgan. And if you’re as smart as I think you are, you’ll accept.”
He could barely breathe. Heaven was within reach, but he was afraid to grasp it. “I’ll weigh you down,” he said. “I love you too much to—”
She slapped a hand over his mouth. “Let’s rethink that statement, shall we? The way it needs to go is, ‘I love you so much.’ That’s it. No embellishments. Ready to try again?”
He nodded.
Slowly she removed her hand.
“I love you so much, but I’m—”
Her hand came over his mouth again. “Do you love me?” She lifted her hand to allow a response.
“Yes, but—”
She covered his mouth again. “Spare me the embellishments. I may have to g
ive up on getting the right words out of you. Let’s try this. Next time I turn you loose I want you to kiss me.” She slid her hand away.
He opened his mouth to tell her that he wasn’t right for her, but before he could say a word, she pulled his head down and kissed him in a way that made him forget every word he’d ever learned. All that mattered was holding this woman in his arms forever.
When she finally came up for air, he knew he’d lost the fight to do the decent thing.
“So what’s my answer?” she whispered, her voice husky with passion. “Will you give me your hand in marriage?”
Flooded with more happiness than he’d ever thought possible, he gazed at her. “My hand, my heart, my soul.”
She outlined his mouth with the tip of her finger. “Can I assume that all your other parts come with that deal?”
“You bet.”
“Good. I think the paramedics have this situation under control. Let’s go next door and try out some of those other parts.” She glanced over his shoulder. “Your cab is still waiting. I’ll bet the meter’s running, too.”
He laughed happily as he carried her to the waiting cab. “I’ll bet it is. You’re going to cost me a fortune, Mary Jane.”
“I know that. At first it worried me, but then I realized that I’m worth it.”
He smiled at her. “You certainly are, honey bunch. You most certainly are.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8718-5
HER BEST FRIEND’S BABY
Copyright © 2000 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Vicki Lewis Thompson is acknowledged as the author of this work.
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