by Carrie Elks
Courtney slowly turned back to the table and folded her silverware on her plate. Well that went well.
“He’ll come around,” Mary told her. “It’s just a shock. That’s all.” She picked up her fork and scooped up some potato, lifting it to her mouth.
Ellis leaned over to grab his own fork, then wiped it on his napkin before cutting up another piece of ham. “This is really good,” he said, spearing it into his mouth. “You’re a fine cook, Courtney,” he said once he’d swallowed it down, giving her a toothy smile.
They were good people, her in-laws. She’d always felt lucky to have Ellis and Mary on her side. And Carl? Well he could be hot headed, but he was still grieving Shaun’s loss the way they all were.
“You should eat,” Mary said softly. “For the baby.” She reached across to squeeze Courtney’s hand. “There are two of you to think about now. And if I’m going to be this little one’s grandma then I get to take care of you both.”
Courtney smiled at her. “Thank you for being so understanding.”
“A baby is always happy news,” Mary said firmly. “Always. And Carl will agree, when he calms down.”
Ellis lifted his wine glass to his lips, winking at Courtney. “I’ll drink to that.”
“I have this amazing new foot cream,” Lainey said as she and Courtney sat in the cottage the following evening. She’d been giving Courtney a pedicure, promising that it would relax her after yesterday’s encounter with her in-laws. “It’s supposed to make even rhino skin go smooth. Though I think it might have met its match with you.” She wrinkled her nose. “You need to take better care of your feet.”
Courtney wiggled her toes. “These are working feet. I stand on them almost twelve hours every day.” She swallowed a laugh as Lainey rubbed the cream into the soles. “Hey, that tickles.”
“I’m surprised you can feel anything through this thick skin.” Lainey shook her head. “I’m booking you for a weekly mani pedi starting next week. No arguments.”
“It’s pointless. I’ll just ruin it on the farm. And anyway, I’m busy.”
Lainey rested Courtney’s foot on her leg, her expression turning serious. “You need to start looking after yourself. For the baby’s sake. You can’t keep working long hours and expect everything to be okay. Have you even thought about when you take maternity leave? Who’s going to fill in for you? What will you do with the baby when you go back to work? You’ll be in the middle of your busiest season here on the farm.”
Courtney tipped her head to the side, her eyes on Lainey. “Have you been reading a pregnancy book?” she teased.
Lainey’s cheeks flushed. “No.” She pressed her lips together. “Okay, I’ve read a few websites. And they all say I’m right.”
It was impossible not to smile at her. “I only found out I was pregnant a week ago,” Courtney pointed out. “I haven’t got it all figured out yet. But I will. We can get some seasonal workers if we need to. And if all goes well, I should be able to get back out in the fields pretty soon, even if I have to baby wear or something.”
Courtney’s phone started buzzing on the coffee table in front of them. She picked it up, lifting an eyebrow when she saw who was calling.
“It’s Logan,” she told Lainey.
“Take it.” Lainey leaned in, intently. “Don’t worry about me.”
Courtney shook her head with a grin, then swiped her finger to accept the call. “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s me.” His voice was buttery smooth.
“How are you?” she asked, ignoring Lainey’s wide-eyed stare.
“I’m good. More importantly, how are you? Did it go okay with your in-laws yesterday?”
Courtney let out a sigh. “It went as well as I expected. They were kind, but shocked. And Shaun’s brother was pissed.”
“The brother who nearly caught us that night?”
Courtney swallowed, remembering his warm, hard body against hers, as well as the total panic she had when she realized Carl was knocking at the front door. “Yeah, that one.”
“Do you want me to talk to him? Smooth things over?”
“Good Lord, no.” Courtney shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. “That wouldn’t go well. He needs some time and space to get used to the news. He and Shaun were really close. It must be difficult for him.”
“I don’t want him giving you a hard time. Not when you have our baby to think about.”
Courtney blushed at his use of the word ‘our’. Was that the first time he’d used it? Maybe it meant he was getting used to the idea. “Did you talk to your family?” she asked him, still wondering.
“Just my brother. Gray.”
“The rock star.”
He chuckled. “That’s the one. I haven’t told everyone else though. I figured there’s plenty of time for that. Plus, I can’t guarantee they won’t blab all over town.” He cleared his throat. “It was good to talk to him. Helped me sort through all these damn thoughts rushing around my brain.”
“Everybody will know soon anyway. I’ve come to terms with that.” Courtney watched as Lainey pulled out her bag of nail polishes, selecting a shiny vermillion one. She shook it and unscrewed the top, arranging Courtney’s feet on the towel across her thighs so she could start to paint the nails.
“You know I’m gonna take care of you, right?” Logan’s voice was low. “I’m here for whatever you need.”
“That’s very sweet, but I can take care of myself,” Courtney told him. “But I’m glad you want to take care of the baby with me. I want him or her to know their father.”
“You’re the mother of my child, Court. I don’t know how else to deal with this other than to be there for you. I want to be involved. The pregnancy, the birth, the whole thing.”
Lainey stopped mid-brush, her lips curling up as she met Courtney’s gaze. “Oh. My. God,” she mouthed.
“Stop it,” Courtney mouthed back. Then aloud, she said, “Thank you. That means a lot.”
“I’m flying to Boston tonight,” he told her. “But I’ll be back for your appointment on Thursday. Can I pick you up? Give you a ride there?”
She caught Lainey’s gaze again, thinking of how much of a statement that would make. Arriving together in the town square and walking into the doctor’s office together. Even if people didn’t figure it out right away, it wouldn’t take long for them to put two and two together. Before the week was out, everybody would know Courtney Roberts was pregnant and Logan Hartson was the father.
Was she ready for that?
She took a deep breath, and nodded her head at her own question. She needed to be ready, because this baby wasn’t going to stop growing. “A ride would be great,” she told him softly. “The appointment is at two.”
“Then I’ll see you fifteen minutes before that.”
Chapter Thirteen
If the tiredness didn’t kill her, the nausea probably would. Courtney stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, scowling at the dark shadows under her eyes. Her skin was dry and her cheeks looked sunken. Whoever talked about the pregnancy bloom was either a liar or had a completely different experience with pregnancy than she was having.
The Monday after she’d told them about her pregnancy, Ellis had treated her completely normally, as if nothing had changed. And Mary had called her into the cottage at lunchtime, serving her sandwiches and soup while telling her she needed to rest before going back out to the fields.
There had been no sign of Carl though. He hadn’t called or popped around either. She wasn’t sure whether to be sad or glad about that.
And now it was Thursday, the day of her first prenatal appointment. Logan was due here any minute, and the anxiety of not only seeing him again, but having to go through an exam with the midwife was sending her heart rate sky high.
She heard the low rumble of his car as it came up the long driveway, followed by a crunch as the tires met the gravel in front of the cottage. She looked at herself again, letting out a sigh, then
twisted her hair into a bun and fastened it with a tie.
It was time to face the music.
She walked down the stairs, grabbing her purse before she headed for the front door, opening it to see Logan standing there, his hand raised mid-knock.
“Hey.” His smile was soft. She swallowed hard, trying not to notice how he smelled like fresh rain on a hot day. “I brought you these,” he said, holding up a brown paper bag.
She took it, her smile bemused. “What’s inside?”
“Brownies. You said you were craving them.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d not managed to keep anything down all week. “Thank you.” Damn, he was sweet. She wasn’t sure she could handle that. “I’m kind of impressed you remembered.”
“I was serious when I said I want to take care of you.” He glanced at the bag. “And I figure the baby will be eating most of them.”
“That’s a really good excuse to pig out.”
He shrugged. “If you can’t do it now, when can you? Anyway, they’re calorie free.” He winked. “I made them myself so I can guarantee it.”
Her fingers tightened around the rolled up rim of the bag. “You made these?” She wasn’t sure why that made her throat feel tight.
“Yeah. Is that okay?” He frowned. “It’s not weird, is it?”
She shook her head quickly. “No. Not weird at all. It’s lovely.” Her voice was thick. “Thank you.”
He was overwhelming. Not just physically – though that was bad enough. It was as though he hit every sense she had without even thinking about it. He smelled good, dammit, and that wasn’t something she was used to on a farm. As for him baking for her, she wasn’t sure what to do with that thought.
“We should go,” he said, inclining his head at the car. “Make sure we’re there on time.”
She nodded rapidly. “Sure. Let me put these in the kitchen and I’ll be ready.” Flashing him a smile, she turned and walked back through the living area, glad he couldn’t see her expression.
She blew out a mouthful of air. She needed to pull herself together. By the time she turned back to where he was standing in the doorway, she had a bright smile on her face.
The appointment would take an hour at the most. Then he’d be back on a plane to Boston, and she’d be here on the farm.
“Okay,” she said, the smile unwavering. “Let’s go do this thing.”
He stepped aside as she pulled the front door closed, then walked her to the car, opening up the passenger door and helping her inside.
“I’m ready if you are,” he told her.
“Well, you’re definitely pregnant,” Alice Dean, the midwife said, holding the test results up, as she sat down at the desk in front of Courtney and Logan. “And your last period was some time in mid September, right?”
Logan glanced at Courtney from the corner of his eye. Her cheeks were flushed as she nodded.
“I think so,” she said. “Though I had some light bleeding in October. I didn’t think anything of it until I missed the next one. But now I remember it only lasting a day. I was too busy with everything to notice something was wrong.”
“A lot of women get spotting at first. It’s perfectly normal. And your HCG levels are good, so there aren’t any concerns there.” The midwife made a note in Courtney’s file. “Now, we’re a little different to some other maternity units. You’ll see Dr. Matthews regularly, but you’ll also see me. And I’ll be there at the birth, too. We like to make it as homely as possible. It makes everything easier.”
Courtney nodded. “I’ve played midwife to a lot of sheep and pigs.”
Alice grinned. “Then you know what’s ahead of you. That’s good.”
“As long as I don’t have a litter of ten, I’ll be happy.”
Logan swallowed hard. “I’m a twin,” he said, leaning forward. “Does that make it more likely that Courtney will be pregnant with multiples?”
Courtney whipped her head to look at him. “You’re a twin?” she asked, her mouth falling open.
“Yeah. I thought you knew.”
Only that he had three brothers. “No, I didn’t.” She blew out a mouthful of air and turned back to look at Alice. “Does that mean we could have twins?”
“My brother’s wife had twins last year,” Logan told them. “In case that makes any difference.”
“Are you and your twin identical?” Alice asked, her brows knitting together.
“Yep. Mirror image,” Logan told her.
“And what about your brother’s twins?” She made a note on the pad in front of her.
“They’re fraternal.”
She didn’t look surprised. Logan suspected Alice knew exactly who his brother was, even if she wasn’t saying anything. He appreciated her discretion, especially in a small town like this. “Believe it or not, there’s no link between the two sets in your family. Just pure luck.” She shrugged. “And being an identical twin doesn’t increase the odds of Courtney being pregnant with twins. It’s just a quirk of nature. Though there’s only one way to find out for sure, and that’s by having a sonogram.” Her eyes flickered over to Courtney. “We can do that today. The technician is here. I can see if she can fit you in if you’d like.”
Courtney turned to Logan with a question on her face. He nodded, and she smiled.
“Yes, please,” she told Alice.
Half an hour later, she was laying on an exam table, her top pulled up and her jeans unbuttoned at the waist. The tech was squeezing gel on her stomach, the cold making Courtney wince.
Logan shifted in the chair he’d been directed to, trying not to stare at her stomach. Was there a hint of a swell there? It was hard to tell. There would be one day, though. Sooner rather than later. And beneath that swell would be his child.
His throat tightened again, as the technician started to move the wand over Courtney’s lower abdomen, her eyes on the screen in front of her. “Well the good news is there’s only one.”
Courtney’s eyes met his. He grinned in relief.
“And the baby’s the perfect size for ten weeks. Measuring about as big as a strawberry.”
That was so damn tiny, it almost didn’t feel real. But then the technician turned the monitor around and pointed at the image on the screen and his whole world shrunk to the size of a pin.
There was a baby, no doubt about it. Tiny limbs moved around as the technician tried to point out the head, the body, the pumping heart. But her words were just noise, a buzzing in his ear, because his baby was there.
His breath caught in his throat. Slowly he managed to tear his gaze away, lifting it to Courtney. She was staring right back at him, her eyes wide and shiny. And damn if his weren’t feeling wet, too.
“You okay?” he managed to get out, his voice tight.
She nodded.
“Everything is perfect,” the technician told them. “I’ll print out a couple of photographs for you to keep and leave them at the front desk.” She passed a wad of tissues to Courtney so she could wipe her stomach. “And I’ll be seeing you again in a few months for your next ultrasound.”
Courtney sat up on the bed, fastening her jeans as the technician left the room. “We’re only having one,” she said softly.
“I guess that’s good news.”
Her mouth twitched. “Good for me. I only have to push one out.”
He immediately felt guilty, because that was another thing she’d have to do because of him.
And yet there was a warmth in him too, because that baby was his. And he knew for certain that no matter what happened he’d protect them both. Mother and baby. The thought was like a fire scorching over his body, making his muscles tight and his breath shallow.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Courtney asked, slipping her shoes back on. “You feel far away.”
“I’m just…” He shook his head. “It’s our baby, you know?”
She blew out a mouthful of air. “Yeah,” she said. “I know.”
/> “He or she is perfect. Those little legs and arms.” He smiled at her. “Did you see them?”
“I did.” She grinned back, her shoulders loosening up. “And they weren’t still at all, were they? I guess he or she doesn’t have much of a chance with being calm. Not with two workaholics for parents.”
They went out through the door, stopping at the front desk for Courtney to make her next appointment. The receptionist held out the ultrasound photographs, and Courtney took one. She glanced at Logan. “Would you like the other one?” she asked tentatively.
“Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
He took it, opening his wallet and carefully sliding it inside. Baby Roberts was written in white print at the top, and for a moment he felt dismay at the words.
He wanted it to be Baby Hartson. His. And that fiery feeling of protection washed over him again.
Yeah, well that was a discussion for another day.
“You ready to go?” he asked her. “I need to head to the airport to catch my flight.”
“Will you be okay with two flights in one day?” She looked concerned.
“Yeah.” His brows knitted together. “It was hard to even take a day off. Things are crazy with opening a new restaurant right now.”
“Oh.” She pressed her lips together. “I didn’t know you were opening something new.”
He felt like a dick again, because there was so much she didn’t know about him. And if it wasn’t for the little strawberry sized life growing inside her, she probably never would know those things. “Maybe you can come and see my restaurants some time,” he said, feeling exposed. “Since the baby will spend some of his or her time in Boston with me.”
Courtney swallowed. The smile had disappeared from her lips and he was already missing it. “Of course. That would be good. Maybe once I’m in the second trimester.”
He nodded. “Let’s check our calendars and work on something.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and held the door open for her. “Come on, let’s get you home.”