Doctor's Secret: A Secret Baby Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  She said nothing, as if understanding I’d made a reasonable point.

  “We’re getting to know each other again after all this lost time. But we’re still…strangers in many ways. He’d mentioned that he’d been seeing someone, sure. However, it wasn’t as if I knew who you were.”

  “He…never told you my name, anything like that?”

  I shook my head, continuing the lie. “No. I didn’t get a chance before you two split up. And when that happened, we didn’t talk about it anymore.” I stepped over to her and took her hand in mine. She didn’t remove it. “Annie, this was just as much of a shock to me as it was to you. But I know we can work past it.”

  She turned her eyes away, giving the matter some thought. “It’s…it’s just so weird. I date a man for a long time, then I end up dating his brother. Seems like more than a coincidence, you know?”

  “Yeah, weird is the exact right word. But it’s a small world. These things happen.” I paused until she looked at me. “But what matters is I care about you, and I don’t want to lose what we have. And we don’t have to.”

  She bit her lip, considering my words. I could sense she was thinking the same thing as me. Her phone shook on the table. Without thinking, I glanced over and saw who it was.

  Andrew.

  “Shit,” she said, snatching up her phone and looking at the screen. “He’s been messaging me all day. Apparently, he thinks I was in on it.”

  “He’s dealing with it in his own way. How about this – you let me handle it with him. You and he aren’t a couple any longer, and there’s no reason you need to explain what happened.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Sure. I’ll take care of it.”

  “And…where does that leave us?”

  “Wherever we want. I know I want you still, and I’m ready to put all this behind us if you are.”

  She shook her head in disbelief. “God, this is about the craziest thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life.”

  I laughed. “You and me both. But it’s worth it. If I have to deal with a little craziness for a woman like you…” – I lifted her up from where she was seated and put my hands on her waist – “…it’s more than worth it.”

  She smiled sweetly. “And thanks for the flowers. That was really sweet of you.”

  Gazing into her eyes, I couldn’t resist her any longer. I placed my hand on the side of her face and leaned down, kissing her slowly. The kiss only went on for a few moments before my phone rang.

  “God,” she said. “Watch that be Andrew.”

  “I doubt it,” I said, taking my phone out of my pocket. “He’s been giving me the silent treatment.”

  And I was right – it wasn’t him. It was a call from my office, letting me know there’d been an issue in a Denver office that needed addressing.

  “Shit,” I said. “I need to go. Finish this sometime soon?”

  Another smile. “You bet.”

  We kissed again, and damn was it hard to take her lips from mine.

  When I left, I felt a keen sense of relief. But I had a feeling my troubles were far, far from over.

  Annie

  I was in a total daze after Duncan left. All I could do was go to my fridge, take out the bottle of wine I’d opened the night before after that totally insane meeting with Andrew, and pour a glass.

  Happily, however, before I could take a sip, a text from Gia asking me how the evening was going appeared on my phone. I told her I was home, and she said she’d be on her way over soon. It was like she had a sixth sense for these kinds of things, knowing exactly when something happened to get me all out of sorts.

  I raised the glass of pinot grigio to my lips, my eyes on the bouquet of flowers Andrew had left for me at the top of the garbage can. They were wilted and broken, a reminder of the end of our relationship. Of course he would try to get me back. And of course, he’d decide this just as my relationship with a man who turns out to be his brother is becoming stronger.

  His freaking brother. Small world, alright. So small I was beginning to feel hemmed in, like there was nowhere for me to go. I wanted to scream in frustration. But instead, I sipped my wine.

  Throwing a fit or getting bent out of shape wouldn’t do me a damn bit of good. I needed to be rational, to wrap my head around the situation and not let myself feel overwhelmed.

  I knew exactly what I needed to do.

  After taking a sip of my wine, I set down the glass and made my way over to my violin case. I popped it open, my eyes moving over the shape of the instrument. I picked it up, positioned it and the bow where they needed to be, and let loose.

  The music that came out was high-energy and frenetic, with a tight melody that required total focus as my fingers danced over the strings. I played and played, channeling all my frustration and confusion into the music. Right as I hit the peak of the improvised song, I saw Gia out of the corner of my eye.

  Feeling a touch exposed, I hurriedly returned the violin to the case, doing it so awkwardly the strings clanged, the bow falling onto the table with a clutter.

  “Hey!” Gia exclaimed, stepping into the apartment. “Why’d you stop? That was a hell of a groove!”

  I didn’t normally get flustered, but something about being walked in on while playing music always left me feeling a touch exposed – almost like being walked in on wearing nothing but my underwear.

  “Just practicing,” I said, lying.

  “Well, whatever it was, it was good as hell.” Her eyes fell on the bottle of wine, and before she could ask I fetched her a glass.

  “Sorry for barging in like that,” she said. “But the entrance was open and I was knocking – someone was feeling the music a little too much to hear me.”

  “Yeah, I guess I was in the zone,” I said, shaking my head, still in the kind of daze that only total focus on playing could put me in.

  “Don’t apologize,” Gia said, sitting down on the couch with her glass of wine in her hand. “After what you’ve been through you deserve some wine and song.”

  “What I’ve been through?”

  “Yeah, meeting Duncan’s brother.” She cocked her head to the side for a moment, as if something had just occurred to her. “Wait, did it go badly? I mean, you’re here instead of out with them.”

  “It went…” I snorted a derisive laugh. “I don’t even think badly is the right way to describe it.”

  “Oh no. I knew something was up when you got back to me so quickly. What happened?”

  I was still processing it, still dealing with how freaking insane and surreal it was. “His brother is Andrew.”

  She was confused, her eyebrows knitting. “Like, his brother’s name is Andrew? I mean, that’s kind of weird – same as your ex. But it’s a pretty common name.”

  I let out a snort of a laugh. The whole situation was so insane that she wasn’t even considering what I’d actually said. “No, his name wasn’t Andrew – his brother is Andrew.”

  “Wait. What? His brother is Andrew? As in, your freaking ex?”

  “As in my freaking ex,” I repeated. “We went to the bar to meet him and there he was. It felt like something out of a bad dream.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I panicked – no idea what to do. Andrew was convinced it was all some kind of sick prank.”

  She glanced over at the flowers he’d sent. “Don’t blame him one bit. He shows up to meet his brother’s new flame and it’s the woman he just broke up with. And evidently wants to get back together with.”

  “I don’t even know what to think,” I confessed.

  “Well, what was Duncan’s explanation?”

  “He was just here, said he didn’t know that me and his brother had been involved.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “Either that, or I assume he’s lying. Either way it’s totally insane.” I sat on the couch next to her, silence in the air as we both tried to process what was happening. The prolonged silence wa
s interrupted by my phone ringing.

  “Maybe that’s someone who can explain all of this,” she joked, smiling at me.

  I smiled back, shaking my head as I checked the screen. It was the opposite of someone who could explain all of it, in fact. Andrew.

  “It’s him,” I hissed, holding up the phone so she could see his name.

  “What!” she exclaimed. “Tell him you’ll call him back later or something.”

  “No, I need to take this.” I got up, let a deep breath flow in and out of me, and then answered. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” he replied. “How are you?”

  “I think you can probably guess.”

  I heard a quick chuckle on the other end. “Pretty insane situation we’ve found ourselves in, huh?”

  The slightest hint of a smile formed on my lips. “You’ve always had a flair for understatement.”

  “You’re right about that. Especially when it came to you.”

  Shit. No more than a few sentences exchanged, and he was already laying it on thick.

  “Listen,” he said, going on without waiting for me to respond. “We need to talk about this.”

  “What’s there to say?”

  “Plenty.” Then he paused as if something had occurred to him. “Did you like the flowers?”

  “They…they were nice.”

  “Good. You know, I never really bought them for you when we were together.”

  “No, you didn’t.” I was maintaining my calm, not wanting to reveal the confusing whirlwind of emotions running through me.

  “Anyway, let’s talk. Want to get together for a drink?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, Gia gestured wildly. I glanced over to see that she was waving her hands in front of her face, mouthing the words “no booze” while shaking her head. Despite the weirdness, I couldn’t help but grin.

  “A coffee drink,” I said. I wasn’t worried about getting too tipsy and doing anything stupid. More I wanted to make sure my head was in the right space while he and I were talking.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Thursday. At Apres Ski.”

  A pause. “Thursday. Let’s say at six.”

  “Done.”

  “See you then. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

  I couldn’t really say the same. “Yeah.” I hung up.

  “It’s happening?” asked Gia.

  “It’s happening.”

  “Why Thursday? Don’t you want to get it over with as soon as possible?”

  “More like I want to give myself a chance to cancel. I’m meeting with my ex, remember.”

  Gia nodded, getting it. Then, as if reading my mind, she passed me the wine. I sipped it, gazing out the window at the snow-blanketed mountains in the distance.

  What the hell was I doing?

  Duncan

  I felt torn in two. And as a man who took pride in always being certain, never doubting myself, it was a sentiment I most definitely wasn’t comfortable with.

  I spent the day at home, taking calls from my office, doing my best to lose myself in my work, my preferred approach to deal with any problems in my personal life – not that I ever had too many of those. Work never failed to take my mind off whatever else was going on.

  But then something happened during the middle of one of my conference calls.

  One of my doctors had been discussing a few recent gains and setbacks since opening his clinic. As hard as I tried to pay attention, I simply couldn’t. My mind drifted, focusing on her.

  I kept thinking about the other night, about introducing her to Andrew like that. I’d been so certain, so sure I’d made the right moves. I’d gone into it with the same certainty I had about all of my decisions, from my personal life to my career.

  Only this time, I felt…regret.

  It was a strange sensation, the idea of looking back on something I’d done and not feeling confident in my decisions. I didn’t like it one bit. But I couldn’t shake it. Had I screwed up? Had I hurt both my brother and Annie?

  But what else could I have done?

  “Dr. Pitt?” Dr. Oak asked, her sharp, professional tone snapping me back into the moment.

  “Huh?” My eyes flicked up to the screen and the four-panel image of Dr. Oak and three other doctors, all of them staring at me expectantly.

  Dr. Oak appeared confused. “I was…simply going over the next month’s appointments. What’s your take?”

  I had no answer. I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I had zoned out. I cleared my throat. “I think the workday’s caught up with me. Do you mind emailing them to me so I can give them a look?”

  She nodded, a frown on her face. “Sure. I’ll have my assistant send them within the hour.”

  “Perfect. And let’s wrap this up for today. I’m sure you all could do with an early night.” They all nodded with the same relieved expression on their faces. “Great work, everyone. I’ll be looking forward to speaking to you all again soon.”

  We said our goodbyes, and the call ended. When the screen went black, I sighed and sat back, shaking my head at what I’d done. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to let my personal life effect my work. There was simply too much going on for that to happen.

  But I couldn’t stop thinking about Annie. And not only about what had gone down. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I loved about her.

  Loved.

  At the appearance of the word in my mind, I stood up, stunned.

  Too soon for that, I thought. Way too fucking soon.

  The walls of the office began to close in on me. I drained the rest of the water from my nearby glass and hurried out, undoing my tie and tossing it onto the back of a chair in the hallway.

  I needed to get out of the house. After snatching up my keys, I stuffed my phone and wallet in my pocket and hurried to my Land Rover. The roads had long been cleared, but the branches of the pines above were thick with snow. White was all around me, the endless stretches of winter putting my mind at ease.

  I had no clear destination in mind, only that I needed to get out of the house. First stop was Apres Ski Coffee. More calm washed over me as soon as I stepped into the place. And – no sense in fooling myself— part of me hoped I might run into Annie there. But no sign of her.

  I ordered a coffee from the counter, along with a chocolate muffin – a treat I normally never allowed myself. It was…nice. The mellow ambience of the coffee shop had a further calming effect on me.

  As I sipped my coffee, watching the customers come and go kicking off the snow-dusted boots as they entered, ready to enjoy their drink and warm themselves by the fire, I began to remember just why I’d moved to White Pines.

  In the middle of my calm repose, however, my phone rang. The instant I felt it in my pocket, I regretted bringing it. And when I saw it was a call from Andrew, the tenseness I’d been trying to escape returned with a vengeance.

  But I couldn’t ignore it.

  “What’s up?” I asked, glancing around to make sure I wasn’t within earshot of anyone.

  “I want to talk to you about what happened.”

  “What’s there to say? I hope you’re not expecting an apology.”

  “Not sure if that’s going to get this conversation off to the right foot, Duncan.”

  I was being defensive, and I knew it. I sighed and said, “Sorry. Alright, let’s hear what’s on your mind.”

  “I’ve been thinking about how what happened…it can’t be a coincidence.”

  “What kind of coincidence?”

  “The kind where I date a woman for years and you just so happen to end up with her. Out of all the women in Colorado, you start seeing her.”

  “But you never showed me a picture, let alone introduced me.”

  “Duncan, it’s 2020 – there’re plenty of ways to find out about someone that don’t involve being introduced.”

  I didn’t want to say anything. Lying to Andrew didn’t feel right in the slightest. But at th
e same time, I didn’t want to give away the game. I’d put myself into a hell of situation. And now the consequences were unfolding.

  “But it doesn’t matter. I don’t know if you just happened to meet her, or if you planned it. But it’s a real clusterfuck of a situation, you have to understand that.”

  He wasn’t wrong. But I wasn’t about to give away the fact that I’d done some research on Annie before we’d met. All I’d wanted was to see just who my brother was dating, to get to know a part of his life. I hadn’t expected that she’d be the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen.

  Doesn’t matter. What did matter was that he was right – the situation was a mess.

  “Alright,” I said. “So what if it’s a cluster—” Off to my right, a mom and her two kids were gathered around a table, happily eating their bakes goods. I held my tongue. “So what if it’s a real cluster-fart? What do you want me to do? Break up with her?”

  The boy at the table, apparently hearing me, laughed at the word. I winked at him.

  “You can tell her the truth.”

  “The truth?”

  “The truth. Whatever the truth is, you need to let her know.” He paused. “And…there’s more.”

  “More?”

  “We’re meeting tomorrow.”

  My gut tightened. “You’re meeting with Annie? About what?’

  “We’re going to talk, to catch up. Hell, if we’re going to get shoved back into each other’s lives like this, we might as well smooth our pasts over.”

  “And that’s all it’s about, huh?” I could sniff out bullshit from a mile away.

  “What else would it be about?”

  “I don’t know – you tell me.”

  Silence. With each passing moment I became more certain that Andrew had motives he didn’t want to share.

  “Our relationship ended badly,” he said hesitantly. “And as much as I was sure I wanted to end things with her, I’ve never been happy with my decision.” He paused briefly. “Besides, it’d be nice to catch up. You of all people should know that she’s good company.”