“So, will you move her in when she’s able to leave the hospital?”
“Yes. I’m making arrangements tomorrow.”
“I’m glad you found a place for her. Any luck on a new apartment for you?”
“I haven’t had time to worry about that. I’ll be good in the hotel for at least a few more days. I have to see what I can salvage out of the apartment. I know the living-room furniture will have to go. It smells too much like smoke. I can keep the tables and such, but everything has to be wiped down and packed up.” It wasn’t a job she was looking forward to, even if she would just be overseeing things.
“You’ll have some help with that?” Concern filled his voice.
She pushed pillows behind her and leaned back against the headboard. “The insurance company has a crew coming in. I just have to find some place to put what’s salvageable, like another apartment.”
“I’m sorry this happened.”
She could imagine him pulling her into a hug. “Me too, but at least it made me face the inevitable. Mom needs more help than I can give her.”
“Tough way to figure that out.” Sincere sympathy surrounded his words.
“You’re not kidding.” Why was it so easy to talk to Gabe? She should be putting distance between them, not making him a confidant.
There was quiet on the line before he said, “Have you thought about my offer?”
She’d suspected that question would come up before the call ended. “Gabe, I’m not living with you.”
“The invitation remains open if you change your mind. I’ll be moving your way on Friday. I hate it but I’ve gotta go. Surgery is paging me. ’Bye.”
* * *
Suddenly Zoe felt utterly alone. He seemed to always be rushing off somewhere. If only Gabe could have talked to her longer. She needed his logical reasoning because she hated the idea of her mother going into a care home. There was no one else to lean on. Her sister was out of the country. Zoe hadn’t even been able to get in touch with her to tell her about the fire. Zoe had friends, but they had become rather distant since she’d had to spend so much time with her mother. Now that she needed someone, Gabe was filling that spot. It was odd. They knew so little about each other, yet they seemed to click.
She ran her hands over her belly. They certainly had clicked that one night. He’d been easy to be around then and he was now. Too easy.
Zoe stuffed her leftover meal into the paper bag and threw it in the garbage. Going back to bed, she slid between the bedsheets. Curling into a ball as she hugged a pillow to her, she let the tears she’d held in check flow. What would it be like to have strong, sure arms around her? Comforting arms? Someone to share her pain with?
That was what she’d always dreamed of. Gabe’s face popped into her mind. She couldn’t depend on him. He didn’t want a wife and family. Just like her ex-fiancé and her father. She couldn’t let her heart be hurt again like he had so easily done. She had to wait for the right man to give her heart to. The one who wanted the same things out of life that she did.
She did have her baby. Zoe smiled. Another person to take care of but she was looking forward to it. Would her child have Gabe’s big blue eyes and dark hair? Or look more like her? In a few short months she would know. Hold him or her in her arms. Out of all this darkness there would be a shining star. With a slight smile on her lips, Zoe fell into an exhausted sleep.
* * *
The next afternoon she received a call from Shorecliffs House, the assisted-living home she couldn’t afford. The administrator said they had a room opening after all. Before the woman had hardly finished, Zoe had said she would take it. When the conversation was over Zoe put her head against the wall and tapped it a few times. She knew what she had to do. The only way she could afford it was by moving in with Gabe until her mother’s insurance would cover the cost.
Backing down and agreeing to Gabe’s plan put her in a vulnerable position. There must be ground rules. Above all else they would not be sharing a bed. Ever. That rule couldn’t be broken regardless of how tempting it might be.
With a lump in her throat she worked to swallow, Zoe pushed Gabe’s phone number. He didn’t answer, so she left a message. “Please call me.”
A few hours later, while working at her old apartment, her phone rang. With shaking hands and banging heart, she said, “Hello?”
“Hey, what’s going on?” He sounded distracted.
“That proposition you made about me renting a room from you—did you really mean it?”
“Yeah, I really mean it. Wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t.” He seemed totally focused on their conversation now.
“It looks like I’m going to need to take you up on a room. But there have to be some rules.”
“Such as?”
“I pay rent. I have my own room. I’m strictly a roommate. I’ll only stay until my mother’s insurance starts. We lead our own lives without reporting in to each other.”
“Okay.” He drew the word out. “Do you mind if I ask what changed your mind?”
“The home I wanted to put Mom in had an opening. I had to jump at the chance when they called. Having a roommate is the only way I can afford it. I don’t have time to look for one, so...”
“I see.” By his tone he did.
“The arrangement will only be temporary. I’ll be out in six months, tops. I’ll have found my own place by then.” Hers and the baby’s.
“I don’t have a problem with that. My house is plenty big enough for us both. My bedroom is on one side of the house while the other two bedrooms are on the other. We might meet in the kitchen occasionally.
“With my new position, I’ll be super-busy, so I probably won’t be around much. I’ll be moving in on Friday. Why don’t you let me make the arrangements for the movers to pick up your furniture?”
“I don’t really have much. Everything I own smells like smoke. The insurance had to give me money for clothes. I’m at the apartment, boxing up family pictures and such now. I’ll put whatever I decide I don’t need in storage. I think my bedroom suite and Mom’s should be all right but the mattresses may have to go. Anyway, I don’t need to bore you with all that. I’ll figure it all out and get back to you.”
“Zoe, I already have my movers coming. You have enough going on. Let them take care of moving your stuff as well.”
“You’ve got your hands full with your own move. I’ll take care of mine.” She had to start setting boundaries now. This she would do for herself. At least she could feel in control of one area of her life.
He huffed. “If that’s the way you want it. Let me know when you’re ready to move in and I’ll make sure you can get into the house.”
Someone in the background called his name. To them he said, “Yeah, I’ll be right there. I need to do it myself.” He spoke to her again. “I’ve got a case that needs my attention, so I’ve got to go. Take care of yourself.”
* * *
Gabe didn’t like the thought of Zoe handling her own moving arrangements or of her lifting boxes, but with her attitude, he wouldn’t be doing himself any favors by pushing her further. He decided to keep his distance, trying not to think about what she was doing and why. He made a point of not calling her, even though he was anxious to know how she was doing.
Had her mother’s move gone well? This personal interest in Zoe perplexed him. It wasn’t like him. He put it down to the fact that she was the mother of his child. And he genuinely liked her. If he didn’t hear from her soon he’d be forced to call her. On Thursday evening, he flew to Richmond and resisted the urge to try to see Zoe. If he hadn’t heard from her by Friday evening he would call.
Early the next day he was standing on the porch of his new home, waiting for the movers to show up. He didn’t have many belongings, had never cared much about what his home looked like as long as it was comfortab
le. With his more-gone-than-home lifestyle, he had never felt the need to decorate his places.
Apartments had always been where he’d lived as an adult, but with a child coming, a house had seemed like the right thing to buy. A boy needed a backyard. Or a girl. The idea of having a place for his son or daughter to play like he’d had appealed. He may not have had a father but he’d had a good childhood. He looked around him at the tree-lined street with the sidewalk running along it and the other houses with their green lawns and shook his head. A subdivision wasn’t where he’d ever dreamed he’d be living.
Next thing he knew he’d be driving a minivan. The very idea made him huff. Yet he’d made a step in that direction today. He had sold his sports car and picked up his new four-door sedan. His argument to himself was that he was being practical, because it would be easier to get a car seat in and out of.
A moving van pulled into his drive. The large truck held his meager belongings—bedroom suite, kitchen table, sofa, boxed kitchen items and household goods. There would be a large amount of space in the house sitting empty. Maybe what he needed to do was hire an interior decorator to come in and suggest what he needed to buy. A few hours later the movers had left, and he was searching through a box for the coffee maker when his phone rang. His heart beat faster. It was Zoe. “Hey.”
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m not going to move in until Sunday.”
He was both disappointed and surprised. “Oh, okay. Why not earlier?”
“I’ve had to deal with Mother. And the guys can’t help me until Sunday afternoon. I’ve spent most of the morning organizing what needs to go into storage and packing up the rest.”
“Guys?” What guys was she talking about? She wouldn’t let him help her; instead, she’d chosen to ask some other men. There was a pang in his chest he didn’t want to examine closely.
“Some friends from work,” came her offhanded answer.
“It sounds like you have everything in hand.” Could she hear the testiness he felt?
“Why I’m calling is to see if it’s all right for me to come over and see what my room looks like. I need to decide what to bring and what to store.”
His ego took another hit. She was only interested in seeing the house, not him. It occurred to him he was taking this all too personally because he was operating on the assumption they were more than merely accidental parents. Which they weren’t, so why was he feeling this way? He had to get control of his imagination, be ruthlessly realistic about the foundation of their relationship. Starting now. “Sure. That’ll be fine.”
“How much longer do you think your movers will be? I don’t want to get in their way.”
She was all business. He could be that as well. “They left hours ago, so you’re welcome anytime.”
“Great. Please text me your address. I’ll see you later.” She hung up.
Gabe lost track of the number of times he’d checked his watch since Zoe had called. It amazed him how excited he was at the thought of seeing her again. The doorbell finally rang as he finished unpacking the last box in his bedroom.
He wiped his hands on his jeans and hurried to the front of the house. Through the pane glass of the door he could see Zoe. His heart beat faster. She was as amazing as he remembered. Her head was moving one way then another as if she was taking everything in. Pulling the door open wide, he stepped back and said in a welcoming manner, “Come in.”
Zoe gave him a slight smile. “Hi. I like your house. It’s...big.”
He wasn’t sure how to take that statement. Was she being complimentary or expressing relief they wouldn’t be living in close proximity? Or both?
* * *
With a tentative step, Zoe entered Gabe’s new home. Stepping into his living space symbolized how drastically her life was changing. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, just one of uncertainty. As if she’d been forced to open a door without knowing what lay behind it.
It was a new redbrick home in an exclusive neighborhood that she’d only driven through a couple of times. She was a little surprised he’d chosen the area and such a large house. This was a subdivision of family homes, not where single men tended to live. Gabe didn’t impress her as a spacious-home kind of person. So why had he decided on this one?
It did have one appealing advantage, though. It was large enough they would most likely have little or no contact while she resided here. That was what she wanted. To get through the next few months then move on. Or at least that was what she was going to keep telling herself.
She ran her fingertips over the smooth wooden door with its beautiful glass panels and large oval in the middle. A hardwood floor gleamed in the shaft of afternoon sun flowing in through the open doorway. Beyond the foyer was a sunken living area with a fireplace filling one wall. She took a timid step forward. Along the back were tall windows, revealing a circular brick patio and manicured yard. Her breath caught. It was perfect. If she’d been picking out a house this would have been the one she chose.
The corner of her mouth lifted a little. The living area’s massive space held only a leather sofa, matching chair and large TV. How like a man to have only the essentials. What would it be like to snuggle up on that sofa next to Gabe in front of the fire? Something she wouldn’t be doing. “You have a beautiful home.”
She watched his lips curve up. Was he pleased with her compliment? Did it matter to him what she thought?
“Come on in and I’ll show you around.”
He led her through the living area, giving her time to admire the backyard anew through the windows as she followed him into the kitchen by way of a bay-window alcove that served as an eating area. A small table and two well-worn chairs were stationed there. The kitchen was spacious, furnished with all the latest appliances. She could only imagine what a pleasure it would be to cook for a family here. Hardly the galley-sized kitchen she’d been using.
It was a shame that no woman would share this house with him. If it was her... No, those thoughts were better left alone. That was one place she didn’t need to go. He’d already made it clear what he wanted out of life and that didn’t include her.
From there he pointed down a small hallway. “That’s my suite and the way out to the carport. This is the way to your side of the house.”
It might be, but she was afraid it wouldn’t be far enough. Just being near him had her dreaming of what could be.
They crossed the living area and went through an arched doorway into a hallway that ran from the front of the house to the back.
“You have a choice between two bedrooms. You can have them both if you want them.” Gabe turned to the right, bumping her as he did so. He grabbed her before she rocked backward. “Whoa there. We wouldn’t want you to fall.”
Gabe’s hands were brand hot on her waist. He watched her intently for a moment. His eyes focused on her lips before he released a breath he’d apparently been holding and let her go.
Zoe tingled all over with the desire to have him touch her again. Living in such a virile man’s home wouldn’t be easy.
He led her into a sunny room at the front of the house. It was larger than she’d had in her apartment. The street was out the front window and a neighbor’s house could be seen in the distance through the other. “There’s a full bath right there.” Gabe pointed to a doorway. “The other room’s down this way.”
He didn’t give her time to look before he walked out into the hallway. He acted as if he was making a point to keep as much distance as he could from her. Zoe caught up with him by the time he reached the doorway of the other room. This one was as large as the first but the view was nicer. From the window facing the back she could see the yard and trees.
“There’s another bath in here.” Gabe stood in the entrance and flipped on a light switch. “This bath isn’t quite as large as the other one but it’s a nice size.”
&
nbsp; He sounded almost apologetic. Did it really matter to him what she thought of it?
As she pondered those unsettling questions, he added, “You’re welcome to store anything you like in the room you don’t use.”
“I appreciate that, but I’ve already put stuff in storage. I’ll just be bringing my bedroom suite, a chair and TV. That should be enough. The less I bring, the less I have to worry about moving the second time.” It was important she be practical about the arrangements because she was not living here long.
She caught sight of Gabe’s odd expression a second before he glanced away. “Whichever one you don’t take I’ll make the baby’s room.”
Her look met his again. “The baby will be living with me.”
“I know that, but he or she will be regularly visiting me. I’ll need a bedroom for my child.”
His assertion solidified her resolve that when she was settled they were going to sit down and decide on Gabe’s visitation schedule. His insistence on being involved wasn’t going to overrule what she thought best for her baby. This was her baby. She would be making the final decisions about raising her child, regardless of what Gabe wanted. However, she knew this wasn’t the time to broach that issue. She was juggling far too many things as it was. “We’ll talk about your visitation rights later.”
“Just because you keep putting it off, it doesn’t mean the issue will go away. Or me, for that matter.” He arched an eyebrow in challenge.
Before her temper got the better of her, Zoe headed for the front door. “I’ve got to get going. It’s been a long day.”
“Have you eaten? I could call for Chinese takeout or pizza.”
She didn’t slow down. “I have to go. I’ll just do drive-through and go to bed early.”
“Do you need any help moving? I can meet you Sunday morning.”
Why did he keep being so nice to her? “Uh... No, I have it all taken care of. You’ve got your own stuff here to worry about.” She walked out the front door but stopped on the porch. “By the way, did you have a chance to look at Mr. Luther’s file?”
The Brooding Surgeon's Baby Bombshell Page 6