Elizabeth pursed her lips and thought. “I’m sure there is... Let’s see. Of course, Mike’s parents are out of the question.’’ Angling her head, she regarded him, still struck by the ease with which he inspired confidence. Must be a doctor thing. “His dad ran off when he was a baby.”
“Like father, like son.”
“Sadly we had the fatherless thing in common. And now, our baby...” She swallowed and blinked, then with a stoic breath, continued. “Anyway, his mother is in Florida, not that she would care anyway, as she’s busy jet-setting and loath to become a granny.”
Jason leaned toward her, his pose pensive. ‘‘I take it Mike is completely out of the question?”
“Completely. Our divorce was final two months ago, and he relinquished all parental rights to the baby. Made it clear he never wants anything to do with us again.”
Jason shook his head.
Elizabeth smiled resignedly. “I know. Anyway, he’s not even in California anymore. Last I heard, he was in Europe, looking for love in all the wrong places.”
“What about your family?”
“My mom lives up in Alaska with my sister and her husband. They run a really neat fishing resort up there. I’d call them, but I hate to worry them when there’s nothing they can do from there. Besides, they’re all planning on coming down in July to give me a hand, which will cost them a bundle since that’s peak tourist season for them.”
“Friends?”
“Well, two of my best friends are on a singles cruise to Mexico, so they’re out. I have a really nice neighbor, but she has three little kids and one compact car. Savannah is busy...”
Jason cocked a brow and shot her a sly look.”But you know she’s the type to drop everything and come running if she thinks you’re in trouble,” He reached for the phone.
Squealing, Elizabeth batted at his hand. “Don’t you dare call them on their wedding night!”
With mock disappointment, he set the phone back into the cradle. “Spoilsport.”
“I think you’ve done quite enough to embarrass them for one day.”
“Oh, now come on. I saw you laughing during my toast to the bride and groom.”
“Yes, I’ll admit, the rundown of his past loves was amusing. Especially the part about him dating the girl who modeled for gorilla cookies. You had to have made some of that up.”
“Ninety percent, yes. Harrison was wild, but not that wild. He’ll probably kill me when they get back.”
A lovely young nurse entered the room as he was speaking.
“Hi, Dr. Colton.” Her smile warm, she moved to the edge of the bed. ‘‘You rang?’’ She placed a light hand on his shoulder and Elizabeth hated herself for wondering how well they knew each other.
“Yep. Sherry, it seems our patient is ready for dinner. I don’t suppose you could rustle us up a burger and fries?”
“Well, that’s a good sign. Even so—” the nurse glanced at her wrist “—I don’t think the cafeteria is grilling at this hour. How about a turkey club?”
“With chips and a chocolate shake?”
“For you, anything.” She patted and rubbed his shoulder, then fingers trailing, disappeared to find them sustenance.
“Sherry is married to an oncologist whose clinic is across the street. He’s a great golfer. We try to hit the links at least once a month.”
Elizabeth did her best not to show her vast relief. “You golf?”
“I’m an addict.”
“Me, too! But I’m horrible.”
“I can imagine the little guy interferes with your swing.”
“Yes. And no. I’m pretty much horrible all the time. But I love it! I play with my girlfriends whenever I can. They’re all really bad too, but we don’t care.”
“We’ll have to go someday. I can take a look at your swing.”
“That would be fun,” she agreed with much enthusiasm, then realized that she’d just accepted a date from Dr. Handsome. Ridiculous. She couldn’t go golfing with him. She would have a baby and diapers and all manner of single-parent worries to deal with in a few months. He didn’t want to go out with her. He was simply being nice.
Luckily, the conversation moved from golf to other sports and then to sports on TV, other kinds of TV shows, to movies, to books, to current events, and then, when Sherry returned with the food, to restaurants. By the time they were finished eating and the debris from their meal had been cleared away, Elizabeth had been subjected to another round of routine exams and it was getting late.
“You’ll probably need to be getting home,” Elizabeth mused, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t. Something about Savannah’s new brother-in-law made Elizabeth feel all tingly and alive and girlishly high school in ways that she never actually felt back in the stuffy, terminally strict all-girl boarding school.
He checked his watch. “It’s only eight. Savannah would have my head if I left you and junior all alone just yet. Besides, I don’t have anything waiting for me at home but a fridge full of TV dinners and a pile of work.”
“Sounds like my life.”
“It’s up to you. Kick me out if you’re tired. But I could stay for a while and we could play cards.”
“I’m never too tired for a card game.” Inside, Elizabeth was thrilled. Spending more time with Jason would certainly take, and keep, her mind off her troubles.
“Great.” He stood and walked to the door. “I know the nurses keep some spare decks at their station. We can play double solitaire or something.”
* * *
“So, you’re a teacher.”
“Mm-hmm. Although some days it feels more like a referee.”
“What grade do you teach?”
“Sixth.”
“Glutton for punishment?”
Elizabeth laughed as she dealt out the cards and the girlish flush on her cheeks was mesmerizing. She was such a little doll. Jason couldn’t remember the last time he’d so enjoyed a woman’s company. Her ex-husband had to be a first-class fool to give up such a jewel.
They’d been playing cards all evening, moving from pinochle to rummy to poker to old maid, but he couldn’t begin to tell who’d won and who’d lost, as holding the cards had become an excuse for holding a conversation.
When she didn’t think he was looking, Jason studied her features and lost himself in their exotic beauty. Her light, nearly sea-green eyes were large and almond shaped and as expressive as a tropical day in the South Pacific. They sparked and snapped with sunny warmth, though he’d noted the occasional storm clouds that spoke of her more sensitive side. Shoulder length and silky straight, except for where the ends waved under, her hair was the color of rich teakwood, threaded with gold. From personal experience, he knew it was as soft as it looked and smelled of wild meadow flowers. His covert gaze dipped to her mouth and quickly back to the cards she laid out on the rolling table that swung out over her lap. Her full-lipped, pearl-white smile was one within which he could be content to bask, in favor of the sun. Jason was drawn to her on a level that he’d never been to a patient before and he’d doctored his share of beauties.
There was definitely something different about Elizabeth.
She pushed herself up, warming to the topic of her career choice. “The sixth grade is tough in an I-could-kill-them-I-could-kiss-them kind of way.”
He leaned back against the end of the bed and encouraged her to continue with his silence.
She raised and dropped a shoulder. “They can frustrate the heck out of me, yes, but they can be so funny, too. The girls can have lip gloss and a milk mustache at the same time.”
Jason arched a brow. “Now there’s a look.”
Elizabeth’s shoulders bobbed and her mirth rocketed up his spine, causing his own laughter to rise. “They’re all very curious about my pregnancy and love to regale me with horror stories of childbirth that they have no doubt overheard from their own folks.”
“It is a very dramatic age.” Jason chuckled. “Don’t take those s
tories too seriously. You’re healthy, the baby is healthy, you’ll have a beautiful birth experience. Do you have a labor coach?”
“No. Do I need one?”
“It might be a good idea to have someone there that you feel comfortable bossing around, for ice chips and such.”
“Oh.” Her eyes flitted about the room as if the subject embarrassed her. A long, weary sigh hissed past her lips. “I suppose I’ll have to break down and ask somebody. I don’t want to ask my mother, because she’s so squeamish. My sister has a business to run, and I don’t want to bother Savannah, her being a newlywed and all. I don’t know. It’s just another thing to do. To worry about.”
“You’re tired.” He glanced at the clock. “And it’s no wonder. How did it get to be nearly midnight already?” He swept the cards into a pile. “We can play again later. Right now, I’ll get your blood pressure and temp and listen to the baby. Then it’s off to dreamland for you, young lady.”
“Okay.” He could see that she was stifling her yawn for his benefit.
He pulled the blood pressure cuff off its hanger on the wall near her bed. Nudging the sleeve of her gown up, he slipped it on over the smooth muscle of her biceps and popped his stethoscope into his ears. The steady beat of her heart picked up in tempo, just slightly, as he laid her arm in his lap and pumped air into the cuff. Blood pressure was good. The nurse had left a digital ear thermometer, so he took her temperature and noted these readings on her chart.
Then he listened to the baby’s heart rate, which was falling into a healthy normal range for a boy, and he smiled. If he had it to do all over again, he might go into obstetrics. Pregnant women were especially beautiful and there was nothing more magical and happy, usually, than childbirth.
“All very good.” He pulled his stethoscope back down around his neck.
“Good,” she breathed and leaned back against the pillows, limp with mental exhaustion.
“Any Braxton Hicks contractions?”
“You know...” Her yawn was a high, squeaky affair that made him want to crawl into bed and spoon her and whisper in the dark about all of those secrets that were too private for the fluorescent glare of reality. To really get to know each other in an accelerated fashion.
It shocked him, how badly he wanted to know her. All about her. Now.
She blinked up at him and his heart went into a free fall. “I’ve heard of those. What are they, anyway?”
He settled himself back to the edge of the bed where he’d spent the better part of his evening and let the chart drop to his lap. Noisily, he cleared his throat and donned his serious Dr. Colton expression. “Well, they vary in description from woman to woman, but usually it’s a uterine contraction that radiates from the back around to about here.” He laid his hand on her belly. “It grips the baby and your tummy feels hard, like a basketball, for a minute or so, and then it relaxes. I guess you could say it’s a rehearsal for the big event. You’re a little early in the pregnancy for those.”
Eyes at half-mast, hair flowing over the pillowcase, she turned onto her side and, peering at him, asked, “How do you remember all this stuff?”
“Just interested, I guess. I’ve always really liked babies.” He grinned. “And their mothers.”
“Oh.” Her smile was as warm and alluring as morning light. “That is...very sweet.”
He pulled the covers up under her chin and again she fought to stifle another yawn. Lashes fluttered against porcelain cheeks and her breathing became deep and regular, almost immediately.
“You get some rest,” he whispered needlessly, for Elizabeth was already asleep.
* * *
Elizabeth woke to the feeling of someone supping a blood-pressure cuff around her upper arm. She squinted through the shadows to make out the serene smile of nurse Sherry.
“I didn’t want to wake you.” Her voice was low and pleasant as she went efficiently through her routine and made notations on Elizabeth’s chart. “How are you feeling?”
“Very well, thank you.” Except for the sinking realization that she’d fallen asleep on Dr. Wonderful and he was no doubt home and out of her life now.
She sighed, the empty chasm in her heart splitting just that much wider.
“I’ll bet it doesn’t hurt to have such a handsome guardian angel looking out after you.” Sherry’s smile was indulgent as she glanced over her shoulder.
Abruptly craning her neck out over the edge of the bed, Elizabeth followed the path of nurse Sherry’s eyes with her own and her heart caught in her throat. For there, stretched out on a rolling recliner near the window, Jason lay, softly snoring. His arm dangled over the edge of the chair, and at some point, it appeared that Sherry had covered him with a blanket. The sight of his gentle expression filled Elizabeth with a poignant sense of security and happiness that she hadn’t felt in far too long.
It was very quiet in the hospital at this hour. So quiet in fact that the early birds’ twitters filtered through the reinforced glass. The cool morning rays of the sun were just prodding the shadows on their way, illuminating Jason’s face. The beginnings of a beard darkened his jaw, and his hair fell over his forehead in a most appealing manner. She could learn to wake up to this picture every morning.
“He’s still here?” Elizabeth was incredulous.
Sherry jotted more notes on her chart, then nodded at Jason. “He’s been here all night.”
“All night? What time is it?”
“Almost five. I get off in an hour and a half.” The nurse donned a stethoscope and, planting it on Elizabeth’s belly, listened. “I tried to convince him that I wouldn’t forget you, but he wouldn’t budge. Said something about his sister-in-law murdering him in his bed if he didn’t take good care of you.” Sherry chuckled. “I think he’s taking this new in-law thing pretty seriously.”
“She thinks very highly of him.”
“Everyone does.”
“I can’t figure out why he’s not married.”
Sherry removed her stethoscope and picked up her chart from where she’d left it on Elizabeth’s belly. “He nearly was.”
“What happened?”
Sherry shrugged and glanced over her shoulder. “He won’t mind my telling. It’s not like everyone around here doesn’t already know.” She sank to the edge of the bed and paused to scribble so intently on the chart, that Elizabeth feared Sherry might not finish the story. “Everything looks normal, which is excellent. You’ll need to take it easy for a few days and monitor any unusual pains you might have. No lifting, strenuous exercise, kickboxing, that type of thing.” Sherry grinned, and Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile. Still, she wished Sherry would stick to the subject.
“If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call.”
Elizabeth nodded. Right, right, right.
“I know he wouldn’t care if you called him.” Sherry flicked her wrist in Jason’s direction. “He’s a sucker for babies. Which, by the way, is why his engagement didn’t last.”
Finally, back on track.
“Really?” Elizabeth did her best to seem casual and was glad the light was such that it disguised the bright spots of interest burning in her cheeks.
“Yeah,” Sherry’s voice was hushed and rilled with tenderness. “In spite of his demanding career, his impressive pedigree and his to-die-for looks, he’s a real family man at heart, I think.”
“He seems to be very close to his brother.”
“Yes, that whole Colton clan is thick as thieves.” Sherry settled back against the footboard and squinted off into the past. “Last year he fell in love with a surgery nurse in the cardio department. Angelica Maldonado. Angie led him to believe that she wanted kids as much as he did. But a few days before the wedding all hell broke lose when he discovered that she had no intention of ever ruining her figure by having a baby and was only marrying him to get her hands on his money.”
“How awful!” Elizabeth gasped, scandalized that anyone could treat such a sweet man so ho
rribly.
“Oh, it was a mess all right. Invitations had been sent out, dresses bought, the works. Yesterday’s deal must have been hard on him.”
“Mmm,” Elizabeth murmured in wordless agreement. Nearly as hard on him as it had been on her, it seemed. No wonder he’d been so reluctant to leave her last night. To return home to the echoes of regret held no appeal. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to hang out with a pregnant woman and play cards. What safer place on earth could there be?
“Yeah.” Sherry stood and moving to Jason’s side, adjusted his covers and chuckled at his snor-ings as he shifted position. She crossed back to the bed and cocked a hip on the side rail. “Money can be a curse. You know, their family has a ton of money and more than their share of troubles.”
“I’ve heard, yes.” Elizabeth sighed. She knew a lot about the Colton family. Especially when it came to how much the Coltons despised the Mansfields.
“He doesn’t have to work, but I think he does to give his life a sense of reality. And to give back to society. He’s a real down-to-earth kind of guy.”
“He is special.” Too special for her, she decided, her heart heavy at the thought. Better for her to nip her crush in the bud. There were far too many insurmountable obstacles to overcome to ever dream that they could have a relationship.
Sherry gave Elizabeth’s knee a pat before she stepped to the door. “You’ll be released before my next shift, so if I don’t see you again, good luck with your baby.”
“Thank you.”
Elizabeth snuggled down under her covers, watched Jason sleep and, against her better judgment, daydreamed that yesterday’s wedding had been their own. Her eyes slid shut, and as she drifted off, the daydreams became real dreams. Dreams that she and Jason were awaiting the birth of the life they’d created from an undying sense of commitment and, most importantly, love.
I, Jason, take this woman to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from this day forward...
Oh, yes, it was a lovely dream. So warm and happy and real. So real in fact, she could almost swear she heard his sexy baritone murmuring her name as his lips touched her temple. Her ear. Her cheek. Elizabeth. Elizabeth.
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