Chapter Two
A pair of ducks squabbled on the pond, quacking and splashing. Olivia smiled at their antics and drew in a breath of the clean country air. Willow House where the Knights lived was a wonderful country retreat away from the dirt and bustle of London, a fantastic place for kids.
The remains of a tree house balanced on the branches of a massive oak tree at the bottom of the garden. It was neglected now, but in the past she could imagine how much fun Radley and Cameron must have had there. She hoped her little boy would get to enjoy this garden as well when they visited. She still hoped Cameron would change his attitude and play a part in George's life, otherwise it would be difficult for her to maintain a relationship with Cameron's parents. And she wanted to keep that. Not just for George, but for herself as well.
"Hi there."
Olivia started in surprise at the sound of a man's voice. She'd been waiting for Sandra to call her inside to feed George. She turned on the wooden bench where she'd sat to watch the ducks.
Radley strode towards her, George snug against his chest. Olivia's breath caught and her heart gave a jolt. When Radley had appeared at the lounge door earlier, she'd not thought much about him except that he resembled Cameron. But, gosh, the man was good-looking, or maybe it was just the sight of him with her baby in his arms that had her melting inside.
Faded jeans hung low on his hips, and a plain white T-shirt clung to his torso. His biceps bulged, and his forearms were corded with muscle beneath a dusting of dark hair. George looked so tiny cradled in Radley's large hands.
"Hi," she croaked, and had to clear her throat and repeat the greeting.
"My mother had to go to work. She asked me to help you out while she's gone. I hope that's okay."
Olivia rose slowly, careful not to hurt her sore tummy, and stepped towards him. "Yes, of course. Thank you. I knew your mum was going out. I thought she was going to call me inside before she went."
"Maybe she didn't bother because I'm here."
"I guess you're right."
Instinctively, Olivia reached to take her baby. She stepped up close to Radley and slid her hands around George, but Radley didn't let go. There was an awkward moment when they both held him. The backs of Olivia's hands pressed against hard, masculine ribs. A little zing of awareness shot through her.
She hadn't noticed how tall Radley was when she first saw him, taller than Cameron by a couple of inches at least. His shoulders were broader and his muscles bigger. Everything about him was just a bit more mature than Cameron. She looked up into his eyes, light brown tinged with green around the pupils. For a moment the world went away and there was just the three of them.
"Mum said you shouldn't lift anything," Radley said softly.
"Oh, yes. I'd forgotten."
The spell broken, Olivia stepped back so fast she stumbled and had to grab the bench to catch her balance. Pain shot through her body and she winced.
"Careful, there." Radley was beside her in an instant. He held George in one arm and his other came around her shoulders, steadying her. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Not much. I'm fine. Sometimes I forget that I have to be careful."
As the ache faded, tears flooded Olivia's eyes and she blinked them away, but it was a losing battle. Drips fell over her lashes and ran down her cheeks. She'd tried to be strong and cope alone, but it had been so tough sometimes. All she'd wanted was a little moral support from Cameron, just to know he was concerned about her welfare and would be there for George, so the little guy didn't grow up without a dad.
She'd pushed that need down deep but the sight of George in Radley's arms and now his concern for her brought that longing back.
"Hey, no need for tears." Radley drew her closer and enfolded her against his chest. The stubble on his chin brushed her forehead. She laid her cheek against his firm, warm muscles and wiped her face on her sleeve. She had to stop crying. She was sobbing all over a man she barely knew, the brother of her baby's father. This was not the impression she wanted to give him. She should compose herself and pull away.
Instead she pressed closer, absorbing Radley's warmth and strength, safe for a few minutes in his arms with her baby. She knew nothing about him except that he was an army doctor who'd just returned from Afghanistan, yet she sensed he was everything his mother had claimed, kind, gentle, and dependable. He was everything she'd hoped Cameron would be.
For a fleeting moment she wished Radley were George's father.
***
Olivia pulled away and Radley reluctantly released her. She had felt good in his arms. Too good. This woman had been his brother's girlfriend and had just given birth to a baby. She was about as off-limits as a woman could be.
Radley stepped back to increase the distance between them and tried to forget the feel of her womanly curves pressed against him. He cleared his throat and concentrated on changing his hold on George to give himself a few seconds.
The tiny boy chose that moment to wake up and let out a plaintive wail. It was good timing.
"Mum said you'd want to feed him now," Radley suggested.
"That's right. Can you bring him into the lounge for me? I find it most comfortable to feed him in the leather recliner by the French window."
"That's my father's chair." Radley smiled at the thought of a woman feeding a baby in the chair where his father liked to do the Times crossword.
"I know." Olivia kept pace with him as they wandered back to the house. "Your mum said Brigadier Knight wouldn't mind. I hope she's right. I met him when I was in the hospital before he went back to Afghanistan. I get the impression he doesn't stand for any nonsense."
Radley laughed. "That's why they want him over there to help supervise the closing down of some of the medical facilities before we withdraw. He gets people moving."
When they reached the back door, Radley stood aside and ushered Olivia through, then followed her along the hall to the sitting room. He hadn't noticed the state of the room when he'd first seen Olivia here. Now he saw how much baby paraphernalia lay around—a baby bed, blankets, toys, bags, tubes and pots of cream, and a plastic contraption that probably had something to do with feeding the child. The rather staid room with its velvet curtains and leather sofas even smelled of baby stuff.
George squirmed in Radley's arms and let out a high-pitched wail. "You've got a good set of lungs on you, young man." Radley glanced at Olivia as she gingerly sat down and made herself comfortable. "I think he's hungry."
"Yep. He's hungry most of the time. Your mum says he's trying to catch up because he was small when he was born. I had to spend the last couple of months in the hospital because he wasn't growing fast enough."
"That can't have been much fun."
"It wasn't. I nearly went stir crazy." Olivia gathered her long dark hair and caught it back in a band she'd had around her wrist. Then she placed a pillow on her lap and Radley laid George there.
"Do they know why he didn't put on weight?"
"I was really sick in the first few months. That meant I got so behind on my college work I had to study like mad to catch up and find time to earn enough money to pay the bills. Your mum thinks maybe a combination of me not keeping my food down and working too hard caused it."
And to think Radley had been concerned that Olivia was a lazy user like his ex-wife.
"Well, he might be a tad small, but he looks healthy." Radley picked up a huge tome from the floor beside her chair and checked the spine. It was a law text. "Yours?" he asked as he laid it on a table.
"Some of the work I still need to catch up on. I'm in the final year of my law degree, but I missed the exams. I'm taking them in November."
She had ambition. He approved of that.
Olivia untucked her top and turned those huge blue eyes on him. He didn't want to leave, but she was obviously waiting for him to go so she could start feeding.
"Anything you want?"
"A cup of coffee in about fifteen minutes would be great."
Radley pulled the sitting room door closed behind him and caught a glimpse of her lifting her sweater. Something he shouldn't be feeling jolted through him. He turned away and pressed his lips together. Just treat her like a sister-in-law, he told himself. After all, if Cameron came back and married her, that's what she would be.
As he put on the coffee machine, he mulled over their conversation. He knew very little about her, but one thing was clear—she was nothing like his ex-wife. She appeared to be everything he wished his ex-wife had been, capable, hardworking, and ambitious. The sort of woman who would contribute to a marriage and not spend all her husband's money and run around behind his back getting pregnant by another man.
What puzzled him was why his brother had dumped her when he left college. Men in the military had long-distance relationships. It happened all the time. The stupid idiot obviously didn't have the experience to recognize a good thing when he had it.
It was time Radley set him straight and helped them get back together.
***
The sitting room was very quiet when Radley returned later with Olivia's cup of coffee. He pushed the door ajar and peered in. The recliner was tipped back, and it looked as though Olivia had fallen asleep holding George. Radley hurried in and set the cup down.
He need not have worried. George was snuggled safely in her arm on the pillow. He paused to take in the scene of mother and baby. There really was something magical about the sight. It was a shame Cameron was missing this, missing seeing his son so small. The child would grow quickly.
Careful not to disturb Olivia, he lifted the baby out of her arms, laid him in the bassinet at her side, and tucked him in. George's tiny fingers curled around Radley's thumb and he grinned for a moment before pulling his hand away. The kid already had a strong grip.
He fetched a fleecy blanket and laid it over Olivia, then smoothed back some strands of hair that had come adrift from her ponytail. A healthy pink flush colored her skin and her thick eyelashes lay in dark crescents on her cheeks. Cameron really was an idiot to stay away. If this beautiful woman and her adorable baby boy belonged to Radley, nothing would keep him from them.
Olivia stirred and flickers of blue appeared between her lashes. "Is George okay?"
"He's fine. You sleep. I'll be around if you want me. Just call."
"Okay." Her eyelashes drifted closed again. He took another moment to watch her before turning away.
He ran upstairs to his room and fished his mobile phone out of his bag. It still had a little charge left—enough to make one call, anyway. He sat on the edge of his bed and scrolled through his contacts to his brother's number and dialed. His brother was stationed in Germany, only one hour ahead of the UK.
As the phone rang, he stared out the window, down the garden to the pond where he'd found Olivia watching the ducks. He'd expected to get voice mail but his brother picked up.
"Hey, Rad, are you home?"
"I'm sitting on my bed, appreciating the silence."
"I suppose it's good to see the old place again. I should come home, but I can't wait to be stationed somewhere more exciting. It's all routine stuff in Germany."
Radley remembered thinking the same when he was first qualified and fresh out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst with his captain's pips. He had longed to be sent to a war zone where he could get more experience. He'd come down to earth with a bump when the first injured servicemen had arrived on his operating table. He'd always wanted to be a surgeon, but there was something soul-destroying about seeing men, day after day, who'd been harmed on purpose.
"Do you know where you're going?" he asked.
"No, only that I'll ship out after Christmas."
"You've got enough time to come home for a weekend then."
"Not really."
"I managed to get home occasionally when I was stationed in Germany. You need to make the effort. Mum must have told you Olivia and her baby are staying here."
Silence greeted his comment.
"Come on, Cam. You need to deal with this."
"I don't see how the baby's mine. We always used protection."
"News flash, mate, condoms aren't infallible."
Cameron's sigh hissed through the phone. "I'm still not convinced. You were the one who told me not to get suckered."
"That was before I met Olivia." Radley pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd known this would be a difficult conversation. "If she says George is yours, I believe her."
"She named the baby after Dad?"
"Yes."
More silence.
"Come home and see them. Olivia's had a tough time. It would do her good to know you care enough to visit your son. I guarantee that once you hold the little guy, you'll feel differently about this."
Cameron heaved another sigh. "You're sure he's mine?"
"He looks like you. Mum thinks so, and I guess Dad does too or Olivia wouldn't be here."
Another frustrated sigh.
"So, you'll come?"
"I guess."
"Don't wait too long. George gets bigger every day."
"This stinks. I'm too young to have a kid. I've got plans."
"Olivia has plans as well. She's had to adapt. You can too."
Cameron grunted in response.
"Call Olivia and tell her when you're coming."
"Maybe. See you, man."
Radley flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Had he done the right thing? What would Olivia's reaction be when Cameron contacted her? A sense of regret washed through him, and he pushed it away. It was best for George to have his father in his life. It would also help Olivia to feel that she belonged in the family. Yet part of him wished he hadn't called his brother.
***
"We're going for a ride in my car. That'll be fun, won't it?" Radley jangled his keys over the baby in his arms to attract his gaze. George's arms and legs waved like crazy and he made the grunting sound that signaled he was excited.
If Radley had known beforehand that he would spend most of his time watching out for a mother and newborn when he arrived home on leave, he might have stayed away. But he was enjoying his time with Olivia and George. He didn't even mind that his mother had a couple of weeks working full time to cover for a sick colleague, which meant that for the last week, Radley had been pretty much tied to the house all day.
At some point he needed to go house hunting for his own place, but that could wait. He had four weeks' leave after his tour of duty and eight weeks of regular leave that he hadn't taken, plenty of time to find somewhere.
A noise sounded on the stairs. He glanced up from his position by the front door to see Olivia descending. He snatched a breath and blew it out. His gaze trailed up long, slender legs. She always wore sweatpants in the house, but today she had on a blue dress that hung to midthigh. Man, did it suit her. "You look nice."
She stepped off the bottom step and approached, a tentative smile on her face. "It's the first time I've been out since your mum brought me and George home from the hospital. I know I'm only going back there for a checkup, but I thought I should make an effort."
Her long dark hair glided around her shoulders as she moved. Her eyes looked bigger than usual, outlined with makeup, while her glossy pink lips were far too tempting.
She must have noticed his appraisal. Her hand went to her mouth, and tiny lines appeared between her eyebrows. "I haven't overdone the makeup, have I? It's been such a long time since I wore any."
"No, you look great. I'm just not used to seeing it on you, that's all."
The tentative smile came back to her face. "That's okay, then." She turned her attention to her son. "Hi, sweetie. Are you being a good boy?"
In answer, the little boy in Radley's arms farted loudly. Olivia burst out laughing and so did Radley. A moment later the baby noisily filled his diaper.
"That sounded like a seven or eight on the Richter scale," Radley said. "I reckon that was his loudest poo yet."
&
nbsp; Olivia clutched her stomach. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts." When she had recovered, she wiped tears of laughter from her lashes. "Only a man would say something like that."
"I aim to please." Radley grinned, happy to have amused her. She was far too serious most of the time. If she wasn't looking after George, she had her head buried in a law book or her college notes. He admired her determination to pass her exams, but she needed to give herself a break sometime.
"Better out than in, I guess." Olivia turned back to the stairs. "If you carry him up, I'll change the dirty bottom."
Chapter Three
When Olivia finally stepped out the front door, after she'd changed George's diaper and most of his clothes, a practical family SUV stood on the gravel. "I expected you to own something sporty."
"I used to."
Olivia waited for more explanation, but that was all Radley said.
He opened the back door and settled George in the car seat, which was already fixed in place. He bent and fiddled with the straps. "How the heck does this thing fasten?"
Olivia bit back her laugh. She didn't mention that it had taken her and Radley's mother a good ten minutes to figure out the fastenings when they first put George in the seat.
She squeezed into the doorway beside Radley. He angled his body to give her room and she ended up with her shoulder against his chest. She blinked slowly, a little dazed by his spicy masculine fragrance. She loved being close to him. There was something about him that drew her like the proverbial moth to a flame. She enjoyed his touch when he took George from her arms and the times he'd put his arm around her waist or shoulders.
"Are you going to strap him in, or do you plan to just stand here all day. Not that I'm complaining."
"Sorry, I was thinking." Olivia's face heated. She bent her head over her son and snapped the plastic clips together.
"Ah, I see. Easy when you know how."
She stepped back. Radley's hand rested warm and firm on her back while he opened the front passenger door for her.
The Army Doctor's Baby (Romance Novella) Page 2