George went to sleep once the car moved off, and they drove in silence for a few minutes. Olivia glanced at Radley's tight expression. She'd spent a lot of time with him this past week and he was generally chatty and friendly, very easy to get along with. This was the first time she'd seen him like this. She hoped he wasn't getting tired of having to help her. The poor man had hardly had a moment to himself since he arrived home.
"Is something the matter?"
He glanced at her as if he'd forgotten she was there. "Just lost in the past."
"Not a happy past by the look of it."
"No."
She waited, hoping for more.
After a few moments he laughed wearily. "I was married. Did you know that?"
"Your mum mentioned you were divorced."
"My wife was pregnant."
Trepidation shot through Olivia. If something had happened to Radley's child, then expecting him to help her with George was unfair. It must bring back sad memories. "I didn't know. What happened?"
"Turns out it wasn't my baby."
"Oh, Radley. I'm sorry." Olivia laid a hand on his arm. The pain in his eyes pinched her heart. The woman must have been a fool to cheat on a good man like Radley. She'd give a lot to find a husband like him.
"This car always reminds me. I bought it to bring my baby home from the hospital." He glanced over his shoulder at George. "At least it's finally proving useful."
"I'm sorry we've brought back such painful memories. If you'd rather not help me with George anymore, I'll understand. I'm sure I can manage."
"Don't be daft. You've still got weeks until you can drive or lift anything." Radley rubbed a hand over his face. "Anyway, I like helping you."
"Okay, if you're sure."
He nodded.
They drove the rest of the way in awkward silence.
Radley wove the car through the traffic, turned into the hospital gate, and found a parking space. He cut the engine and sucked in a breath. "Look, forget I mentioned my wife. I don't know why I did. I don't normally talk about her."
Before Olivia could answer he was out of the car and had the back open to retrieve George's stroller. She supervised while he lifted her baby out of the car and loaded the stroller with the baby essentials.
After a short walk and elevator ride, they reached the clinic. She checked in and they found seats. A few minutes later, the doctor who had delivered George stepped out of a consulting room and called her name. The pretty blonde doctor came towards them and held out her hand. "My goodness, Radley, how are you?"
"Tina. I didn't know you were working here." They shook hands.
Olivia's doctor nodded towards George. "Is he your son?"
"No, my brother's."
Tina smiled with what looked like relief. "We should meet for a drink and catch up. I'd love to hear what it's like to be an army doctor. I might consider it myself."
"Okay, sounds like a good idea. Give me your number. I'll call you."
Olivia folded her arms and tapped her foot as the blonde doctor reeled off a phone number while Radley tapped it into his phone.
"I'd better get on or I'll get behind. See you soon," the woman said to Radley. Then she beckoned Olivia inside.
"I'll keep an eye on George," Radley said with a smile.
Olivia followed the tall blonde into the consulting room. In the past, she hadn't paid much attention to what the doctor looked like, but the woman was quite pretty, and blonde, of course. Men liked blondes. She slumped down in the chair.
The doctor examined her tummy and pronounced that she was healing well. The bruising was still evident but starting to fade, and it was less sore.
"Another four weeks and you should be back to normal. Is the father around to help you?"
"No, Cameron's in Germany." Olivia didn't tell her that they hadn't spoken for months.
"I feel comfortable handing your care over to your general practitioner now. I'll write to Dr. Knight and let her know. Are you still staying with her?"
"The plan is for me to stay with the Knights until the New Year. By then I should be back on my feet and ready to cope alone."
"Great. And you've got Radley to help. He's a great guy. Do you know if he's seeing anyone right now?"
Olivia was tempted to lie, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Tina had always been nice to her and was a good doctor. She might be just what Radley needed to move forward and put the past behind him. "I don't think so."
"Great. I've had a thing for him since college." She laughed and put a hand on Olivia's arm. "Don't tell him that."
Olivia mimed zipping her lips.
"Thanks."
They both stood, and Tina saw her to the door. "Take it easy and enjoy your baby for a few more weeks before you do anything too demanding."
Olivia smiled and nodded.
Back outside, Radley stood as she approached. "All okay?"
"I think so. She doesn't want to see me again."
"That's good. Let's get you two home. George is gnawing his fist."
"Uh-oh. We only have a few minutes before he starts crying for his food."
As they traveled down in the elevator, Olivia couldn't stop herself questioning Radley about Tina. "Are you going to take Tina up on her invitation?"
"I might. We were at college together. I didn't know her well, but she's an okay sort. If she's interested in joining the army, I should make the effort to give her some time."
Mentioning the army was just a line to get him interested, Olivia longed to say. Could he not see that? She drew in a breath and let it go. She mustn't interfere in Radley's private life. What he did in the evening was none of her business.
***
"Have some more bacon. You need to eat plenty while you're breast-feeding." Sandra leaned over Olivia with strips of bacon balanced on a spatula, ready to put them on her plate.
"Gosh, no more, thank you. I've had plenty, honestly." The kitchen table was laden with toast, butter, jam, fruit juices, yogurt, and breakfast cereals—a normal thing in the Knight household. Radley seemed to eat like a horse, although where he put it she didn't know. There wasn't an ounce of fat on the man, probably because he was up early every day running.
Sandra turned to Radley and dumped the rest of the bacon on his plate. He didn't seem to notice, his attention was fixed on the real estate listing of houses for sale. Every morning details arrived in the mail from real estate agents and every morning he leafed through them and tossed them in the trash.
After a few moments he sat back with a sigh. "I've changed my mind. I don't want an apartment. They all look like prison cells. I'm going to look for a place around here."
"If you end up working at the local military hospital, it'll take at least forty minutes to get in during rush hour. You know that, don't you?" Sandra said.
"I don't care about the commute. I want a decent house with a garden and at least three bedrooms."
His mother frowned as she took her seat and buttered some toast. "Do you have a family tucked away somewhere I don't know about?"
"I will someday. If I'm going to buy a place, I want it to be future proof."
"Makes sense, I guess," Olivia said, although she didn't like the thought of Radley with a wife and children. But it would happen one day so she'd just have to get used to the idea.
He tore open the last envelope and pulled out another property detail sheet. "This is more like it." He perused it then gave it to his mother, who nodded as she chewed.
"Can you afford this much?"
"Yes."
He retrieved the paper and laid it beside Olivia's plate. "What do you think?"
It was a pretty cottage with a fountain in the front garden and a long backyard that appeared to have a field on one side and woodland on the other. It was her dream home. If only she could afford a place like this, a place where George would grow up with plenty of room to play, where he wouldn't be breathing in horrid city fumes that might give him asthma.
"It's lovely. I think you should check it out."
"Want to come with me?" Radley tossed his napkin on the table and stood. "I'm going to head on over there today and look at the outside."
Olivia's heart jumped, then fell. "I can't. I've only got a few weeks left before my exams. I need to work."
"Ease up on yourself," Sandra said. "It's Saturday and a lovely day for this time of year. Take a break."
Olivia was tempted, really tempted. She wanted to see the cottage so she could visualize it and imagine it was hers. That would give her even more incentive to work hard and make the dream a reality. She also wanted to spend time with Radley.
"Come on, Livi." Radley smiled down at her. "You know you want to."
"Oh, all right."
"Great. You prep George. I'll bring the car around."
An hour later, after George had been changed, fed, and changed again, she finally had him ready. Radley carried him out and secured him in the baby seat. Then they set off for the village of Fordbridge.
They drove along pretty country lanes bordered by hedges. Some hardy wildflowers still dotted the hedgerows with color, even though the weather had turned cold and they'd woken to a crisp frost that morning.
"Fordbridge is on the canal." Radley pointed as they rounded a bend and the waterway came into view. Long colorful barges of blue, green, and red lined the bank. "When we were kids, Cam and I used to cycle out here to fish. We would sneak onto the vacant barges sometimes as well. They're rented by vacationers in the summer, but most of them are moored up and left empty in the cold weather."
Olivia tried to imagine Cameron and Radley as boys, cycling along the canal towpath, and fishing together. She found she could quite easily. Cameron had behaved like a big kid in college so she didn't need to stretch her imagination far.
"Here's the village." Radley glanced around as the country lane wound between some picturesque stone cottages. "It's so long since I was here I'd forgotten what it's like. Check the directions on the realtor's details."
Olivia dug in the bag at her feet and pulled out the sheet of paper. "Take a right after the Hunter's Moon Pub. Then we should see the property on the right. It sounds as though it's on the edge of the village."
The pub was an ancient beamed building that had probably stood at the center of the village since Elizabethan times. "I like the look of that," Radley said as he slowed to take the turn. "Hope it's walking distance from the house."
A couple of minutes later he eased up on the gas and stopped. The cottage was as pretty as the picture, with roses over the door and a tiny stone fountain on the patch of lawn. A sign on the gate read Brook View Cottage.
When the car stopped, George woke and made his excited grunting sound. "There, see, the little guy likes it already."
Olivia gave Radley an eye roll, but she smiled as well. "It is a cute place."
"Don't call it cute, please," Radley said. "Guys don't buy cute places."
"Okay, quaint."
"Better. I can do quaint. That has an old-fashioned ring to it."
Radley came around her side of the car and lifted George out of his car seat. The tiny boy curled his fists in Radley's sweater and pumped his legs. "You are such a funny little guy." Radley kissed the top of George's head. Olivia's stomach did its usual flip when she saw the two of them together.
They went through the front gate, and Radley knocked on the door.
"Shouldn't you call the agent?"
"Probably."
Nobody answered the door so Radley went to a window and peered inside. "The place looks vacant."
Olivia joined him and cupped her hands around her face so she could see through the glass. "There's no furniture. Maybe it's a bank repossession. If it is, you might get a good deal."
"I'd like to see inside before I get carried away." Radley shifted George into one arm and dug his mobile phone out of his pocket. He dialed the number on the realtor's sign outside the property. A few minutes later, he'd arranged for an agent to show them the house in two hours' time.
"How about lunch at the Hunter's Moon? I'd like to check it out. It might be my local soon."
"Sure. It looked nice from the outside." Olivia rested a hand on Radley's shoulder and leaned closer to nuzzle her son's cheek. She loved kissing her baby boy, and it was a good excuse to get close to Radley as well. "As soon as we've eaten I need to feed Georgie Porgie again."
"Let's hope he makes it through our lunch without crying. Perhaps we'd better hurry up."
Radley strapped George back in his seat, and they drove the two minutes to the pub. The car park was packed but he managed to slide his car in a space at the end of a row.
The hum of cheerful voices greeted them as they entered the side door. "Do you think it's all right to bring a baby in?" Olivia said as she scanned the old wooden bar with its low-beamed ceiling. Cozy chairs flanked a roaring log fire. Although the place was busy, she couldn't see any other children.
"Should be fine as long as we don't let him drink."
Olivia playfully punched Radley's arm, and he burst out laughing.
They ordered drinks at the bar. The barman directed them through to a restaurant area at the back. It turned out to be a light, airy extension with big windows overlooking the canal.
"Wow, I've never seen so many barges in one place." Olivia halted by a window and stared out at a channel divided off from the main canal. It was packed solid with watercraft.
"I hadn't realized the pub looked out over here." Radley pointed to a group of stone buildings on the edge of the water. "That's the head office of the barge rental business."
They took a window table. Radley had carried George in his car seat and he set it on the floor beside Olivia's chair. "Hey, sweetie, are you going to be a good boy and let Mummy have her lunch?" She ran a hand over George's soft, dark hair. He kicked his feet and grunted.
She'd attached a yellow flashing star-shaped baby toy to the carry handle of the seat. George fixed his blue eyes on it and stretched out a hand.
"Look at that. It's the first time I've seen him reach for something." Radley left his seat and crouched beside George. "Clever boy, Georgie." Radley tapped the star to make its light flash again.
A murmur of yearning escaped Olivia's lips. She felt an almost unbearable longing to wrap her arms around Radley and hold on so tight he could never get away. In the last four weeks she'd spent a lot of time with him and often needed his help. He had never let her down or complained, even when George's cries woke him in the middle of the night.
Radley was kind, gentle, and patient. Her initial attraction to him had grown into something far more. The thought of being parted from him sent a pulse of pain through her. She was falling in love with him, and she had no idea how to handle it. If he were anyone else it might work, but he was Cameron's brother.
The waitress approached. Radley reclaimed his seat and ordered a steak. Olivia ordered pasta. While they ate, they chatted about what Radley was looking for in a home.
"You all right?" he asked after a while. "You seem distracted."
Olivia shrugged. The internal conflict between her attraction to Radley and her self-reproach had grown steadily from the first day she met him.
She longed to tell him how she felt, but how could she when she'd just given birth to his brother's child? He'd probably be disgusted with her. And if he wasn't, his mother and father surely would be. She respected his parents and valued their good opinion. They were too important a part of George's life for her to fall out with them.
Olivia drew in a breath and released it slowly. She had to stop longing for Radley and get over it. He would always be in her life, but as George's uncle.
As if he sensed her disquiet, George let out a wail. Olivia had nearly finishe
d her meal and appreciated the excuse to take a break from Radley to compose herself.
"Lunchtime for you now, sweetie." She reached down and stroked George's cheek. How she longed to be able to lift her baby in her arms instead of depending on others.
Radley immediately got up and lifted the baby seat. "Come on, munchkin." He turned a smile on Olivia. "I'll take him to the car, then come back and pay."
When George was fed and changed, they headed back to Brook View Cottage to meet the real estate agent. Radley had bought a baby carrier so he could hold George on his chest and have his hands free. He sat in the back of the car, Olivia beside him, and together they managed to get George into the carrier while it was on Radley's lap.
"Now comes the tricky part." Radley held the baby in place while Olivia moved to adjust the clips at his neck and waist, altering the length of the straps and securing the carrier. She closed the one at his waist and wedged a knee underneath herself to get a better angle to reach the higher one.
Her hand brushed the smooth skin of Radley's neck above his sweater and she trailed the tips of her fingers across his hair. She longed to lean forward and press her lips against his skin, to wrap her arms around this wonderful man and her little boy.
So she did. Not kiss him—that would have been too daring. But when the carrier was secure, she folded her arms around Radley, rested her chin on his shoulder, and leaned forward to see George's little pink face, almost lost in the hood of his padded romper suit and Radley's sweater.
She breathed in Radley's clean fragrance and stroked her little boy's back. A strong masculine hand rose and cupped her cheek. For long moments they both remained still and silent. Olivia hardly dared breathe for fear she'd break the spell.
"Livi," he said softly. "I've grown very fond of you."
He turned his head and his warm breath touched her face. She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. "Me too," she whispered. It was on the tip of her tongue to say more, to give away how deeply she really felt for him, when George gave a familiar burp and the smell of partly digested milk filled her nose.
"Oh, no, you didn't, Georgie." Olivia could hardly bear to look.
The Army Doctor's Baby (Romance Novella) Page 3