Waiting on Love (Love in Madelia Book 3)

by Jessa Chase

  “I will let you know when the time comes. I do have to go now, if you don’t mind.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, instead ending the call with a soapy finger. Of all the things he had on his mind at the moment, he really didn’t need to deal with his mother and her bullshit.

  DAISY

  Daisy swiped the sweat from her forehead, taking the time to estimate her temperature while she was at it. She didn’t feel sick, not really, just achy and nauseous and exhausted. Was it any wonder, considering how much stress she’d put herself under the last several weeks?

  Between Mrs. Shuster’s illness, Cole arriving in Madelia, trying to balance the diner and Mason and everything else in her life. Daisy hadn’t felt pulled in so many directions in years.

  She smiled weakly at her customer as she placed their lunch plate on the table.

  “You have a good lunch, okay? Let me know if you need anything.”

  Even feeling the way she felt, Daisy tried not to let it show around customers. After all, she wasn’t known for letting something like a little cold get her down. She took a breath between customers, again surprised at how tired she was before the height of the lunch rush had even hit.

  She hadn’t felt this crummy since, well…Daisy dropped her wash cloth on the floor and swore she could feel her heart fall down just as far.

  Oh, God. Equal parts panic and nausea churned in her belly. It kept rising as she did a little math in her head.

  Daisy closed her eyes, prayed to whoever was listening that she might be wrong. She opened them again, and shrieked when she saw Enzo staring intently at her.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. I’m okay.” Daisy stammered, reached down to pick up her wayward washcloth. “Okay, that’s a lie. Do you think anyone would mind if I took a minute? Went to the store? I need a soda.”

  Enzo politely ignored the idiocy of her request, avoided pointing out that they had plenty of soda in the diner. He waved her off with a gruff smile.

  “Go. Come back when you feel better.”

  *

  She sat in the employee-only bathroom at the back of the supermarket, cradling the tiny box on her knees. This was so stupid, what was she waiting for? Just take the test. Hell, take both tests. When they both came out negative, she could forget she’d ever considered the possibility, and move on with her life.

  She couldn’t be pregnant again. She absolutely could not be pregnant again. And with Cole’s baby? Oh, God. She felt her stomach roil in protest at the thought. They were just starting to find something good with each other. She didn’t know if it was something that could be long-term, but it sure as hell wouldn’t have a chance if she surprised him with the fruits of her uterus before they’d ever even had a first date.

  She sniffled back what felt like a flood of tears and tugged open the box. For a moment she was actually worried she wouldn’t be able to pee. She commanded herself to calm down, added another prayer to the mix.

  Tests taken, she sat them on the counter and closed her eyes, willed herself to count all the way to 180. 3 minutes, the box said. What felt like an eternity later, she found herself staring at both sticks. Twin readings, clear as day.

  PREGNANT

  “No,” she pleaded with the tests. “No, no, no. What is this?” She looked down at her abdomen accusingly. “Am I some kind of stupid sperm magnet or something?”

  Emotionally and physically exhausted, she sat down on the toilet lid, buried her face in her hands, and let herself really cry.

  Although she probably would have preferred to crawl into the deepest darkest hole she could find for at least half a day, Daisy had responsibilities. She couldn’t just abandon the diner because she’d gotten herself knocked up. More importantly, she really couldn’t let anyone know she was pregnant until she had a chance to talk about it with Cole. So instead of going home, Daisy cleaned her face with ice-cold water, tossed the tests in the trash, and headed back to the diner with a fake smile plastered on her face.

  *

  Daisy ran through the closing procedures of the diner with her mind racing. She hadn’t come up with a good way of telling him. There just wasn’t a good way to tell a man you barely knew that you were carrying his child. Or, if there was, she certainly hadn’t managed to come up with it on her own.

  She turned when she heard the soft chime of the bell that signaled the front door opening. And there he was, and her mind that had been racing was suddenly blank.

  “Hey,” he said with a smile as he ate the distance between them in three steps. Cole pulled her into his arms and kissed the sensitive skin along the side of her neck.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  She hadn’t meant to just blurt it out, not until she’d had time to think. But when he looked at her with those eyes like summer lightning, all she wanted to do was bury her head in his shoulder and bare her soul. But then he’d wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in close, and she’d smelled his aftershave. She felt the words leap from her mouth before she knew what was happening.

  She didn’t know how to read his face. With a sick feeling in her stomach she realized, she didn’t know something as simple as that about the man. How could she have been so stupid?

  “I should have known. I’ve been so tired lately, but I thought I was just coming down with something.”

  “The dizziness at the diner.”

  “I figured it was stress. Even missing my period, but stress can do that, and I’ve had so much to deal with lately. I just didn’t put it together until, well until today. Cole, I am so sorry.”

  The entire burst came out in one long disjointed thought that she barely understood herself. She bit her lip and waited, her heart beating painfully in her chest.

  “So, pregnant? You’re definitely pregnant?”

  Daisy didn’t know if she wanted to yell, or cry, or maybe both. Why wasn’t he yelling? Why was he standing there, so calm and rational looking?

  “You’d be, what, five weeks along then?”

  “I imagine so.” Daisy nodded, her eyes bright with tears.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Sick. Scared. And stupid, so damn stupid. It’s not like I don’t know what causes this by now. But we used protection! It’s not like last time, I can’t even hang onto the excuse of being a hormonal, stupid teenager. Oh, God.”

  “Daisy.” He gripped her shoulders tightly and held her gaze. “You aren’t stupid. And you aren’t in this alone. We made a baby. And I refuse to call this a stupid mistake.” He paused, laid his hand on her abdomen. “How big is it in there?”

  Daisy dragged her fingers through her hair, trying to get a handle on the conversation. It wasn’t going at all how she’d expected it to go.

  “I don’t know. Tiny. Maybe the size of a sesame seed?”

  “Wow.” He pulled her over to the table, sat at the chair so he’d be face-to-face with her belly. “Too small to feel anything, I’m assuming. When does it get big enough that you can, you know, feel it moving around in there?”

  “Cole, can we focus here?”

  “There’s books on development, the different stuff happening at different weeks, I’ve seen them. I’m sure the library here has a few, but I think I’ll buy them online and have them shipped so we can keep them.”

  He stood suddenly and grabbed her hand. “We need to see a doctor. Make sure you’re okay. When you fell the other day, what if something happened-“

  “Cole, we aren’t going to the doctor. We need to stay right here and talk about what we’re going to do.”

  “We’re going to have a baby, is what we’re going to do.”

  He wrapped his hands around her waist, lifted her up in the air for a little twirl. When he brought her back down to her feet, she felt dizzy, overwhelmed, and so damn confused.

  “You’re not mad at me?”

  “Why the hell would I be mad at you?”

  “Because. Because everything.”

  Cole chuc
kled. “I’ve heard there’s a thing called pregnancy brain. Makes you loopy and unreasonable.”

  Daisy swatted his arm. “This isn’t pregnancy brain. This is me, unsure about what I’m doing, what we’re doing, and you’re making jokes.”

  “I’m making jokes because I’m happy. I want you, you have to know by now that I do. And I want this baby. Hell, I didn’t even know this was something I wanted until the second you said it. But there it is.”

  “Cole, we aren’t even dating, not really.”

  He raised an eyebrow at that. “We aren’t? I’ve spent the night at your house, ate breakfast at your table with you and your son. In fact, I’ve eaten almost every meal since coming to Madelia at the diner just so I can spend more time with you.”

  “That’s not dating,” Daisy stammered. “That’s…I don’t know what that is.”

  He reached over to tuck her hair behind her ears, tugged gently on the ends until she was within kissing distance.

  Daisy felt tears sliding down her cheeks when he pressed his lips to hers. It was so soft, so gentle. So not what she’d been expecting.

  “Go out with me then, Daisy Hewett. Maybe we’re doing everything a little backwards, but go out with me. This Saturday night. Mason can spend the night with Kate and Logan.”

  “Cole, you don’t have to do this.”

  “I absolutely do. We’re going to go out, do this right, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

  “You’re ordering me to date you?”

  “I had planned to charm you into it over the next few weeks, but since the timing has changed a bit, we’re just going to do it this way.”

  “So none of this even upsets you?”

  “Nope.” He paused, and Daisy could see he was thinking about it. “A little scared, maybe. But I’ve seen the kind of mother you are to Mason so I have no doubts about that. And I’ve seen the way you look at me when you’re in my arms, so I’m pretty sure we’re on the right path here. Just taking a different route than some other folks.”

  Daisy pressed her hands to her temples as if it would stop her world from spinning. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Say you’ll go out with me Saturday night. Say you’ll let the rest of it go, give us time to figure it all out another night.”

  She nodded, then felt his arms wrapping tightly around her and the world felt so much better.

  Chapter 8.

  COLE

  “Good morning, Mason,” he said as he rounded the booth. “Can I sit?”

  Mason looked up from his coloring book and gave Cole a small smile that warmed his heart.

  “Sure. Wanna color?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Mason tugged a page loose and handed it over to Cole. “You can do the police man.”

  “Watch out,” Daisy said with a smile. “He’s pretty particular about how you color stuff.”

  “Yeah? So no green police uniforms then, Mason?”

  “Blue. Green is for forest rangers.”

  “I can work with that.” Cole chuckled. “Hand me the blue then? How are you feeling today Daisy?”

  Daisy sat next to her son, across the table from Cole. He resisted the urge to reach out and hold her hand, not sure where the nebulous boundaries of their relationship was today.

  She smiled sweetly at him and tilted her head to the side in a way that made his heart squeeze in his chest.

  “I’m okay. Tired. But that’s not all that unusual. Do you want to come over for dinner?”

  “I’d love to. What are you making for us, Mason?”

  Mason scrunched up his nose and stuck out his tongue. It was a uniquely childish action by someone who very rarely acted like a child. It surprised Cole and made him laugh. He gave an exaggerated sigh, dropping his shoulders dramatically and giving what he hoped was his best droopy dog face.

  “Oh well,” he said, trying to keep the smile off his cheeks. “I guess I’ll have to commandeer the kitchen for the night then. Can’t have your mom on her feet all day, then cooking us dinner, can we?”

  Mason shrugged. “She’s a mom, that’s what they do.”

  “Well, I say us men take over for the night. Spoil your mom a little bit. Are you up for it?”

  Mason nodded solemnly.

  “Well, then it’s settled. What sounds good to you, Daisy?”

  She tapped the corner of her mouth, looked contemplative. “Hmm. Steak and potatoes, if you’re up for it.”

  “I’m definitely up for it. How about you, Mason?”

  “I’m up for it,” he replied.

  DAISY

  The man looked damn good in front of her stove, she thought to herself with a satisfied smile. That evening after work, he’d plopped her down on the couch, armed her with a cup of decaf coffee, and left her with nothing to do other than watch him in the kitchen.

  And so, she watched him. She liked the way he moved, like he knew what he was doing, like he already knew his way around her tiny kitchen. She liked that he included Mason, asked her son’s opinion on things like how much salt was too much salt, and whether they should make the side salad first or wait until the steaks were finished beforehand.

  Most of all, she liked that he’d wanted to cook for her, wanted to give her a chance to sit down while he worked. Her heart fell nearly full to bursting with an emotion that she wasn’t quite ready to call romantic love, but it was the closest thing she had to compare it to so far in her life.

  She took a sip of her coffee, tried to enjoy the decaf, and watched the man work.

  Her man, she thought with a smile. Was it possible? Could a man who seemed so focused on his career back in Chicago really be happy fitting into her small town life?

  He glanced over at her and smiled at her as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. She gave him a little wave and took another sip of her coffee, and reveled in sensation of having absolutely nothing to do.

  She was just closing her eyes and leaning her head back when she felt him sit next to her.

  “Hey,” she said when she opened her eyes. “All good in there?”

  “Better than good. Your kid is a natural cook, it seems.” Cole chuckled to himself. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  “He pays attention to a lot,” Daisy replied. “He’s smart like that.” She wound her fingers in between his and squeezed. “I have no idea how to tell him about us. Every time I think I know what to say, I just freeze up.”

  “We can do it together, if that’ll help. I don’t know what to say either, but maybe together, we’ll think of something.”

  “Maybe,” she said uncertainly. “It’s a pretty big thing. I mean it’s one thing to tell him about us.” Daisy’s words drifted off as her eyes glanced down at her belly. It didn’t look any different yet, even if Daisy felt like her whole world had already been rocked off its core. They probably had some time before they had to explain it to Mason, but considering how smart he was, she was erring on the side that sooner would be better.

  “Maybe faster would be better,” Cole said after a moment. “Just rip the band-aid off kind of thing.”

  “Maybe,” Daisy didn’t sound all that convinced, but she smiled anyway. “We’ll figure it out together. How’s that sound?”

  Cole entwined his fingers with hers and pulled her close enough for a quick kiss. “That sounds like a plan.”

  COLE

  The next day, Cole was clearing the dishes from breakfast while Daisy got Mason ready for the day. He again snatched up his ringing phone before even looking at the contact information. The loud voice of his boss fairly jumped out of his tiny phone speaker.

  “Cole! You need to get your ass on the next plane, pronto.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Nothing is going on while you are on the other side of the country, that’s the problem.”

  Cole sighed, tried to take a calming breath before saying something he might regret. His mind was on Daisy, on his increasingly
intense feelings about her and what the hell he was going to do about all of it. He did not have time for Michael’s bullshit today.

  “Michael,” he said after a moment of contemplation. “I will be back, and I can handle whatever is going on from here. Send me the information and I’ll do what I can from here.”

  “When are you coming back?”

  “I’m not sure. Things…things have gotten a little complicated here. I just need a little more time.”

  “You’ve got a week and after that…after that I can’t guarantee you’re going to have anything to come back to, Cole.”

  It was an ominous end to the conversation, one that Cole was sure didn’t bode well for his immediate future. He had a lot of thinking to do before he went back to Chicago, but he also now had a deadline to meet.

  He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. He had a lot to accomplish in the next week.

  DAISY

  “Do you think this looks okay?” Daisy spun in front of Kate, showing off the short summer dress she was wearing. It was breezy and flowing and Daisy loved the bright splash of colorful flowers along the hem, but she found herself having doubts as the hour of Cole’s arrival approached. “It’s not too much, is it?”

  Kate nodded her approval as she bounced Ella on her knee. “It’s casual but still very cute. Definitely suites you. Did he tell you where you were going on this date?”

  Daisy grinned. “He’s packed a whole picnic basket, and after that we’re going to the drive-in theater in Sunnyslope.” She did another spin.

  “Sounds like a good first date,” Kate grabbed Mason as he ran past her. “Hey Mason, come give your momma some loves before she heads out.”

  Daisy knelt down to Mason’s level and took him in her arms. She snuffled his hair and tried to keep herself from getting too emotional.

  “I’m not going to be back before bed, but Auntie Kate and Uncle Logan are going to take good care of you. Are you going to be okay?”