The Bachelor's Little Bonus (Proposals & Promises 3)

“I have to text Jenny and Tess. I told them I’d let them know as soon as we left the clinic. They’re almost as excited as we are to find out. And my mom and my brother want to know as soon as possible and I know your mother is eager to hear the news, so we’ll have to make lots of calls and texts this evening. What about your dad? Are you going to call him?”

Cole’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “Probably not.”

She squirmed around in her seat to face him, surprise breaking into her excitement-fueled chattering. “You don’t think he’d want to know the baby’s gender?”

“Who knows with my dad?”

“You have told him I’m pregnant, haven’t you?”

He cleared his throat. “I’ve only talked to him once since we dropped by there in February, just for a routine six-week check to see how he’s doing. The subject didn’t come up.”

There was a moment of shocked silence, and then her snort made her exasperation quite clear. “Honestly, Cole, you’re almost as stubborn as he is. I know your dad was hard on you with his strict, narrow definition of masculinity, but has it occurred to you that maybe the prospect of being a grandfather would soften him up a little? That happens, you know, even with grumpy old men. It should especially please him that he’ll have a grandson.”

“So he can browbeat the boy the way he did me? Sigh at him when he cries or scowl at him if he doesn’t want to tramp through the woods to kill a deer? I’m not going to let those things happen to this kid.”

“We’d never let him do that. But if we establish clear boundaries and your dad follows them, maybe it would be good for both of them. I never knew my paternal grandfather and my mother’s dad died when I was too young to remember him, but I always wished I had a grandpa if I couldn’t have a dad. You and I could give our son both. You said you were close with your grandfather, and I’m sure he was pretty old-fashioned, too.”

“He was,” Cole conceded, thinking back to his hardworking, cattle farmer Pops. “He was strict, gave me plenty of rules and chores, but he wasn’t as hard to please as my dad. Pops and I got along pretty well for the most part.”

“And how was his relationship with his son?”

“Strained,” Cole admitted slowly. “He got along better with his younger son, my uncle Bob. Pops didn’t approve of Dad’s marriage to my mother—rightly so, as it turned out—and he wasn’t a fan of the way they kept putting me in the middle of their fights. He wasn’t tactful with my father about his opinions, and Dad never took criticism well.”

“Maybe your dad will find a soft spot for this little boy. Shouldn’t we at least try to find out?”

“I’ll think about it,” he conceded grudgingly. “But frankly I’m tired of being the one to do all the reaching out. Dad knows my number. Wouldn’t hurt him to call me every once in a while just to see if I’m still alive.”

He shook his head before she could argue more. “Let’s not talk about Dad now. This is too special a day. Why don’t we celebrate this news by stopping by the baby store and picking up some more things for the kid? We’re still looking for a stroller, right? Have you decided whether you want a three-wheel or four-wheel model?”

They’d done hours of research together on nearly everything they’d purchased to this point, reading all the safety records and brand comparisons they could find. He was pleased that Stevie wanted his opinions. Granted, he didn’t know much about baby stuff, but he was damned good at research.

Stevie was enthused about shopping for the baby now that she knew more about him, and Cole was glad he’d made the suggestion. It was a sunny, warm spring day. He and Stevie had both been working so hard lately that it was nice to have a couple of daylight hours just to relax together. Maybe he’d talk her into a milkshake, which probably wouldn’t be hard. She had a notorious weakness for chocolate milkshakes, and couldn’t imagine why anyone—specifically, he—would want to ruin a perfectly good cup of ice cream with chunks of pineapple.

He was glad to see her happily chattering and laughing, so excited about learning more about the baby who’d be joining them in just over three months. She’d been a little more subdued than usual for the past few weeks—since Easter, really. He blamed it on all the turmoil in their lives. Stevie was accustomed to construction snafus and delays on her design jobs, but having the same things going on in her own home was more stressful, especially combined with the emotional roller coaster of pregnancy.

It still bemused him that she had such a strong attachment to her house. The place was certainly adequate for their needs, increasingly so as the attic renovation and storm shelter came closer to being finished, but he figured they’d have been able to find plenty of other houses just as functional. Maybe it was because he’d been shuttled so often from house to house as a kid that he didn’t have as strong a sense of “home” as she did. For him, home was now wherever Stevie was. Didn’t matter much where that happened to be. At least he had the satisfaction of knowing she missed him now when he wasn’t in her beloved house with her.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay when I’m away next week?” he asked as he parked in front of the baby store. “I can always try to change the meetings to conference calls if you—”

“Cole,” she interrupted with a laugh and an affectionate pat on his arm. “You’re starting to sound like Gavin. I’ll be fine for a few days on my own, I promise.”

He regretted missing next week’s doctor’s appointment, but this trip was rather important. He’d already made it clear to all involved that he wouldn’t be traveling for a couple months after the baby arrived, so he was trying to take care of some things ahead of time. “You’ll let me know if your blood pressure has gone up again? You’ll tell the doctor you’ve had a couple of headaches in the past week?”

“Both of which occurred when I got busy and forgot to eat lunch on time,” she reminded him. “Totally my fault. And I’ve been paying more attention to my schedule now that you set my phone to nag me about lunchtime. Haven’t had a headache since. And my blood pressure has been stable the last two visits, so I think you can stop worrying about that, too.”

He nodded slowly as he opened his door. Her blood pressure hadn’t gone back down to prepregnancy levels, but it wasn’t rising, either, so he guessed that was good. But that wouldn’t stop him from worrying. Nothing would.

Chapter Nine

It was almost five p.m. when Stevie parked in front of McKellar Auto Service on the following Wednesday afternoon. She’d made the drive on one of her rash impulses and she was absolutely certain her husband would not approve had he known about it. But he was out of town, and she’d fought the urge as long as she could before heading north when she’d left a kitchen remodel job an hour earlier.

She might finally see her husband angry after this, she thought wryly as she climbed out of her car. But she’d been trying to think of something important to do for Cole ever since they’d gotten married. She hoped the result of this reckless mission would be worth incurring his initial anger.

There was more activity around the place than during her last brief visit, though she could tell it was nearing closing time. Several of the bay doors were open and she could see both mechanics and customers milling inside. Perhaps this hadn’t been the best time to come by. Would Jim find her visit more intrusive than welcome?

She let herself into the door marked Office, finding only one person inside the cramped room. The broad-hipped, plain-faced woman at the paper-cluttered desk appeared to be about the same age as Jim. She wore a flowered T-shirt, faded jeans and sneakers, and her gray-streaked dishwater blond hair was tied back in a low ponytail. Was this Jim’s wife?

“What can I do for you?” the woman asked in a broad country drawl. “Are you picking up a car?”