“Does this offer of help extend beyond the pregnancy?” she asked. “Because I need help. As far as the baby goes... I’ll worry about that tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?” Eden asked.
“Well, I have a doctor’s appointment—so I’ll get a due date. D-Day right? I can start a countdown?”
“If baby cooperates.” Josie smiled. “Babies have their own schedule. Starting now.” She pointed at Renata’s stomach.
All eyes focused on her stomach, including her own.
“Are they upset?” she asked, knowing the women wouldn’t need any clarification. She’d grown up wanting to make her brothers and father happy, especially after their mother died. It had been her goal, something she’d been aware of every day. Her mother had had the sort of smile that made everything better—Renata had done her best to fill the void she left. And now? It was hard to accept she was the reason they were all unhappy.
“They just want you to be happy, Renata.” Annabeth used her perky voice.
“But they’re not going to hurt Ash, right?” she asked. “Because they looked like they really wanted to.”
No one said anything.
“Seriously?” she asked, her head falling back on the couch. “Poor Ash. I was the one waiting for him on the back porch. I was the one that suggested we spend the night together.”
Josie giggled. “I knew it.”
She giggled. “You did?”
“You’re not exactly a shrinking violet, Renata.” Kylee laughed.
“Should I be offended?” she asked, staring around at her sisters-in-law.
“I’m pretty sure it was a compliment.” Eden laughed. “It was, right?”
Kylee nodded. “It was.”
“You don’t think there’s the potential for something more? With Ash, I mean?” Annabeth asked. “He seems like a decent enough guy. And I caught a glance at his kid and he is adorable. So, there’s an upside.”
Renata was laughing now. “I’ll make sure to list cute kid and decent guy in the pro column—if there’s ever a need to make a list.” But Annabeth had a point. “His son is precious, isn’t he?”
And Ash was more than a decent guy. Not that any of them would ever know it. She couldn’t let on about his misguided marriage proposal, not without dire consequences. Still, it was with the best intentions—he thought it was best for the baby. And that was what their relationship would be about: the baby. Nothing else. No matter how off the charts their attraction might be.
* * *
Ash paced the doctor’s office. He had a list of questions a mile long, his stomach was in knots and the room was a good twenty degrees past bearable. He smiled at Renata again, tugged at his shirt collar and studied the obstetrics poster on the exam room wall. The miracle of birth. A time of excitement and anticipation—a new life, a fresh start.
He didn’t feel any of those things. Pregnancy, to him, meant the beginning of the end. It meant sickness and frailty. Risk after risk. Uncertainty, pain and loss. Watching Shanna suffer, he’d vowed never to have another child. Now, here he was, preparing for fatherhood less than three years after that nightmare ordeal had begun.
There were so many questions without answers. But one
stood out against all the rest. It was gnawing at his insides, making it impossible to focus on anything else. Was Renata healthy? And the baby? They were both fine? Once he knew that, he’d be able to relax. But he had to know that first.
“Ash?”
He turned. “What?”
“You okay?” She sat in a gown, looking just as uncomfortable as he felt. Only she was asking if he was okay.
Way to be supportive. “Fine. Sorry. Just reading...” He pointed at the poster he’d been blindly staring at.
She nodded, but he could tell she didn’t believe him. “You didn’t have to come today.”
He glanced at her then. She wasn’t thrilled that he’d been adamant about coming with her but, for him, it was necessary. He’d been up with nightmares most of the night—every worst-case scenario running through his mind. Renata wasn’t Shanna. The only way to ease his fears and stop the comparisons was to hear it, himself, from her doctor.