The moment she stepped into the open floor plan of her living room/dining room/kitchen, her gaze landed on the man draped across her sofa. He was too long for it and looked horribly uncomfortable.
But there was also a peace on his face as he slept.
A peace she hadn’t seen over the past few weeks.
Because, despite how much he’d devastated her with his decision, Charlie wasn’t walking around ecstatic either. Actually, every time she’d seen him he looked stressed, tense.
She stared at him way longer than she should have, studying his features, yet again wondering if their child would look like him.
Lord, she hoped so.
Yet did she really want a constant reminder of the man who’d broken her heart?
Their child would be a constant reminder regardless of who he or she looked like.
She’d been right about one thing. The rest of her life was going to be entangled with Charlie’s. Not in the way she’d dreamed, but they would share a bond.
Because of that bond, she’d eventually have to make peace with him, would have to figure out how to just be his friend or his acquaintance or whatever it was they were destined to be.
They were going to be parents together.
Savannah got her water, went back to her room, and crawled beneath the comforter, all too aware that a month ago Charlie would have been in bed beside her and she’d have snuggled up against him. Now, she had no right to touch him, no right to snuggle next to him.
Not that she wanted him in her bed. She didn’t. She was just fine by herself. Better than fine.
She didn’t need him. Only...
Tears came quicker than they should have, but eventually she dozed back into sleep.
* * *
“I wasn’t sure what you’d feel like eating this morning, if anything, so I made you a few choices.”
Stretching in her bed, Savannah blinked at the man carrying in a tray of food. “You cooked for me?”
Not meeting her eyes, he nodded. “It’s not much, but I went with what I could find.”
Which was pretty limited. Eating had been a chore the past week and she’d not bothered going to the grocery store. She’d made sure to eat a small healthy meal each evening, but otherwise she’d been grabbing food from work.
“I’m surprised you found anything at all.”
She eyed the scrambled eggs, toast, oatmeal that had to be made from an instant package, small glass of juice, and another that had water. “Looks good, but you shouldn’t have.”
Really, he shouldn’t have. She needed to stay angry with him. Anger was so much better than the alternative emotions running rampant through her.
Setting the tray on the bed, he studied her. “You look better this morning. You got really pale last night. Virus?”
Now was the time to tell him the truth. He’d given her the perfect opening to tell him about their baby. Only she couldn’t find the words that early in the morning to tell him. She tried. She opened her mouth but the words didn’t come out, no matter how hard she tried to force them out.
“I’m not sure if anything’s been going around the hospital or not,” he continued, studying her as if he were gauging how she was going to react to him this morning. “Nothing on the cardiac unit, at any rate.”
“Hopefully it will stay that way.” Those words had come out just fine. Why hadn’t the others? One simple two-word sentence was all she needed. I’m pregnant. She eyed the food and her stomach growled. She picked up a piece of toast, took a bite, and was grateful it settled happily into her stomach. She ate slowly, but felt better than she had all week. Hopefully that was a good sign that she wasn’t going to be as nauseated.
“What are your plans for the day?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“I’m headed to Nashville to look at a couple of apartment complexes. I’m pretty sure I’m going to lease one of them, based on online reviews and a virtual tour, but wanted to take a look at a few others before committing.”