The Nurse's Baby Secret

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Charlie logged off his work computer and locked up his office at the hospital. He’d put in another long one. Which was just as well since he’d cut back so much during the time Savannah had been at his apartment. He’d sure not been there long enough to be asking residents to cover his patients and classes, yet he had following Savannah’s wreck.

The weather was crisp and cut through his jacket, but part of him welcomed the cold, welcomed that he felt alive.

Something he hadn’t felt so much over the past few weeks.

Because Savannah was gone.

He missed her like hell.

His apartment felt empty without her. His life felt empty without her. Yet she was better off without him. He had to remember—this wasn’t about him. It was about Savannah and their baby. It was about making sure the past didn’t repeat itself any more than it already had.

He had his dream job. He worked for a major trauma and research hospital where he got to live his dream, something his father, his mother, had never gotten to do.

Which should have him jumping over the moon.

Instead, he had to force himself to continue to put one foot in front of the other on the trek back to his apartment.

When he reached the complex, he glanced up at his window. No light.

Because no one was home.

Savannah wasn’t there.

She’d gone back to her apartment, rather than the house he’d given her. The lady who cleaned the house had told him no one had been there other than herself. Hopefully, Savannah would see reason and move into the house prior to the baby’s arrival. Or maybe when she went home from the hospital. He wanted her to have the house, to have the security of knowing she and the baby always had a place to call their own.

If nothing else, she could sell the house and use the money to give her and the baby a good start.

Not that he wouldn’t help her with anything she needed. He would. Already, he’d talked to his lawyer to have a trust set up for the baby to ensure money was there for college. He made a great living, had invested wisely, and there was no need for Savannah and their baby to ever worry about basic needs.

Not that she would. Savannah was an independent woman, used to taking care of herself. She’d do just fine with or without his help. She didn’t need him. She’d move on with her life, find someone who didn’t come with his baggage, and she’d be happy.

He wanted her to be happy.

He did.

But...

Charlie mentally slapped himself. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t the type to feel sorry for himself. Especially when he had what he wanted.

He had his career. He hadn’t let a woman interfere with his goals. He’d kept his eyes on the prize, moved to Nashville, and achieved what he’d set out to achieve all those years ago.

“Don’t let a woman hold you back from your dream, son.”

Anger filled Charlie as his father’s words coursed through his mind. His father was gone, no longer in his life. If only he was no longer in his head.

What would his old man say about the woman becoming the dream?

The dream that was unattainable because he couldn’t take care of her, couldn’t love her and let her love him.

He walked into his living room and sank onto the sofa. His gaze fell onto the deck of cards sitting on the coffee table.

She’d left them, along with a note telling him no man who was as good at cards as he was should be without a deck.

He picked them up, shuffled them back and forth.

He wasn’t good at cards. He wasn’t good at anything.