Rugged Daddy
Page 58
CHAPTER 16
HEATHER
“So, I have good news,” I said.
“Then, I would love to hear your good news,” Andrew said.
“I got a call back about my lab results. Everything looks great. I’m a little anemic but nothing a basic iron supplement can’t handle.”
“Are you eating enough red meat?”
“I’m not eating enough of anything right now, but that's the other piece of good news. I’ve found these ginger candies that help with my nausea, so I expect my appetite to slowly return.”
“That’s great news,” he said, but the sound of his voice didn’t match his sentiment.
“Andrew are you okay?”
He drew in a deep breath and worry clenched my gut.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
“You.”
His voice dropped into that ethereal void, and my toes curled in my tennis shoes. I closed my eyes and conjured his presence, feeling the ghostly path of his hands traveling up my bare arms. I loved that voice. Those low notes of his that rumbled throughout my body.
“Are you opening the bakery today?”
My eyes snapped open at the tension clouding his voice. “Are you sure you’re okay? You sound tense.”
“Just a bit of a headache. Rebecca had a rough night last night.”
“Oh, no. Is everything okay? What happened?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Do you want to come by the bakery? I can whip her up something special,” I said.
“Nope. It’s going to be a day in for us. She’s not feeling up to going to school, so I canceled my training appointment.”
“You know she can always come here.”
“We’re staying home, Heather.”
I furrowed my brow. If I hadn’t known any better, it would’ve sounded like he was chastising me. There was tension, yes. I knew something wasn’t right, but there seemed to be the slightest trace of annoyance as well.
“Well, I’ll let you go then,” I said.
“Heather, I’m sorry. My head just—”
“Feel better, okay? Tell Rebecca I said hi.” I hung up the phone and smoothed my hand over my forehead.
I was growing attached to Andrew and Rebecca. I could feel it. My heart jumped whenever he called, and I smiled whenever I thought about them. My hand fell to my stomach, and I sighed, my fingers splaying along my skin. I was getting attached to our child as well, and it worried me. Sure, we were on fire for one another, but neither of us had defined what was going on between us. As far as I knew, we were still treating this as a business exchange. He was paying for my medical bills and checking up on me, and I was working through the pregnancy at my bakery. But would the exchange of money now just cheapen what I felt we had?
I didn’t know. We hadn’t talked about it.