It still felt a little off, but Nicole got up and patted his shoulder. “Give me a call later this week and let me know what you’ve decided. The space is there, we’d just need to order furniture for your office, that sort of thing.”
“Thanks. I’ll call you soon.”
She shouldered her bag and maneuvered around the tables in the café on her way out while Chris sat and pondered the offer. Under the circumstances it was the perfect solution. And really, what had he expected? This year was supposed to be a onetime leave. It wasn’t a life plan, so why was he letting it bum him out so much?
He’d do some thinking, make a few arrangements and talk to Lizzie when he went to Dallas for her doctor’s appointment.
* * *
DOCTOR MENDEZ’S OFFICE was like any other medical office in America: pastel walls covered in prints, coffee tables with magazines, pamphlets in a display and several patients waiting on vinyl chairs while the phone rang incessantly.
Lizzie shifted in her chair. At ten weeks she wasn’t discernibly pregnant, though quite often lately she’d found herself undoing her trousers or skirt button. The morning sickness hadn’t abated either, and she was getting rather tired of the morning routine of throwing up before she even made it to the shower.
She checked her watch again—it was three-twenty-seven and her appointment was for three-thirty and no sign of Chris. He’d said he was coming in his text yesterday, but as each minute ticked by she wasn’t so sure of him.
Their first...well, second, really...weekend together had gone far better than she’d imagined, but that had been two weeks ago. Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe it would be easier for everyone if he did.
The door opened and he stepped through, all wind-swept hair and plaid shirt and jeans paired with scuffed but clean boots.
Easier, maybe. But she couldn’t deny that she was glad to see him just the same.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, sitting down beside her. “I took a wrong turn, and then I
had a hard time finding parking. I’m not as familiar with Dallas as I should be.”
“It’s okay. I haven’t been called in yet, and I think she’s running a little late anyway.”
He let out a breath and leaned back in his chair. “So...how’re you feeling?”
“Fat,” she answered, sounding distinctly grumpy.
He laughed. “You’re not even showing yet, and you feel fat?”
“Maybe I’m not showing, but I’m outgrowing my clothes. My waistbands, at least. Which makes me feel fat.”
He didn’t say anything, so she looked over at him and caught him smiling at her, his arms folded across his chest. “What?” she asked.
“You look great,” he said. “So don’t worry about it.”
“Charmer,” she muttered under her breath, and he surprised her again by chuckling.
“Hey, if we’re in this together, it’s probably easier if we get along. Right?”
“Yes, but do you have to be so nice about it?”
Again he laughed. “Relax, Lizzie.”
“Elizabeth Baron?”
They looked up in unison at the nurse standing by the desk. “That’s me,” she whispered, picking up her purse.
“Do you want me to... That is...”
“I’ll get her to bring you in at the end, okay?”
He looked relieved. “Okay.”
She followed the nurse to the exam room and was surprised that she didn’t have to put on a gown. “Just remove your pants,” the nurse suggested. “We’ll try to hear a fetal heartbeat today, but there are no guarantees. Sometimes we can’t hear it for another few weeks.”