Bachelor Doc, Unexpected Dad. Dianne Drake
Sleep didn’t come as easily as she’d hoped it would, though. For the first half-hour she tossed and turned, and willed every thought out of her mind. Which didn’t work. So she punched the pillow for the fifth or sixth time, and thought about what a nice place this would be to raise a baby. Nice house. Beautiful landscape all around it. And she didn’t mind the isolation. In a way it soothed her, held back the pressures.
Another time, another life, this might have been the kind of place she would have chosen for herself. Just the three of them, or actually four. Taking hikes in the desert together. Going for adventures near some of the old Anasazi pueblo ruins she’d seen on the road coming in. Maybe buying a couple of horses and learning to ride. Such an idyllic life, but that wasn’t her life. Giving Matt the opportunity to raise the baby then going back to her business was. And it was on that note, the one that was always familiar, Ellie finally went to sleep.
* * *
Who to talk to when there was nobody to talk to? That’s what his life boiled down to. Nobody. No old friends here anymore. Anybody Matt would have considered a casual friend was still in the army and somewhere overseas. It was disconcerting, realizing exactly how alone he was, but make no mistake. He was alone here. But, damn, if ever there was a time he needed to talk, it was now.
He thought about Carter Holmes, his old partner back in Kandahar. Top-notch surgeon, maybe even better than Matt, and Matt considered himself pretty damned good. They’d walked the walk for several months, had partnered as well as any two docs could, and had become close—the kind of closeness that could only happen on the battlefield. They’d seen things together, done things together than no person should ever have to see or do. And had come through it.
Except Carter’s coming through hadn’t been all that great. He’d taken some shrapnel, it had been touch and go with life for a while, and had come out with some PTSD working against him.
Lucky for Carter, he’d had a good woman waiting for him back home. That lucky son of a—And that’s where Matt assumed he was now. In her arms, pulling his life back together. Which meant Carter didn’t need to hear about Matt’s problems. Not now. In a way, he envied Carter what he had, though. It was something he couldn’t foresee for himself, but it was...nice. A settled life. Stability. Someone to love who loved him back. Nice dream, but not his dream.
So, once again, nobody to talk to. Normally, it didn’t matter. Right now, in the wee hours, it did.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, Matt took a quick look in at Lucas to make sure he was OK, then went outside to the veranda. Sat down, stared up at the moon. Listened to the far-off howl of a wolf. No one howled back at him either.
* * *
“Pregnancy requires proper nutrition,” Matt said, chopping sweet cubanelle peppers into the skillet.
He looked good. Nice jeans, nice T-shirt. Rugged. But not rested. Her fault, she was sure. Ellie felt bad for that as she hadn’t wanted any of this to be disruptive. Of course, what had she expected? Hi, remember me from a few months back? Well, I’m your baby mama now.
“And my nutrition is good. Nothing to worry about there,” Ellie said, sitting down at the kitchen table, pleased that he was taking care of her. No one ever had unless they had been paid to. This was strange—but nice.
“What does your doctor have to say about that?” Matt asked, turning away from the counter to face her. He wiped his hands on a cloth towel and slung it over his shoulder.
“He’s fine with that part of my pregnancy.”
“Is there anything you haven’t told him yet?” he asked, crossing over to the refrigerator. He pulled out a wire basket of fruit and sat it down. “Because, as your attending physician...”
“He knows what he needs to know,” she snapped, then instantly regretted it. Matt didn’t need her mood—and, yes, she did have mood swings. That was the worst part of pregnancy so far. But to swing on Matt—he was trying to be the good guy here. The one in the white hat. While she was the stranger who had come riding in to interrupt his life. “Look, I know I’m not supposed to have it, but coffee...”
Matt shook his head. “No caffeine. And while I probably don’t have the right to tell you that, remember you’re the one who came to me with this...well, it’s not a problem. Children aren’t problems. But it’s a situation. And because half that situation is mine, I do get some say.”
She liked the forcefulness. Smooth yet firm. And sexy. Not that a woman in her condition had any business looking at sexy anything. Or did they? Ellie honestly didn’t know if those kinds of feelings stirred during pregnancy, and she sure wasn’t going to ask Matt, since he was the one stirring them. Maybe she’d ask Doc Shaffer when she got home. Or just ignore everything.
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