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I clenched my hands into fists and held my breath but said nothing.
“I think he’d feel a little better with some reassurances,” Tria said.
“Miss Lynn is in excellent health,” the doctor said. “Her uterus feels right, and the baby is the proper size. I can’t tell a whole lot more without an ultrasound, but those can be expensive without insurance. The baby’s heartbeat is strong, though. Do you want to hear it?”
Before I could respond, the doctor took some little oval-shaped instrument and placed it against Tria’s stomach. A moment later, there was a quick thrumming sound coming out of it. It was a strange sound—not at all like I remembered my own heartbeat sounding when using a stethoscope. It was much faster and kind of sounded like it was coming from underwater.
I looked at Tria. She was staring down her body with her mouth open and a look of wonder on her face.
“It’s really there,” she whispered. Her head turned toward me, and the most beautiful smile covered her face. “It’s really there.”
I returned the smile as best I could though the tightness in my chest and overwhelming sense of dread destroyed any actual joy I may have otherwise felt.
I was never one to admit my feelings, but I was absolutely terrified.
Chapter 10—Face the Reality
True to his word, Michael put in a recommendation for me with the shift supervisor at the stone setting workshop, and I got the job without ever seeing Dad. His office was downtown, and he apparently hadn’t been at that particular workshop in over a year.
The work environment wasn’t bad, and I had my own workbench. I just introduced myself as Liam—avoiding the last name with those around me. No reason anyone but the boss needed to know, and I told him I wanted to be treated like everyone else. He seemed to get it.
The stones were crappy quality and would be sold to shops that didn’t bear the Teague Silver name on them. That was probably best, though—it had been a long time since I had done such delicate work, and there was one of those big whiteboards that kept score of people who broke stones.
I supposed anyone who broke too many would end up fired, but I didn’t do too badly.
Sitting at the bench, carving out silver in the right way to make a place for the stone was solitary and quiet work. It relaxed me, and I was surprised to find out on the very first day how much I remembered and how much I liked it.
My
second day on the job was my first appointment with my therapist. It had taken about sixteen tries for me to actually pick up the phone, dial the number, and make the appointment. I could have taken the bus to get to the shrink’s office, but I was afraid I’d never make it, so I asked Damon to take me.
“Will you follow me in there?” I asked him. “I mean—make sure I go through with it, ya know?”
“Of course, Mr. Teague.”
“We should go early, too,” I added. “I don’t want to be late.”
Damon drove me to the office building and parked the car across from the hospital where Baynor worked. I took a few deep breaths as he held the door open and waited for me to get out of the car. Every time I started to move to the outside, my muscles seized up.
“Don’t let me chicken out,” I said quietly. I rubbed my fingertips into my eyes and huffed out a breath.
“There is plenty of time, Mr. Teague,” Damon said. “You have a good five minutes before I actually drag you out of the back seat.”
I chuckled at the visual and then continued with the deep breathing until I felt as if I was going to hyperventilate.
“Mr. Teague?” Damon stood there, his face showing nothing but compassion for me.
“I know,” I said, practically jumping down his throat. I immediately apologized.
“You still have plenty of time,” Damon told me.
“This just…sucks,” I mumbled.
“Of course it does, Mr. Teague.” He crouched down to my level and stared me right in the eyes. “Liam—it’s what you have to do for Tria and your coming child.”
I swallowed once and nodded at him. Damon stood up straight and took a step backward with his hand still on the car door. Before I could lose my nerve, I moved quickly to twist in the seat and put my feet on the pavement. One more breath and I pushed myself out of the car and forced myself to walk up the sidewalk to the building entrance and beyond.
It was freaking hot that day, and I had opted for my sleeveless muscle shirt and some cargo shorts that had belonged to Ryan, but it wasn’t helping. I still had sweat dripping between my shoulder blades before I got to the door. It was just before one in the afternoon, and the therapist was apparently not back from lunch yet. Even though I was early, the receptionist said I could wait in Ms. Chambers’ office while Damon waited for me in the lobby.
