Page 95 of Sudden Summer

“You stubborn ass. I could have driven out and stitched you up.”

“And demanded I come home…”

“Well of course, I would have! What cut your head, Cowboy? A branch? Did you fall off your horse? Oh God, was it a rock? Because if you slammed your noggin against a rock, no matter how hard your head is, it still could mean you have a concussion.”

“I don’t have a concussion. Take a deep breath.” I wrapped my hand around her wrist, pulling her fingers out of my hair. “You’re shaking.”

She closed her eyes for half a second, drawing in a long breath. “I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

“This is nothing, I promise. If I thought it was bad, I would have called. I didn’t even blink after getting cut. I swore so much Ma would probably make me bathe in holy water, shoved a hanky up in my hat, finished fixing the fence, and went back to the herd. Kip pretty much fixed me up, and we just got back to it.”

“He didn’t get you fixed up. What the hell did he use to get the cut to go back together.”

“I dunno. The first aid kit has like some medical super glue or some shit. Just dabbed a bit of that in there, and then I pressed both sides together.”

She shook her head. “You’re going to have a scar; I could have stitched you up in no time. When was your last tetanus shot?”

“Last year when I put that nail through my thumb, remember?” I playfully tugged on the arm still in my grasp. “If you wanted to play nurse, all you had to do was tell me, Birdie. I love role play just as much as the next guy.”

“Knock it off. You could still get an infection.” She pushed against my chest, but from the way her cheeks blazed, I knew she wasn’t unaffected by my comments. “If you’re happy with how Kip helped, then I’m happy for you. Come on, berry girl, let’s let Daddy get washed up while we finish getting supper on the table.”

“Birdie…”

“Wash up, Cowboy. Don’t get your hair wet, though. I want a better look at it later.”

“Does that mean you’ll shower with me after Juniper goes to bed?”

She rolled her eyes, snorting as she walked into the kitchen with my daughter on her hip. “I won’t be showering with you…Nurse Birdie will. And she’s no nonsense. I have a feeling you’ll regret that request.”

“Naked, wet woman I love…nope. Not ever gonna regret that.”

She rolled her eyes, her hand waving me down the hall. I’d just wash my hands and put some water on my face downstairs. No use running all the way up to our bedroom when we’d be up there soon enough.

I flipped on the light, watching as dust and dirt swirled down the sink as the scent of lemons filled the small space. Fuck, I loved that every inch of my house finally felt like home with touches of Birdie everywhere. She wasn’t a guest anymore. She’d always belonged here. She was always the thing that made this place feel warm and right.

I reached over to grab the cow-print towel—another touch of Birdie—when my eyes dropped to the trash bin.

What the fuck?

Reaching down, I pulled a rectangle box out, and my throat closed up in the next second. Why the fuck was there a pregnancy test in the garbage?

We weren’t very careful, that first time. We’d been caught up in the moment…and I had a condom but they weren’t always…

I looked up at myself in the mirror, and I was fucking smiling. Because Birdie might be pregnant with my baby. Shit. She’d told me the other night in the shower her period was going to start…but it definitely hadn’t yet. How had I not realized?

Should I reach inside to see? Should I wait for her to fucking tell me? What if she had something special planned, and I’d ruin it? But what if she was freaking out and actually needed me…

I was going to need to build an addition on the house. What did I care? I’d burn this place to the ground and build a brand new house with so many bedrooms, we’d have a hard time filling them all if I had to.

I put the box back in the trash, not looking inside. She took the test without me, which sat in my fucking chest like a goddamn rock, but she had her reasons. I needed to honor that.

The warm, homey scent of whatever she was cooking up filtered down the hall and swirled around my heart, tugging me back down to Earth.

“Hey, whatever you’ve got cooking smells good.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and slipped them down low on her belly. Maybe I could get her to talk to me about it through subtle cues. But Birdie went still under my touch.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She bumped her hip back into me. “I’ll have dinner ready in a minute. Go sit so I can see that hard head of yours.”