Page 6 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

She looked as if she’d been run over by a herd of horses.

His Ginny, always so full of vim and vigour, sat curled up in the corner of the couch. She held a book in her hands, but during the last ten minutes her head had tilted sideways, eyelids falling closed.

She’d barely eaten any supper, and she’d been sleeping terribly. Nothing made a man feel more powerless than not being able to help the woman he loved.

Tucker stuck his finger into the soup to check it for temperature before pouring it into a mug. Also, nothing was worse than catching a cold over the holiday season.

Of course, that’s if it was a cold…

Mug in hand, he settled on the coffee table in front of her, staring at her face, the warm lights of the fire reflecting off the reddish tinge in her hair. Yeah, she looked exhausted.

He’d never been more in love with her. More convinced that she was beautiful, through and through.

“I can feel you staring at me.” Ginny cracked one eye open. She watched him silently for a minute then wiped a hand across her lips. “If I was drooling, you’re not allowed to tell me that.”

He reached forward, exchanging the warm soup for the book he stole from her fingers. “If you had been drooling, I would tease you mercilessly. But alas, nothing from you but the cutest little snores.”

Ginny snorted. “Get out.”

“Not so little snores?”

She rolled her eyes, but more importantly, she lifted the mug to her lips and took a cautious sip. Her nose wrinkled, but she swallowed. “Nice and warm.”

“You cold?”

When he would have gotten up to grab her a blanket or put more wood on the fire, she glared at him. “I can be warm enough and still say something warm is nice. Stop babying me.”

“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in agreement.

But he watched her. Closely. Because…

Screw it. If he was wrong, then maybe she was truly sick, and she’d be too weak to kill him.

Tucker reached under the couch and pulled out a plastic bag. “Speaking of babies..."

He sat there, motionless. The package extended forward while Ginny’s eyes grew as big as saucers.

Yeah, well, she’d said the word first, not him. He nudged the bag at her. “It’s a test kit.”

She didn’t move. Just clung to her mug like it was a life preserver and she’d found herself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“A test kit to find out if you’re pregnan⁠—”

“I figured that part out,” Ginny informed him, still not taking the package. “I don’t need it.”

Tucker folded his arms over his chest. “Why are you doing this? Which, by the way, your sister Dare totally warned me you would do.”

That got Ginny moving. She put her mug aside and leaned forward, red finally colouring her cheeks. “You talked to Dare about me needing a pregnancy test?”

“Not recently,” Tucker admitted. “But since we haven’t been using birth control for six months, and you told Dare that less than twenty-four hours after we decided to ditch it, yes, I’ve had a couple conversations about pregnancy and tests and etcetera with her. Each of which I told you about and you’d remember if you weren’t so befuddled right now.”

“But I am befuddled, and it’s just. A. Cold,” Ginny all but shouted before pressing her hands to the sides of her head. “Oh my God, I’m an idiot.”

Tucker was at her side a second later, arm draped around her shoulders. Surrounding her as best he could, holding her tenderly. “You are not an idiot, but you are either sick or possibly pregnant. And since it would be good to know which, do you think you can go pee on the nice present I bought you?”

She snickered softly, nuzzling her face into the curve of his neck. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

“It’s okay. I get it.”