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“I’m just feeling a little empty inside,” she lied. “It’s nothing serious.”
“What can I get you? Some juice? I saw a machine in the hall.”
“That sounds good.”
“Let’s go.”
After having been on her own for over half a year, she had to admit it felt wonderful to be taken care of again. No one was more solicitous of her needs than Cord. He’d been a giver from the first moment she’d met him. That quality in him hadn’t changed.
Within a couple of minutes he’d whisked her to their room a few doors down the hall and had forced her to sit down at the side of the bed, guarding her to make sure she drank every drop of the canned orange juice.
Though she hadn’t needed a drink, it tasted delicious. While she emptied the can, he put the bag in the closet, then lifted her suitcase onto his bed and started emptying it.
Ridiculous as it seemed, though she’d been married to him for six years, she felt shy and a little embarrassed as he unpacked her things, particularly her nightgowns and underwear.
“What are these?” He held several vials of pills in his hand.
“Prenatal vitamins and calcium tablets.”
He put them on the top of the dresser. “How often do you take them?”
“The vitamins once a day. The calcium, twice.”
Any normal man who’d just found out he was going to be a father would show some curiosity. But this was Cord who’d been told by specialists that he would probably never be able to father a child.
Yet the mir
acle had happened. He was about to become a new dad. She could see the excitement in his eyes every time they rested on her. More, she could feel it in the huskiness of his deep voice. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her.
This was his baby she was carrying. His natural curiosity had been magnified a dozen times by the wondrous news. Ashley had to resign herself to the fact that he’d already taken over his role as prospective father with a seriousness that bordered on overprotectiveness.
In her heart she couldn’t blame him. Right now she didn’t think that even Sheila could wield enough power to win him away from Ashley’s side, no matter the urgency. Once she’d delivered, it would be a different story. In the meantime, it was evident Cord would be preoccupied with thoughts of the son or daughter almost ready to be born.
If Sheila already hated Ashley now, how much more would that emotion escalate when she found out Ashley was carrying Cord’s baby?
Instead of his stepmother somehow finding out first and running to Cord with the information—no doubt twisting it in some strange way to make Ashley look bad in his eyes, Ashley derived a certain satisfaction in knowing that Cord would have to inform Sheila he was about to be a new father. That would definitely come as a shock!
She bit her lip. How long would Cord wait before he excused himself to use the clinic phone and make that important call?
Following the thought, she wondered how much the baby would put a crimp in his future plans with Sheila, whatever they were.
If Cord married her, that would mean she’d be the other woman in their child’s life. Ashley couldn’t fathom such an untenable possibility.
“Come on, Ashley. You’re still looking wan. Let’s get you to the dining room for some solid food.”
“I’m really not hungry, but I’m sure you are. Why don’t you go without me? I ate something before I came and the juice filled me up. Besides, my back is aching a little, and I would like to lie down till the psychologist arrives.”
He pondered her remarks with a single-minded intensity reminiscent of the old Cord she’d first met and fallen in love with. “Then let me help you relax.”
Faster than she could think to lift her legs from the floor, he leaned down and gathered her in his arms to help her stretch out properly on top of the bed.
His gentle solicitation, the close proximity of their bodies produced a bittersweet ache. She turned her head toward the wall, afraid to look at him. “It’s a little cool in here for you, I think.” In the next instant he’d found a light blanket to cover her.
“Th-thank you,” she whispered. The words came out haltingly because as he tucked it around her, his hands seemed to have a mind of their own. She squeezed her eyelids tightly together as she felt him shape his palms to the large mound containing their baby and begin a slow exploration.
You don’t have the right, Cord! Not when you’ve been intimate with Sheila, her heart sobbed in silence.
But Ashley felt powerless to stop him.
