AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Harrison was five pound six ounces, forty-four centimeters. Charlotte, five pound eight and forty-six centimeters.”
“Look at you,” Georgie cooed. “Beating your brother already. That’s the way, you know. Start now because you’ll have to keep him in line all your life.”
“Listen to her, Charlotte. She knows what she’s about,” Ryan advised.
Georgie chuckled, stroking Charlotte’s face with a gentle finger. “They’re very peaceful,” she observed.
“For now,” Leah said with a laugh. “Apparently that’s normal in the first twenty-four hours. Which is handy for me.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Pretty shit, not gonna lie. I haven’t really moved much. When I stand up, I’m really dizzy and my legs feel funny.” She shrugged and smiled. “But all in all, I’m pretty lucky, so I’m not going to complain too much.” She reached for a bottle of water on her nightstand and unscrewed the cap, taking a sip. “They’re going to keep us in for the full five days, monitoring my iron levels mostly. Then we’re going to stay in the unit at John and Nora’s and get totally fussed over.”
“That sounds grand,” Ryan said.
“Yeah, it sure does. I rang Mum.”
“How’d she take it?” Georgie asked.
“I didn’t tell her the particulars. She knows the arrival is a bit earlier than expected, but she didn’t ask any questions. Cried, laughed. Cried some more. Wants to come up, but that might be hard while we’re in the unit. We were setting up a spare room for her at our place, but I think she won’t want to wait until we’re back there.” She sighed. “I’m not sure what to do.”
“That sucks.” Charlotte started squirming. “What’s she doing?” Georgie couldn’t disguise the edge of panic in her voice.
“How would I know?” Leah asked with a laugh.
“Probably a bit of wind,” Ryan advised, sounding all-knowing to Georgie’s inexperienced ears.
“What should I do?”
“Hold her upside down and give her a squeeze.”
Georgie’s eyes flew to his face, saw his eyes dancing at her and rolled her own. “Har har. Very funny.”
“I thought so,” Ryan agreed with a chuckle. Georgie grinned at him, then her smile faded and she went completely still. He was totally at ease, leaning back in the chair, the baby snuggled comfortably in the crook of his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world. It made Georgie feel…she wasn’t sure what it made her feel, exactly, but it was a lot. She forced herself to look away and inadvertently made eye contact with Leah, who was watching her very closely. She shifted in the chair uncomfortably. The air in the room just started to feel strained when Ryan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked it. “Sorry, I need to take this.”
“No worries, hand little Harry John to me.” Leah held her arms out. Ryan stood up, handing over the baby and striding from the room. Leah waited until the door closed behind him before turning her full attention on Georgie. “Things seem to be going very well between you two.”
“Sure.”
Leah sighed. “God, you don’t give it up easily, do you?”
Georgie shrugged.
“Maybe your visit to Port Douglas will shake things loose.”
“There’s nothing to shake,” Georgie replied, a little more frustration in her tone than she had expected.
“Don’t get defensive. I just want you to be happy.”
Georgie took a deep breath. “I am happy. I am!” She insisted when Leah just continued looking at her, a doubtful expression on her face. “Look at me. How can I not be happy?”
CHAPTER23
Ryan felt a little restless as he guided the sleek, dark blue Audi RS4 convertible along the highway that connected Cairns to Port Douglas. Georgie agreeing to come with him to Queensland had felt significant. He wanted it to be significant. He wanted to push things to the next level with Georgie but couldn’t see a way to move forward. He was hanging in limbo, staying in Blessed Inlet much longer than he had intended when he first booked the cabin. He’d cleared his patient schedule when she had agreed to the surgery, knowing that the best place for her to rehabilitate would be Blessed Inlet. But he still had to manage the day-to-day administration duties, which was becoming increasingly difficult to juggle. Trying to run the clinic from over five hundred miles away was unsustainable. But whenever he thought about heading back to Melbourne long term, his heart lurched. He just couldn’t stand the idea of not seeing Georgie every day. Touching her, kissing her, loving her. His problem was that she just didn’t seem to feel the same way. She was fun, affectionate, passionate. But he could feel her holding back. Feel that there was part of her that she just wouldn’t share with him. Something had to give, and soon. Ryan felt that he needed to know, one way or the other, if there was any future for him and Georgie. He ignored the knot of tension that curled in his belly at the idea that as far as Georgie was concerned, this was a brief fling and not something she wanted on a long-term basis. Biting back a sigh, he lifted Georgie’s hand to his lips again and brushed a kiss to the back. He felt her eyes on him but didn’t turn his head.
They passed through Mossman and up into the hills behind the little town. “Oh, this is gorgeous,” Georgie said as Ryan drove slowly up the steep drive to Sharon and Andrew’s. “You didn’t tell me we would be staying somewhere so fancy.”
Ryan peered through the windscreen as he turned the car off. “I didn’t know we were staying somewhere so fancy. They’ve just moved here.” Sharon and Andrew’s new home was a Balinese style, two story dream with gleaming dark wood, plantation shutters and an iron roof. Towering tropical palm trees formed a lush backdrop for the house. He glanced at Georgie. She had a strange expression on her face. “What is it?”
