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“Oh, heisn’t—”
“Of course I’ll stay,” Josh said, interrupting me. He walked over and took hold of my hand, smiling down at me. I looked at our joined hands and then up at him, my eyes wide withsurprise.
“Just some gel, might be a little cold,” she said as she squirted a blob on my stomach, using the ultrasound probe to spread it around. A few seconds later, the whooshing sound I’d heard at the first scan filled the small cubicle, and I breathed a sigh of relief, dropping my head back on the pillow. “Nice and strong,” sheconfirmed.
I looked over at Josh, his eyes wide as he looked at me. “Is that…the heartbeat?” he askedquietly.
“It is,” answered Dr. Whitehouse. “And here is your baby,” she told him, turning the machine around so we could see the screen. “Everything looks fine, but you need to take better care of yourself. You should be getting plenty of rest, keeping hydrated, and eating little and often if you are feeling nauseous.” She turned to Josh. “Dad, you need to make sure she does all of these things.” I saw Josh nod his head, his eyes never leaving the screen. My face flushed with embarrassment. I could see why Dr. Whitehouse had assumed Josh was the baby’s father, but what I couldn’t understand was why he hadn’t corrected her. “Are you under any stress at home Savannah?” sheasked.
“A little. My dad isn’t happy about the pregnancy, so things are a littlestrained.”
“As hard as that is, you need to try to stay away from stressful situations. Stress can be harmful to both you and the baby.” She smiled sympathetically at me. “As for now, everything looks great, so you’re free to go. Keep taking your prenatal vitamins, and I’m assuming you have your next obstetric appointment set up?” I nodded. “Good, well I’ll leave you to get dressed. Take care of her,” she directed atJosh.
“I will,” he replied, squeezing myhand.
“Thank you, Dr. Whitehouse,” I said as she left thecubicle.
“Come on, let’s get you home.” He let go of my hand and passed me some tissue to wipe the gel off my stomach. My right hand was pretty heavily bandaged and I struggled to wipe off all the gel with my left. I looked up to see Josh watching me, and I saw his jaw tick before he took a deep breath. “Here, let me help you.” He took the tissue off me and gently wiped my lower stomach, my black panties visible with my shorts undone. His fingers accidently brushed over my skin and I shivered where he’d touched me. He must have noticed my reaction as he pulled away sharply and took a stepback.
“Thank you,” I mumbled as I grappled with the button on my jeans, managing to fasten it one-handed. As I stood up, my body swayed as another wave of dizziness hit me. My hand reached out for the bed but before I could reach it, I felt a strong arm around mywaist.
“You need to eat. I’m taking you to lunch,” Josh stated, ushering me out of the cubicle and toward theexit.
I wasn’t going to argue—what was the point? He was right, I needed to eat, and my stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, as if agreeing with him. I heard him chuckle as we made our way across the parking lot to histruck.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked, opening the passenger door and helping meinside.
“I’d love a burger, can we go to Bill’s?” Bill’s Burgers was a restaurant on Main Street, and they did the best chilicheeseburger.
“Craving a chili cheeseburger?” he asked, flashing me a killer smile before walking around and jumping into the driver’sseat.
“How did you know?” I asked him insurprise.
“We’ve been there many times, and that’s what you always order.” He laughed. “You always rave about how good the chili is. Maybe I’ll try one if they’re as good as yousay.”
“I didn’t know you noticed what Iordered.”
“Well I do. You’re hard not to notice.” He looked across the cab at me, holding my gaze for a fraction longer than comfortable. “Let’s go, all this talk of food is making mehungry.”
Starting the truck, he pulled out of the parking lot. I turned my head toward the window, lost in thought as the buildings flashed past. What was all that? I was ‘hard not to notice’? What did that even mean? I knew he wasn’t interested—why would he be? I was a single mom at 21, hardly acatch.
Arriving at Bill’s Burgers, I realized I didn’t have my purse. I looked down at my clothes—I was a mess. I was wearing old tatty clothes, which was bad enough, but now they were also covered in blood. I couldn’t go eat in a restaurant looking like that. Looking over at Josh, I saw he too had blood on his shirt from when he carried me to histruck.
“Josh, we can’t go in there looking like this.” I gestured to my clothes with my good hand. “I’m covered in blood, and so are you. Maybe we should just head home. I don’t even have my purse topay.”
“I’m not taking you home without feeding you. I’ll run in and order it to-go. We can eat it at Lakeside Park, and I’m paying.” He jumped out of the car before I couldargue.
I shook my head. Other than the day before, we hadn’t spent much time together just the two of us. We were normally out in a group, and it was only now that I was realizing how bossy he could be. I had to admit, though, I actually liked it. I couldn’t figure out what was going on with him, and right then I didn’t have the energy to try to understand it. His behavior was confusing, and he seemed to be blowing hot and cold. I just hoped he wasn’t playing games that would leave me hurt down theline.
My chili cheeseburger was incredible.We sat on a picnic bench in Lakeside Park, overlooking the Colorado River. It had been ages since I’d been there, and I’d forgotten how beautiful it was. It was fairly busy for a Friday afternoon. There were young children playing in the wide-open spaces, and picnic blankets were dotted around with families enjoying the unusually warmweather.
“Thanks for lunch Josh. It’s the second time in a week you’ve fed me,” I told him, finishing off the last of myburger.
“Did you enjoy that Savannah?” Josh asked, a smirk on hisface.
I nodded, licking my fingers. “That burger is the best!” Iexclaimed.
“I can tell, you’ve got a little…” He stood up and reached over the table, his thumb brushing against the corner of my mouth, his eyes never leaving mine. My breathing accelerated and my heart raced. He held up his thumb and my eyes flicked to it. “Chili,” he whispered as he sat backdown.
