AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tha…Thank you,” I stuttered, shaking my head. How could he turn me into a stammering mess with one brush of his finger? What was he doing? He knew how I felt about him. “What’s going on Josh?” I asked quietly, my eyes on the picnictable.
“What do youmean?”
“Why didn’t you correct the doctor when she thought you were the father? I tried, but you stopped me.” I picked at the label on my bottle of water while I waited for his response, nerves bubbling in my stomach. I heard him sigh deeply and I lifted my eyes from thetable.
“I don’t know, I…I just thought you wouldn’t want to explain why the father wasn’t there. I’m sorry if I did the wrongthing.”
For a minute, I thought he was going to say something else. The past couple of days, things had seemed different between us, and there was even a point the day before where, if my phone hadn’t interrupted us, I thought he was going to kiss me—yet there I was again, hoping for something that was never going to happen. Something had definitely changed between us, but I had no idea what, and he seemed reluctant to acknowledgeit.
“You didn’t do the wrong thing,” I told him with a sigh. “Do you think you could take me home please? My hand is killingme.”
“Savannah?” He reached across the table for my hand, but I quickly moved it out of hisreach.
“Don’t Josh, please,” I whispered, willing the tears that were welling in my eyes not to fall. I was sick of crying. I’d rarely cried before getting pregnant, but lately, it seemed to be all I was doing. “Thank you for being there for me today, and for all your help yesterday, but I’d really like to go home now.” I watched him as he closed hiseyes.
“Okay, if that’s what youwant.”
“It is.” I stood up and walked away from him, the tears now freely falling down my face. I needed to stop hoping things could be different between us, but he was making ithard.
The short journey back to the ranch was unbearable. As much as I was in love with him, I couldn’t wait to have some space between us. As we pulled up outside the house, I saw my mom and dad running toward Josh’s truck. I opened the door and steppedout.
“Savannah, are you okay? I saw all the blood in the cottage and the broken window. We’ve been calling you but you didn’t answer—what happened?” My mom rushed out as she made her way toward me. “Your hand!” she exclaimed, pulling me into ahug.
“Mom, I’m fine,” I assured her. “The window broke while I was cleaning it, and Josh found me and took me to the hospital. I just needed a few stitches. I’m okay, really.” I glanced over my mom’s shoulder to see my dad, his face etched withworry.
“And the baby?” she asked, releasing me and stepping out of the hug. “The baby’sokay?”
“The baby’sfine.”
“Tell them Savannah,” I heard Josh say as he rounded the truck and stood next tome.
“Tell us what?” my dad asked—it was the most he had spoken to me in a week. I turned and glared atJosh.
“It’s nothing, really. Everything is fine,” Iinsisted.
“Savannah,” my momwarned.
“Urghh! My blood pressure was a little low, and I’ve been kind of dizzy, but I’m fine and so is thebaby.”
“The doctor asked if she was under any stress at home.” I saw Josh raise his eyebrows at my dad. “We told her how things have been, and she said to avoid any stressful situations as it can be harmful to both Savannah and the baby,” Josh said, not taking his eyes off my dad. He took a step closer to me, our shoulders practicallytouching.
“Josh!” I exclaimed, stepping away fromhim.
“No Savannah, Josh is right,” my dad said with a sigh. “I’ve been so caught up in how I feel that I haven’t even considered how much I’m upsetting you.” I watched as he slipped his arm around my mom’s waist and pulled her close. “When your mom called me and said she couldn’t find you, said she’d found blood in the cottage…” He trailed off. “I’ve never been so worried. You being pregnant at 21 isn’t something I’m happy about, but I love you, and I don’t want to lose you. I’m so sorry I’ve acted like an idiot.” Tears rolled down my cheeks as I flung myself at him, his arms wrapping tightly around me. “If anything had happened to you, or the baby, because of me…” He trailed offagain.
I pulled out of his embrace and looked up at him. “Dad I’m fine, I promise. I understand why you reacted like you did, I reallydo.”
“Doesn’t make it right, sweetheart.” He shook his head and dropped his eyes to thefloor.
“I’m going to need you—I’m going to need you both, if today is anything to go by. I can’t even clean a window without ending up in the emergency room, God knows how I’ll manage to take care of a baby on myown.”
“You’re going to make a great mom, and you won’t be on your own,” Josh said from behind me. I glanced at my mom, who was giving me a funny look, and I shook my head at her, hoping she wouldn’t ask anyquestions.
My dad walked up to Josh and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thank you for looking after her today. It’s appreciatedson.”
“Any time Ryan. She means a lot to me.” He fixed his gaze on mine, his lips rising into a small smile. I gave him a sad smile back and turned away, linking my arm with my mom’s as we started up the path to thehouse.
“Claire tells me you’re helping Savannah with the old cottage?” I heard my dad ask Josh behind me. “Although I’m hoping she’ll want to stay at home now that we’ve worked things out.” I quickly spun around to face them, realizing Josh must be heading into the house with us as he was following me up thepath.
