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“I understand. But I want to go home. Call it pregnancy jitters, whatever you want, but I need to be in Whitefish. My mother asked us all to come home for Christmas and I’m so afraid something is wrong. Unless this baby comes right now, I’m going.”
With a sigh, he realized he couldn’t stop her. If she decided to leave, then all he could do was go with her or watch her drive away. And that was not going to happen.
Soon he needed to tell her about Sandy and Charlotte. Soon she needed to understand why he felt this way.
CHAPTER14
The next morning, Amelia woke hoping the storm had stopped and the skies would be clear. But no, this was the third day of blowing snow. Sometimes you couldn’t see anything but white and other times it barely fell, but regardless it was still snowing. Nothing but snow and she was starting to feel really anxious.
The highway department would not reopen the highway until the forecast was favorable and the snowcats moved the white stuff off the road. Until that happened, she was not going anywhere.
Crawling back into bed, she stared at Ryan sleeping soundly.
Her bladder had her getting up a lot, and each time she crawled back in bed, she’d feared waking him. This was not how she’d pictured having her first child. She’d dreamed of a wedding and then her and the father watching her belly grow with their child. Instead, no wedding and she’d been alone for nine months.
Now she’d found Ryan, and as much as she adored him, she was scared. Scared of him not being the right man to marry. Scared of him walking away from her and the baby. Scared of him breaking her heart a second time.
And yet, he wasn’t running. In fact, he’d embraced her and this child wholeheartedly.
Staring at him, she knew that her heart was becoming involved. Once the cruise was over, she realized she’d made a huge mistake not leaving him her number, and then when she learned she was pregnant, she’d done everything she could to find him.
Damn, the man was so handsome. On the ship, he’d been so tanned and bronzed from the sun. Tonight, he looked scruffy in his sleep, and yet she felt even more attracted to him. She hoped the baby had some of his features.
All through high school, college, and even law school, she’d dated men, but never found anyone she wanted to marry. Never found anyone she felt a connection to that said he was her forever man. She’d lost her virginity in college, but she’d only slept with three men in her life, and that included Ryan.
Why with this man did she feel this need to settle down? Was it because she was pregnant? No, she’d felt that way the night she met him, the night they’d spent together on the cruise.
Even then, she’d been afraid that she’d found her forever man, and yet she’d run out of his suite and not left her number or her name. And regretted it almost immediately.
Sighing, she rolled to her side. She couldn’t get comfortable. No matter how she turned, it seemed that her bones were tired of being in this bed. Tired of being pregnant. Tired of carrying around all this extra weight.
Gazing at Ryan one last time, she wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know his favorite foods, his views on politics, his family history. But more than anything, she didn’t want to lose him again.
Was she falling in love with him?
Suddenly, the baby kicked her hard, right up in the ribs and she gasped.
He jumped. “What’s wrong? Are you in labor?”
She could see the worry on his face and warmth filled her. There was no doubt in her mind that he wanted to take good care of her and this child, but she felt this urgent need to get home to her family.
“Sorry, the baby kicked me in the ribs,” she said. “She’s really active this morning.”
A smile spread across his face and his hand reached over and rubbed her stomach. “I can tell she’s going to be a little troublemaker. Are you going to be as stubborn as your mother?”
How quickly he’d picked up on the fact that she was persistent. Even her twin had told her she was the most stubborn person she’d ever encountered. And she hoped their little girl was determined because it would take her far in life.
“I hope so,” she said, gazing at him. “But I would love it if she had your big emerald eyes and your long eyelashes. That way she can bat them at the boys and tell them to leave her alone.”
Ryan snuggled up against her and the baby. “As long as she has your blonde hair and your intelligence.”
“You think I’m smart?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “I watched you all week on that cruise as you sized people up and made a decision about them.”
“That’s what makes me a good lawyer,” she said. “Plus, I like to figure out why people do the things they do.”
“Why haven’t you started your own practice?”
