by Tina Beckett
He glanced at Adem and then at Madelaine. “Are you Carly’s mother?”
“I am.”
He frowned slightly. “I thought Dane was doing her neurological workup.”
“He is. I’m here as a friend of the family.” He didn’t know what else to say, and the slight tightening of Madelaine’s mouth said she wasn’t sure she liked the title he’d given himself. But it was too late now.
“Well, we did the ultrasound, and there is definitely a gestational sac there. We’re hoping the trauma from the seat belt hasn’t shaken things up too much and that the baby stays put. I take it she wants to continue with the pregnancy?”
“Yes.” Madelaine said the word before he could get it out, and a good thing because Raphael might start wondering how Adem—a “friend of the family”—would know that Carly wanted her pregnancy to continue.
“Okay, good. Mr. Hampton would like her admitted for observation until tomorrow. Then she needs about a week off to make sure there are no ill effects from the concussion. Are you okay with that? Can Carly come and stay with you for a couple of days?”
That thought suddenly didn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t sure why, other than he wanted Carly home with him. Where he could keep an eye on her and the baby.
“Yes, of course.”
“Great. As soon as we get her settled in a room, you can both go in and see her.”
“Thank you.”
Left alone once again, Madelaine smiled at him. “She said you’re a very nice man, and I believe that.”
Did she? Well, Adem wasn’t too sure of that right now. “Thanks. She’s a wonderful woman.”
“Yes, she is. I don’t know how all of this came about, but she believes you want what’s best for the baby.”
“I do, without a doubt.”
“That’s good to know. Do you also want what’s best for Carly? Someone once walked out on her at a very difficult time in her life. I don’t want to see her hurt like that again.”
By the fiancé she’d told him about? He thought he wanted what was best for all of them. But did he really? Or was he more concerned with his own comfort and trying to change his life as little as possible?
If that was true, then he would not be as good a man as Carly believed. But he had no idea how he should view her. As someone he’d shared a few passionate hours with? Or something more?
Damn. He didn’t know. All he knew was that she had somehow got under his skin in a way that no one else had. And it worried him. Made him wonder if all of his plans for his life were about to implode in his face. All of those lectures to himself about not becoming like his dad...
Madelaine was still waiting for an answer to her question. “I’d like to think I want what’s best for her. I care about her.”
That much was true. Would always be true.
She studied his face for several long seconds before saying, “That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you.” She then came over and gave him a quick hug, which made him wince.
She probably shouldn’t thank him quite yet. He was still very capable of doing something that would hurt Carly, even unintentionally. But he was starting to think more and more that maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss the idea of marriage. Instead, he’d given a knee-jerk response that he might come to regret.
A nurse came over. “You can see Carly now. It looks like she might have quite a shiner by morning.”
She was going to have a black eye? His chest tightened as he thought of how lucky she was that that was all she would have. She could have been killed. Or received a traumatic injury from which she might never recover.
She could still lose the baby.
No. He was not going to think along those lines. Especially knowing what he did about the removal of her ovary and the possibility that she might not be able to get pregnant again, if something happened to the second one.
“I’ll let you go in first,” he said to Madelaine.
“I think we should both go in. So that she knows we’ve met and that we’re not at each other’s throats.”
“Did you think we would be?”
“I didn’t.” She laughed. “But Carly gave me a stiff warning, telling me to be nice.”
Madelaine had the air of someone who was almost always nice. But he’d bet like any parent she could come down hard on someone who brought harm to their child. Wasn’t that why she’d asked him if he had Carly’s best interests at heart?
Of course it was. It was probably not so much a question as a reminder.
“Well, she’ll be happy to know that you’ve been a lot nicer than you should have been.”
She smiled again, and he found more hints of her daughter in her facial expressions. “I don’t think I have. Carly seems happy about what’s happened, and that’s enough for me. She respects you a lot. Even before any of this happened. She said you were doing good work in the community. And she was very excited about the ultrasound machines.”
She’d talked to her mum about him? No two families could have been more different. He very rarely shared any information about his work life with his folks. Nor did they ask. His dad didn’t, anyway, other than to ask if he was doing okay for himself.
“I’m happy about those machines as well. I think it’ll make the clinic even more self-sufficient.”
“Carly thinks so too.” She motioned toward the hallway. “Shall we go see her?”
* * *
Carly looked past her aching head to see her mother and Adem coming into the room.
“Hi.” She was a little nervous that they were here together. This wasn’t quite the way she’d envisioned doing these introductions. Especially since her brain seemed a little sluggish right now.
Her mom came over and kissed her cheek. “We were both worried.”
“I was a little worried myself.” Her voice seemed to come from a distance as she tried to focus.
Adem hadn’t said anything yet, and she licked her lips. They hadn’t been able to tell her with any certainty that the pregnancy would remain viable. And if she miscarried?
Well, he would have no reason to stick around. No reason to go on boating trips or sit in the park with her. And she found that bothered her. Very, very much. She just wasn’t sure why, although her head was busy trying to work something out.
There was no way to know how he would react, unless it happened. And God, she did not want to lose this baby. Not after everything that had happened.
Derya Ann, please still be in there.
She was going to be devastated if she lost it to something so very stupid like a car accident. If she’d just looked a third time before starting across that intersection...
“The other driver. Was he hurt?”
Her mother made a scoffing sound. “Not a bit. It doesn’t seem fair, does it? He was drunk and ran a red light, and then gets to walk away without a scratch.”
“I’m glad he’s okay.”
Her mom gripped her hand. “So, the doctor says you have a concussion, but that you should be fine.”
“I know. He came in and talked to me. I’m surprised my hard head couldn’t take a little tap like that.”
“It was more than a little tap, sweetheart. Your car is totaled.”
Adem still hadn’t said anything, and she was getting even more nervous. Maybe it was because her mom was here. She could be a little intimidating when she wanted to. That came part and parcel with being a single mom and having to make all the decisions herself. Some of that had rubbed off on Carly as well.
Had she said something to Adem that he hadn’t liked?
She’d warned her to be nice to him. And honestly, Adem wasn’t a hothouse flower. He was very capable of standing up for himself.
She couldn’t stand it any longer. She was going to make him say something. “Adem, when
did you get here?”
He slowly walked toward the bed. “You hung up on me after saying you’d been in an accident, so I had no idea where you were. The only thing I could think of doing was coming here.”
There was something strained in his voice. A tiny thread of what she’d heard on the night when his patient had taken a turn for the worse. He was worried.
About the baby?
Well, she’d been worried too.
But it wasn’t just that. What she saw in his face was different.
“Hey. I’m okay.” The urge to hold her hand out for him to take swept over her, but with her mom standing right there, she didn’t think he would appreciate it.
As if reading her mind, her mom leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll let you guys talk for a few minutes while I see if I can find some decent coffee in this place.”
Carly smiled. “I’m glad you came.”
“You’re my world, sweetheart. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
“I know.” Her mom loved her more than she could possibly deserve. She would do anything for them.
“I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”
She guessed that was her mom’s way of warning her to do whatever talking they had to do in that time frame. Or maybe she was worried about coming in and finding them kissing. Or worse.
Not much chance of that with the way she was feeling. Her head really did hurt.
But probably not as bad as Naomi’s had.
Her mom was out the door and Carly turned her attention back to Adem, trying to find a smile. “I never did get to try that Turkish coffee you promised me.”
He didn’t say anything nor did he smile, and as the seconds stretched toward minutes, she began to worry.
“You didn’t tell me where you were.” Those were the first real words out of his mouth.
“I’m sorry, Adem. I was confused. I’d been thinking about other things on the drive home and was on autopilot. It was late, and I was already sleepy, so I think that combined with the accident just knocked me for a loop.”
He did what she’d wanted to do: threaded his fingers through hers. “Are you really okay?”
“I am. I just want the baby to be okay as well. If something happens to her...”
This time he did smile, and it lit up her world. “So you’re doing it as well.”
“Doing what as well?”
“Thinking of the baby as a she.”
She giggled, then put a hand to her head. “Ugh. Laughing hurts. But yes. I’m already thinking of her as Derya Ann. We really do need to come up with a boy’s name at some point, just so they both have equal time.”
“We could always change Derya to Derrin, if the baby turns out to be a boy.”
“I don’t like Derrin. At all.”
He squeezed her hand. “Okay. No Derrin. Dexter?”
“No.”
“Let’s talk about that later.” He went and grabbed a chair that was folded against the wall and pulled it up to the bed. “You were on a call?”
She stiffened. “Yes. It’s my job.”
“I wasn’t criticizing you. I know how much your patients mean to you. I just want to make sure that you call those in so they can get added to the log. What if you’d been knocked unconscious and hadn’t been able to call anyone? It would help me know where to look.”
It would help him know where to look?
That simple sentence struck a chord in her. He really had been worried. About her, and not just the baby.
“Yes, Mr. Administrator, I logged the call. I also called Emergency Services, so they also knew where to look. And my car is even equipped with that nifty little voice response system that I can use to call for help and has a tracker on it. It wasn’t very likely that I would have lain in the middle of the street for very long. Someone would have come across the accident and called it in.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that.” He paused. “I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Your mother asked if I had your best interests at heart.”
She licked her lips. “She’s my mom, she has to ask questions like that.”
“Well, she’s right. If you ever feel I don’t, I would like you to tell me.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to do that. No one knows my best interests but me. I’m like my mom that way. I’ve learned to look out for myself and tend to value my independence. So even if you think you know...maybe you don’t... Or wait.” She shook her head. “Ask me that again when my head doesn’t feel like it’s been stuffed with cotton.”
“Sorry. You’re right. We’ll save that for later. How about this? Mr. Hampton thinks you should stay at someone’s house for a week. He was looking at your mum when he said it, but what do you think about...coming home with me?”
“What? No, that would be a terrible idea.”
He let go of her hand, and she realized her head injury really was affecting her. “I mean, it would be terrible because we’ve seen what happens when I come to your apartment. ‘Tours’ tend to happen. Tours that result in...” She rubbed her hand on her belly, wincing when she hit a sore spot.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm...yes, it’s just where the seat belt caught me.” She swallowed, remembering something. “I should have put it lower on my abdomen, but I was tired and wanted to get home. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Okay, so no coming to live with me...unless...” He hesitated. “Would you live with me if we were married?”
“But we’re not.”
He leaned forward, eyes fastened to hers. “Carly, we could be.”
There was a strange intensity in his voice that pulled at something deep inside of her. A kernel of longing that horrified her. He didn’t love her. This was about the baby. Nothing more. Nothing less. Like she’d told him a few minutes ago, no one knew her best interests but her. And after her broken engagement, she’d become an expert at self-preservation. And that warning light had just switched itself on.
She swallowed. “No. We couldn’t.”
“We get along well, we work well together.” He attempted a smile. “We agree on a girl’s name.”
Could he hear himself right now? He sounded like what he’d said about his parents...about their reasons for getting married. That it had been for every reason except the right one: love.
There was no way. She wanted no part of that. Despite her achy head, it was the one thing she knew.
So she said very, very clearly, “No, Adem. I do not want to marry you. Not now. Not ever.”
Carly’s chest suddenly felt crammed full of the coils he’d put in Naomi’s head, and they were slowly cutting off the blood supply to her heart. She was never marrying anyone for reasons other than love. And not just any love. It had to be the kind that flowed in both directions. It was the only way to remain viable, just like the baby nestled in her womb needed a two-way exchange of nutrients. One without the other... Well, that never ended well. She couldn’t live without that.
Not even for Adem.
Her mom swept into the room just as he opened his mouth to say something more. Carly was glad. Glad she wasn’t going to have to listen to him present her with yet another argument. One that might sound logical to everyone except for her. Besides, it wouldn’t matter. Nothing was going to change her mind.
Nothing.
She smiled as her mom talked about what her orchestra would be playing at the next concert a few weeks from now and how she’d love for Adem to come and hear them. But Carly didn’t care about concerts. Or anything else. What she did care about was the bleak look that had suddenly appeared in Adem’s eyes. A look she didn’t understand, but that filled her with foreboding.
He should be rejoicing that he’d dodged that particular bullet yet again, but he
didn’t look that way. He looked almost...lost.
No, that wasn’t right. It had to be her concussion interfering with her thoughts again. The man didn’t love her. He’d told her once that he didn’t even believe love existed, or something to that effect. So what had brought that offer on?
His brother and his wife? His parents?
No, she had a feeling it was because he wanted to keep an eye on her...make sure nothing else happened that would possibly endanger his baby.
No. Not his baby. Their baby.
She had to make sure she kept emphasizing that point, so he didn’t start thinking he could make decisions she disagreed with. Like marrying him.
Although he’d suggested, not insisted.
Was there a difference?
She was pretty sure there was.
But she couldn’t ask him, because he was getting up, smiling a smile that looked as fake as all get-out. “I have an appointment this morning that I need to go to. But I’ll check in on you later. Call me if you need me.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t going to call him for anything. But she wouldn’t say that in front of her mom, who would read way more into the words than she should. “See you later. Thanks for checking on me.”
“Not a problem.”
Except she felt like it was. Only she had no idea what that problem was. Or why. But now wasn’t the time to ask him. She could do that later, when he did come to check on her.
Except Adem didn’t come later. Nor did he call to see how she was doing. She chalked it up to his being busy and went home the next day with her mom, just like they’d planned. There would be plenty of time to talk later. They could then hammer out what they’d talked about, even if last night was kind of a blur. One thing she did remember, though, was that Adem had asked her to marry him. And she’d been fixated on two-way flows and why marriage between them could never work, because that love would only flow in one direction. From her. To him.
Her mind seized, grabbing that thought and tearing it apart until a stunning realization overtook her.
She loved the man. Had probably loved him from the time she’d asked him to leave the restaurant with her. She just hadn’t recognized it for what it was.
