by Lia Lee
At the same time, we were similar in a lot of ways. We both thought long term. We didn’t see the point in empty friendships and activities, and we had had similar upbringings.
“We need to talk about where we’re going to live,” Fiona said when we talked about the city and the mountains and how we each preferred something else.
“Yeah,” I said. “I guess I could get a job at a hotel or something. I have experience as a tour guide.”
“Or I could come live here in your cabin.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“I’m an actuary. I can work remotely. You have an internet connection up here, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“I can take care of that with my boss, and we can make it happen, rather than you giving up your job. I don’t mind moving out here. It’s quite peaceful.”
I was floored. I had never imagined she would want to give up her life in the city to come and stay with me. But I had been willing to do the same for her, so I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised. She surprised me every time she spoke about something I didn’t know. I realized I had to stop assuming who she would be because she would prove me wrong every time.
I was starting to think about expanding the cabin, adding another room for the baby and baby proofing a couple of things when I heard a car pull up.
“Who’s that?” Fiona asked.
“It could be one of my colleagues,” I said and stood up. We were dressed, which was rare. I walked to the front door and opened it. Jackson was on his way to the front door from his truck.
“What happened to you?” he asked. “You’re grinning from ear to ear, and I know you’re not that happy to see me.”
I chuckled. “A whole lot has happened.”
“You got a woman with you?” Jackson asked, nodding toward Fiona’s car that was parked next to my truck.
I nodded. “It’s her.”
Jackson knew what I was talking about. I had told him a little about her through the past three weeks, telling him about the sprained ankle and the sex and that I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“Well, now. Good on you,” Jackson clapped me on the shoulder.
“That’s not all,” I said. “She’s pregnant.”
Jackson raised his eyebrows. “You don’t look pissed about that.”
“I’m not,” I said. “With anyone else, it would have been an issue, but this is my woman.”
Jackson grinned. “I’ve never seen you like this so it must be true, you’re in love. Congrats, man.”
I laughed and thanked him.
“Laird?” Fiona asked.
I opened the door wider to let her step onto the porch with me. I introduced her to Jackson, and he waggled his eyebrows at me. I laughed.
“What is it about these twisted ankles we get around these parts,” Jackson said with a chuckle.
Fiona blushed, looking down and God she was hot. I wanted to take her back to the bedroom right now. But I had to behave, Jackson was here. It was my little secret that Fiona was such a siren in bed when she was so quiet and subdued in public. I liked that we shared the secret, that it was something about her only I knew.
“Was there something you needed to tell me?” I asked Jackson.
Jackson shook his head. “I just wanted to know why you canceled on me last night, but I get it now.” He smiled at Fiona.
“Does Charlie need anything?”
Jackson shook his head.
“Okay, I’m glad. I’ll see you tomorrow, Jackson.”
Jackson snorted. “Okay, okay. I can tell when I’m not wanted. I’m not going to beg for a cup of coffee. See you in the morning.”
Jackson walked away and climbed into his truck. When the taillights disappeared between the trees, I turned to Fiona.
“I wouldn’t have minded if you asked him to stay,” she said.
“I would have,” I said. “I want to take you, and he was in the way.”
I pushed her up against the cabin wall and pressed my dick, which was hard again, against her. I would never get enough of her, no matter how many times a day I came. My cock would always harden again. Fiona gasped, and I smiled against her mouth. I breathed in, and I could smell her scent. I knew she was ready for me.
Chapter 15
Fiona
The weekend was like a fairy tale. Everything about it had been perfect right from the moment I’d told Laird I was pregnant until I woke up on Monday morning.
Unfortunately, I had to get back to the real world. I would have loved to stay at the cabin with Laird, but that would happen in due time. I had to go back to the city and head to work. The first item of business was to talk to Charlene, my boss, about working remotely. Explaining to her what was going on in my life would be somewhat embarrassing. But it had to be done. And I felt bad that it was all very short notice – until Friday morning I hadn’t known everything was going to change. I knew Charlene would have preferred a month’s warning, but I didn’t have a month. And I didn’t want a month, either. I wanted to be with Laird as soon as possible. I wanted this nightmare of being alone and scared and unsure of a life I was supposed to understand, to end.
The idea of moving in with Laird was exciting. I looked forward to building a life with him. He was a stranger, but in the three years I had been with Randy, knowing the man inside and out, I had never felt as connected to him as I felt to Laird. I had never felt like I belonged the way I did now.
“I have to go,” I said to Laird after I showered and dressed in the same clothes I had arrived in. I hadn’t planned on staying over the weekend. I hadn’t expected him to ask me to stay. In reality, I had thought he would chase me away before an hour was up.
“When will you be back?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me like he didn’t want to let me go.
“As soon as possible. I’ll have to work out the week, I’m sure. Charlene won’t let me go as soon as tomorrow. But I can be back by the weekend.”
“I’ll try to hold out until then,” Laird said and kissed me. When he broke the kiss, I was smiling. I didn’t want to leave. My body was already heating up again. I was in a constant state of lust with Laird. But I had to go. I kissed him one more time, a quick peck, before tearing myself away from him and walking to my car. I pulled out of the parking spot and drove out the way I had come up to the cabin. When I looked in my rearview mirror, Laird was leaning against the front doorpost, thumbs hooked in his pocket and one foot crossed over the other, watching me. He was as hot as he was amazing. My Viking.
I still couldn’t believe how perfect everything was and how serious Laird was about me. I couldn’t believe that the crazy love I felt for him was returned. This was the most unlikely love story of all, but it was real.
The fairy tale had become real for me. When Randy had dumped me, I had started doubting that happily-ever-afters existed, but I was living one right now.
The drive to the city wasn’t a very long one. I stopped off at my apartment to have a quick shower and throw on fresh clothes. My hair was still wet when I applied my makeup and climbed back into my car. With it being so short and naturally curly, I could let it air dry.
Because I was later than usual, I missed peak rush-hour traffic and made it to the office in no time at all. When I passed Jamie’s office, she called out to me.
“I thought when you were late that you might not come in,” she said. “How did it go?”
“Oh, Jamie,” I said as emotions suddenly welled up inside me. I stepped into her office and closed the door. “It was better than I could ever have expected. He was amazing. We’re together now, and we’re going to make this work.”
Jamie frowned. “You’re together now? That’s a bit sudden, isn’t it?”
“It might be, but we’re having a baby together. That’s a bit sudden, too.”
“I guess so. I guess I’m not sure how well that would work.”
I was irritated. I was telling my friend the good news, that something
in my life was looking up, and instead, she was suggesting it wouldn’t work out.
“What else do you think he should do?” I asked. “He’s doing the right thing, and I happen to like him.”
“I think he should step up to the plate and be the baby’s father ‒ but dating him is a different story. I know you like him, but it’s after you guys had sex once.”
“Twice.”
“Whatever. You can’t build a relationship on sex.”
I shook my head. “You’re right, but it’s not about that. Besides, my relationship with Randy was supposed to be about so much more. I did it all right from the start with him and look how that turned out. Maybe convention is bullshit.”
“I want you to be careful. Having a baby is already a big deal. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine, Jamie,” I said. “Thanks.”
Jamie wanted to say more, but I didn’t want to hear it. The lump that had risen in my throat was gone now. I had been excited to tell my friend that everything had worked out for the better, but she was so negative about it. I wanted her to be happy for me. For the first time in a long time, things were looking up for me.
If she wasn’t going to give me that, I wasn’t interested. I didn’t understand the way she offered support as a friend sometimes. When Randy had broken up with me, her advice and support had also been different than what I would have liked.
But it didn’t matter. I left her office and marched to my own, adamant that I was making the right choice. I was a grown woman, and I was about to have a child. I was doing the best I could and if I had someone on my side, someone who was willing to be there for me and go through this with me, I was going to take it.
Yes, maybe it was a bit fast. Maybe a relationship based on sex didn’t work. But it was about much more than that with Laird.
I arranged to see Charlene at ten, once she was done with her first meeting. I was nervous, waiting in my office for her to call me. I knew she valued me as an employee, but I was about to ask for something big.
When she called me, I walked to her office and knocked on the door, a nervous tightening in my stomach. I was almost as nervous to talk to her about it as I had been to see Laird about the pregnancy.
“Sit down, Fiona,” Charlene said with a smile when I walked into her office and closed the door behind me. I sat down and folded my hands in my lap.
She leaned forward in her chair. “You wanted to see me?”
I nodded and explained to her what was going on, telling her about the baby.
“Well, that’s quite a shock,” Charlene said. “How do you want to go about work? You know we do allow maternity leave.”
I nodded. “I do, but the father lives in the mountains and the commute back and forth for both of us will be unrealistic. I was hoping I could work remotely, coming into the office say once a week or so but working from home, otherwise.”
Charlene raised her eyebrows before she turned her head to the window and thought about it.
“You know I’m not happy about that,” she said. “But I can’t say no to you. Your clients love you, and you have the biggest client base in the company.”
I hadn’t known that, but it felt great to hear, and maybe it would help my case.
“We’ll have to work out the logistics,” Charlene finally said. “And I’m going to put you on a probation of sorts to see if it works. If it doesn’t, I want you back here.”
I nodded. “I can do that. Thank you, Charlene.”
When I left the office, I felt elated. Everything was working out. It was a sign to me that I was on the right path, that I had made the right choices to keep the baby and be with Laird.
I arrived at my desk and started working. The work flowed, and I was in a good mood despite the waves of nausea that came and went.
Soon after lunch, my phone rang with an unknown number. I hesitated. I didn’t like answering unknown calls to my private cell phone. Usually, clients phoned my office line.
After a moment’s hesitation, I answered.
“Is this Fiona?” a gravelly male voice asked.
“It is,” I said. “Who is this?”
“It’s Jackson.”
“Oh, hello,” I said, relaxing now that I knew it wasn’t a total stranger. But why was Jackson phoning me?
“Is everything alright?”
“No, it’s not,” Jackson said. My stomach turned. I had the dreaded feeling that something was wrong. “I’m on the way to the hospital with Laird. He was in an accident.”
My ears started ringing, and my blood ran cold.
“What can I do?” I asked breathlessly.
“Get down here.”
Chapter 16
Laird
There was darkness. Everywhere. It was horrible, tugging me down. I couldn’t get out of it no matter how hard I tried. It drew me under, and I panicked, struggled to breathe. I couldn’t move.
I heard voices. Familiar voices. I had to go the voices if I wanted to get out of here. I knew I had to. I didn’t know where I was, but friends were good. I swam toward the sound.
For a moment, a woman flashed before me. Fiery red hair, green eyes. A smile that meant something, but I didn’t know what. Fiona.
I saw my cabin, and it was familiar and safe. It was home. The rough wooden walls, the fireplace for winter, the open plan kitchen. I wanted to go home. If I could get the fuck out of here, I could go home.
“Laird?” Someone asked. It sounded like Jackson. I wanted to talk, to ask him what the hell was going on, but the darkness dragged me under again.
Black that carried on forever.
When I finally opened my eyes, the ceiling was white. The walls were white, and a horrible smell stung my nose. It smelled liked detergents, a lot of them. An incessant beeping tugged at me, and I turned my head to see a heart monitor. Was that attached to me? My leg was in a cast and when I tried to wiggle my toes a horrible pain shot up into my knee. My head throbbed dully, and when I touched it, I realized it was wrapped in bandage and gauze. It felt thick and heavy, and my brain felt like a sponge.
I looked around the room. I was in the hospital, I realized. The smell and the beeping made sense now.
Someone sat in the armchair in the corner, a woman with red hair. Her eyes were closed, and I wasn’t sure if she was sleeping. I couldn’t see her face properly from where I was in the bed, but I desperately wanted to see her. I wanted her to look at me. I got a flash of bright green eyes.
I cleared my throat, and she turned, opening her eyes. They were green, just as I had thought. But I didn’t know who she was.
“Laird?” she asked. “Oh, my God, you’re awake.”
I frowned. She knew who I was. She wasn’t a nurse or anything, she was a visitor. But I didn’t know her. She stood up and came close to me. Her eyes were red and swollen like she’d been crying. She cared about me, I thought. She had to if she looked this distraught. And she was beautiful. I wished I knew who she was.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
That was a safe question. “My head hurts,” I said. My voice was raspy, and my throat felt like sandpaper when I swallowed. “Can I have water?”
She nodded and handed me a plastic cup with water from the nightstand. I took a sip. She called the doctor, and a moment later, a man in a white coat and two nurses came into the room. I was surrounded by strangers.
I couldn’t breathe, my chest suddenly felt tight. I was freaking out.
“Laird, don’t panic,” the doctor said. “I’m doctor Osmond. You’ve been in an accident. You hit your head very hard, and you broke your leg just below the knee, but you’re going to be alright. I need to do a couple of small tests to make sure you’re okay.”
I nodded, and my head hurt with the movement. What the hell was going on? The doctor’s tone was soothing, but his words made me panic again. An accident? I couldn’t remember anything.
“Can you tell me your name?” the doctor asked w
hile he did his check, shining a little light from one eye to the other, watching my reactions when he clicked his fingers next to my ears.
“Laird Fairchild,” I said.
“And what do you do for a job?”
“I work as a hiking tour guide.”
The doctor nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Can you tell me the date?” he asked.
When I did, the redhead pressed her hand over her mouth, and her eyes welled up again. The doctor frowned slightly.
“That’s not right, is it?” I asked. The nurses moved quietly around me as if they weren’t even there, but I was painfully aware of them.
“No,” Dr. Osmond said quietly. “It’s not.”
When he told me the real date, my blood went cold. I’d heard about shit like memory loss in movies, but no one truly believed that could happen to them. Not until it did.
Dr. Osmond asked me a few more questions before he finally nodded.
“As far as I can tell you have short-term memory loss due to the head trauma you suffered. Your long-term memories seem to be perfectly intact. That’s a good thing.”
“How long will this last?” the redhead asked. She looked so distraught that I wished I could make it better. But I didn’t know why she was so upset.
“It’s hard to say,” Dr. Osmond said to her. “Some people bounce back after a while. Some take years. Some never recover. We also don’t know if his short-term memory has been permanently damaged so that he’ll never remember anything short-term again, or if he only lost a chunk of his memories and everything else is still fine. Only time will tell us that.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she nodded slowly. The information my doctor was handing out should have scared the shit out of me, but I was numb. Numb and tired. It was like we were talking about something completely different, about someone else.
“Thank you, doctor,” she said. Then Dr. Osmond instructed a nurse to hand me a few pills and he checked my IV bag himself.
“Before you go,” I said, and Dr. Osmond looked at me, eager to answer anything I was going to ask. “What happened?”
He glanced at the redhead who nodded. Why was she calling the shots about what I could and couldn’t hear? Who was she?
