Unexpected Complication (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Knupp, Amy

  “I know.” His voice cracked, and then she heard him take a slow breath. “As soon as he’s settled, I have to run to a meeting. Did you say you’re going to talk to Monica now?”

  “I’m walking in as we speak. Want to talk to her yourself?”

  “No. Just tell her to hold down the fort and I’m going to follow up with that guy who called yesterday, then run back here for a bit.”

  “Slow down, Dev. You know she’ll handle everything here. Just do what you need to. Try not to worry about your grandpa.”

  “Lucky for me, I won’t have time to worry,” he said, attempting a lightness Carey knew he didn’t feel.

  She hoped to hell the old man’s ticker held out. Devin would be devastated if it didn’t.

  CAREY TOOK her sweet time walking into the fancy restaurant to meet her mom for Sunday brunch. Her mom’s reaction last week had been far too understanding and easy. Surely she wanted to meet Carey to tell her how she really felt. Quite frankly, Carey didn’t care if her mother wasn’t happy about her situation. There was nothing she could do to change it.

  When she peeked around a large bank of greenery near the hostess to see if her mother had arrived yet, she saw her waving from the back corner. Appearing friendly and enthusiastic. Not like someone who was about to read her the riot act. Strange, indeed.

  “Sweetie, I’m so glad to see you,” her mom said, standing and brushing crumbs off her classy beige jacket before grasping Carey’s hands. Genuine warmth radiated from her eyes.

  Carey forced a smile. “Hi, Mom.”

  “You look so good. A lot of women get sickly looking when they’re expecting, but not you. You’re glowing, honey.”

  Oh, God. Glowing? She wasn’t sure what to say.

  Carey sat down uneasily. She could count on one hand the times they’d eaten together, just the two of them, in a restaurant. There was a reason for that. They had nothing in common.

  “How’s the new guy?” she asked, awkwardly.

  “He’s perfect,” her mom gushed, leaning forward.

  Carey noticed that her mother was wearing opal earrings and a necklace she’d never seen before and wondered if they were a gift from this perfect man.

  “I’d love to have you and Trent meet him.” She rattled off a date two weeks away. “Why don’t you two come for dinner? We’ll be out of town next weekend or I’d invite you then.”

  “I’ll check with Trent and let you know. Where are you going?”

  “There’s a bed-and-breakfast out in the country. We’re going for a romantic weekend.” A blush colored her mom’s cheeks.

  “Sounds…nice.” Carey didn’t want any more details.

  They went through the buffet line and returned to their table with heaping plates. Their conversation was a lot easier than Carey had imagined, as her mom asked dozens of questions about the pregnancy. She also shared bits of her own two pregnancies and labors when Carey asked. Carey was more than a little interested in hearing her mother’s experiences and even asking her for advice. First time for everything.

  After their plates were emptied and cleared away, her mom pushed a gift bag across the table toward her.

  “What’s this?” Carey asked, eyeing her nervously.

  “A pregnancy gift, of course.” Her mom’s grin widened and she motioned for Carey to open it.

  Carey was taken aback and confused. She tried to hide by digging into the layers of pink and blue tissue paper. She pulled out something book-shaped and hard. “You didn’t have to get me anything, Mom.”

  “Of course I did! My first grandbaby is on the way. This is special.”

  Their eyes met and for just an instant, an understanding passed between them, a common bond.

  Unwrapping the object, Carey wondered if her mom had taken to smoking crack for breakfast. Carey knew how to handle it when her mother blew her off, but this…?

  “A journal of my pregnancy,” Carey read. The artwork of stars and the moon cradling a small bundle of baby tugged at Carey’s emotions, and tears sprang to her eyes. She glanced up and caught the strangest expression on her mother’s face—something akin to pride. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Her mom pulled a smaller journal from her purse. She held it across the table, her hand shaking just a bit. “I kept this diary while I was pregnant with you. I don’t know if it’ll interest you, but you’re welcome to take it and read through it.”

  “Really? You kept a diary when you were expecting me?”

  “It was one of the two most important times in my life, Carey. I wanted to remember every bit of it forever.”

  Touched more than she wanted to admit, Carey flipped her mom’s journal open and read an entry about how exciting it was to feel the baby moving.

  This was the single most thoughtful thing her mother had ever done for her. “Thank you. I’ll read every page. And I’ll do my best to record everything in my own journal. What a great idea.”

  “Carrying a baby is such an important job—and a privilege. Enjoy this time, Carey, even though I know the circumstances weren’t your first choice.”

  Carey merely nodded, mostly because her throat was swelling shut with emotion.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A WEEK LATER, Devin heaved himself onto the kitchen counter of the studio apartment Carey was considering renting. He felt better than he had all week. Gramps had finally been released the day before, and Devin had taken him home and spent the night there, despite the old man’s fussing about not needing a babysitter. Things were looking up for both him and his grandpa.

  Not so for Carey, judging by his surroundings. From his vantage point, he could easily see the entire place without turning his head.

  “What do you think?” Carey asked Monica.

  Her smile seemed forced. She was trying too hard to like the apartment.

  “It’s…small,” Monica said. “Not bad, but tiny. You really couldn’t find anything bigger?”

  “Not on this side of town. I’d rather be cramped in a safe place than sprawled out in an apartment with bars on the windows and triple locks on the door.”

  The thought of Carey living unsafe or uncomfortable didn’t sit right. He’d been the one to coax her to move, to find a small place for her and the baby, but a glorified closet wasn’t what he’d had in mind.

  “What are you going to do when the baby sleeps?” he asked. For the first time, he could actually see her pregnancy from a distance.

  She wrinkled her brow, staring at the space. “Guess I’d have to be really quiet.”

  “I don’t know, Care,” Monica said. “It might feel like a prison. Besides, you’re used to more space, even without another person to accommodate. That baby will grow and need a place to play.”

  Carey’s shoulders drooped. She shuffled toward the half wall separating the bedroom from the rest of the studio space and leaned over it, resting her elbows on top. “I don’t know what else to do.” Her discouragement stirred his desire to help her.

  Monica joined Carey, leaning her back against the half wall. “Are you sure you can’t squeeze any more out of your income for rent? Even fifty dollars?”

  Carey shook her head. “You guys wouldn’t believe the figuring I did. I’ve never made a budget in my life, but I calculated down to the last hypothetical penny—everything from gasoline to diapers. I don’t have a guaranteed monthly income, but I tried to be realistic. There’s no room for anything extra. If I have to buy a box of cold medicine it’ll throw the whole thing off.”

  Devin hopped down from the counter. Without thinking, he started massaging Carey’s tight shoulders. He felt the charge between them from the first instant of contact. She leaned her head back and moaned softly, and the sound sent his pulse flying.

  Concentrating on the feel of each tense muscle under his fingers, he endeavored to loosen every knot, to dissipate every last hint of stress. Her pleasure became his mission.

  For a short time, he let himself forget Monica was standing beside them,
even though she and Carey continued to discuss every tiring detail of Carey’s budget. After he’d worked over most of her shoulders, Carey turned to meet his gaze and he knew she, too, felt the pull between them.

  Just then Monica’s cell phone erupted into an annoying melody, and she dug it out of her pocket and answered it, ending the blasted noise.

  Carey looked down, as if she’d been caught stealing the last cookie.

  Monica walked outside to take the call.

  Carey looked unsure of herself.

  “You’re not just moving out because I said you needed to, are you?”

  She laughed. “Have I ever done anything just because you said I needed to?”

  The tension between them seemed to dissipate as they fell back into familiar bantering.

  He shook his head. “Just wanted to be sure.”

  “Trent interrogated me when I got home after we stayed at your grandpa’s. You’d think he was my dad, not my brother.”

  Devin didn’t say anything, since what ran through his mind wasn’t particularly kind.

  “We haven’t gotten along since he’s been home,” she said. “If I stay there, we’ll be enemies in no time. I don’t want that.”

  She paced to the window and back, her hands on her hips. Then she began another thorough inspection of every cupboard and corner.

  Monica came back in, muttering about some woman who couldn’t make up her mind for anything.

  “Problems?” Devin asked her.

  “Just your average indecisive mother-in-law,” she said. “She’s trying to decide what to buy Kyle for his birthday. Apparently she didn’t like any of the suggestions I gave her yesterday.” She looked at Carey. “What’d you decide?”

  Devin’s pager vibrated, and he quickly checked it. “One of my servers is having serious problems. I need to go follow up.”

  “So much for a day off, huh?” Monica said.

  Carey followed him to the door. “Dev, thanks for coming with us.” Her voice was quiet, as if she didn’t want Monica to hear.

  “You bet.” He kissed her quickly on the forehead and jogged off.

  “Ooo-kay, Langford, out with it,” Monica said as Carey closed the door.

  “Out with what?”

  “Give it up. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  “And that would be…?”

  Crap. Monica must have sensed things weren’t normal between her and Devin.

  “There was enough chemistry between you two to blow up a lab.”

  Carey raised her eyebrows. “That much, huh?”

  “That much and more. Spill it. What did I miss?”

  “Let’s go. I’m not ready to sign a lease here,” Carey said, grabbing her purse.

  “Good. It’s too small.”

  They were silent until they were in the car and Carey was backing out of the parking space.

  “Are you two…?” Monica left the question hanging.

  “No.” They weren’t sleeping together, screwing around, whatever.

  “You’re not having sex?” She said it as though it was difficult to believe.

  Carey shook her head.

  “Then what are you doing?”

  Carey shrugged, whether because she didn’t know how to answer or because she enjoyed teasing Monica, she wasn’t sure.

  “What torture method do I need to use to get details?”

  Carey chuckled. “What details do you want, specifically?”

  “I want to know what’s going on! Quit teasing me, and tell me what the heck you and Devin are doing.”

  Carey didn’t speak as she sped around a corner, amused when Monica clung to the door.

  “You’re trying to kill me before you tell me, I see. Usually it’s the other way around.”

  “Girlfriend, if I had half a clue, I’d fill you in.”

  Monica stared at her, and Carey shrugged again, keeping her eyes on the road. She’d never had trouble confiding about men to Monica, but she honestly didn’t know what to say. I have a horrible crush on the friend who I have absolutely no romantic future with?

  “You’re attracted to him.”

  “Yeah.”

  “When did this start?”

  “Years ago.”

  Monica laughed. “Have you kissed him? I mean recently—since puberty.”

  Carey nodded.

  “Details!”

  Carey had to smile. “Our dear friend Devin still knows how to kiss.”

  “So it was good, huh?”

  Carey resisted the urge to overdramatize the situation. “Yeah. Unfortunately.”

  “Why unfortunately?”

  It was obvious, wasn’t it? “There’s no way we could have a future. I’m pregnant.”

  “So?”

  “So? Monica, are you nuts? The baby isn’t Devin’s, remember? It’s his cousin’s. Slight problem there. Besides, even if the baby issue didn’t exist, there’s a huge chance I would screw things up with him. Again.”

  Carey pulled up behind Monica’s car in front of Trent’s house. To think she used to consider it her house.

  “You can’t compare a relationship with Devin now to your fling years ago. You guys were kids. Besides, it was more of a mutual-attraction, messing-around thing, right?”

  “Whatever it was, I didn’t hold his interest. With a baby on the way, not only am I less likely to hold his interest, but the stakes are so much higher now. I can’t take the chance. I have to concentrate on what my child needs.”

  “Having a kid will bring about some sacrifices, that’s for sure,” Monica said. “But moms need to be happy, too.”

  “That’s just it,” Carey said emphatically, slapping the steering wheel. “I’m not sure I equate a relationship with being happy. They’ve always been just one more thing to worry about.”

  “You’re just scared. We’re all scared.”

  “Maybe so, but now’s not the time to figure it out. I’m going to bring this baby up by myself. I’ll be there for her—or him. I won’t be out chasing men.”

  “Does Devin know you feel this way?”

  “We don’t talk about it.”

  “Maybe you should.”

  “No way. That’d be admitting there’s something there.”

  “Judging by what I saw back there, there’s no denying there’s something going on.”

  Carey pulled her key from the ignition. “Let me live in my world of oblivion, please. I have enough problems as it is.” She opened the door and got out, signaling the end of the conversation.

  “Thanks for going with me to check that place out,” she said as they stood next to Monica’s Miata. “You guys are probably right. Something not so open would be better so the baby can sleep in peace.”

  “I’ll keep my eyes open. The good thing is you’re not on a tight schedule to find something.”

  Carey rubbed her abdomen. “Tell my belly that.”

  “You look great. I can hardly tell you’re pregnant.”

  “My jeans have a different story to tell.” She walked toward the house. “Talk to you soon. Thanks again.”

  “You bet,” Monica said. As Carey reached the front steps, Monica called out, “You can only deny something for so long!”

  Carey rolled her eyes as her friend laughed, lowering herself into the sports car.

  She could argue with Monica. As a matter of fact, Carey liked to think she was very good at ignoring certain things when she needed to. And her growing attraction to Devin definitely fell under the “needed to” category.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CAREY TRIED to read a parenting magazine while waiting for her name to be called. God knew she needed all the mothering advice she could get. But she couldn’t concentrate. The anticipation of seeing her baby was so great, sitting still was impossible. Her crossed leg seemed to be bobbing of its own accord.

  She’d looked forward to this moment for weeks, since the last appointment when the doctor had ordered the ultrasound to check the
growth of the baby. Carey was smaller than Dr. Estes thought she should be—not by much, but enough to give him an excuse to take a closer look. He’d assured her the chances of a problem were slim, otherwise he would have done an ultrasound on the spot. She’d taken his words at face value. Until last night.

  Sleep had been elusive as she’d imagined all the things that could be wrong. She’d even gone online and researched it, freaking herself out more. She’d made a mental note never to look for information on potential medical problems online again. Way too much scary stuff out there.

  She slammed the magazine shut and tossed it onto the table beside her. Checking her watch yet again, she realized she’d only been waiting for fifteen minutes. Seemed like an eternity. She uncrossed her legs. The bouncing was beginning to annoy her.

  The waiting room was full of pregnant women. She made a game out of trying to guess how far along each one was. It was hard to ignore that there was only one other woman who didn’t have a man sitting next to her. Carey tried not to feel lonely, but when she watched the easy interaction of the couple nearest her, clearly in love and excited about starting a family, her heart ached.

  Unable to sit still any longer, she jumped up and paced to the watercooler. Remembering how much liquid she’d already taken in—doctor’s orders—she changed direction and ended up at a breast-feeding information display. She picked up a book and became engrossed in the potential problems of nursing a newborn. So much for it being a natural process.

  She flipped through the pages until full-color photos showing proper nursing positions caught her attention. Positions? What the…? Didn’t you just put the baby by the breast and it drank milk? Her confidence sagged, to say the least.

  “Well, my greatest fear of being accosted by a bunch of breasts at the girly doctor’s office has finally been realized.”

  Devin? She set the book down and turned, a torrent of emotions crashing down on her. “Wh-what are you doing here?” He was the last person she’d expected to see…not that she’d expected anyone she knew.

  His rugged face inched its way into a grin that melted her insides. His voice was a loud whisper. “The itching problem, you know.”