by York, Zoe
“Happy to help out.” His smile was understanding and kind, and for a second she wondered if he could know…but how? Carrie hadn’t told Karen, she knew that for a fact. And yet there it was again, a glimmer of worry in his eyes that he quickly masked.
“Well, I owe you one. A few, actually. I was just thinking this morning that I should make you cookies or something. And I’m starting to worry that Max has magical abilities, because it’s like he summoned you out of the blue.”
“Pretty safe bet that we’re here on a day off, Megan’s fallen in love with this town. And Carrie’s muffins.” Paul laughed and nodded to the kids. “I’m glad she’s made friends here. There’s only so much of her dad she can take.”
“Isn’t that where Karen comes in?”
“Don’t joke, I think everyone likes Karen more than me.” He grinned, obviously not minding that fact.
“You guys are good together.” Evie smiled. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, or something like that.”
“Something like that, yeah.” There was more there, but it wasn’t Evie’s place to explore that.
“If you tire of them, bring them to the studio, okay?”
“You got it.”
Once at work, Evie checked on the stock of clean towels in the basket along the wall, took a microfibre cloth to the mirrors to make them smudge-free and sparkling, and changed into her own workout wear. Amazing how fifteen kid-free minutes could feel like an hour. Once again she regretted not yet ordering internet service for the studio. She couldn’t really afford it, but oh how she’d love to steal a few minutes to check in with her parenting and fitness forums.
But she needed to save all the pennies she could. Maybe next summer.
The door chimed, and she looked up, expecting one of her regulars. Instead, Stella Nixon came in, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Evie raised a hand in greeting.
“You going to take up Pilates, Stella?”
The younger woman blushed. “Well…”
Evie leaned over the counter. “Are you here for something else? I’ve got a class starting in five, but if you wanted to talk, I’ll have half an hour afterward.”
“No, I came…” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of newsprint, a coupon Evie had run in the Wardham News for a free class. “I’d like to take one of your classes, but I’m not new to Pilates.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s cool.”
“I’ve been doing a couple of routines for a while on my own, at home. YouTube videos.”
Evie kept her face neutral. It was a reasonable way to get some exercise, although she felt strongly that working with a trained instructor pushed most people to the next level, where they needed to be to see results.
“And the thing is,” Stella continued. “I really like it. But I need more. And I can’t afford your classes on a regular basis, but I thought maybe…”
Spit it out, honey. But Evie knew from personal experience that asking for favours was hard. Finding the words was the easy part. Admitting you needed something others didn’t…that was the killer. “I know all about not being able to afford things. Tell me what you had in mind.”
Stella outlined a plan where she helped out in the studio in exchange for a series of free classes, which Evie would have agreed to anyway because she liked the young woman, but then Stella gave her a gift. “If you think I’ve got potential, I’d like to train as an instructor. And I’d teach classes for you, once I’m ready, as payment for the training.”
A freaking gift, because if this worked out, Stella might be able to teach Evie’s classes in the immediate post-partum period. She had to restrain herself from leaping over the counter and kissing the shy girl.
“You think you’ve got what it takes?” Neutral face, neutral face…damnit, the grin was splitting already.
Stella returned the smile. “I’ve tried a dozen different things at college, one of which was a semester on health and recreation. To be honest, of all the things I’ve studied, it was the most interesting. But I talked myself out of it and went into the emergency dispatch program.”
“You aren’t enjoying that?”
“It’ll be a good job, and it’ll pay the bills.” She brightened up. “And if I can get 12 hour shifts, it’ll leave more time for this!”
Evie laughed. “Honey, if you pull 12 hour shifts, I doubt you’ll want to do this. When do you graduate?”
“Next June.”
“Perfect. Let’s give this a shot.”
CHAPTER NINE
“You want to see if we can hear a heartbeat?” The midwife, Donna, raised her eyebrows in a teasing offer.
“We might not, right?”
“Wait, why not?” Liam’s own heartbeat picked up in a way he really didn’t like.
Evie squeezed his hand. “Baby’s still pretty low, just might not be able to pick it up yet.”
“You’ve got a real pro on your hands here, Liam.” The midwife moved to the sink and washed her hands as Evie jumped up on the exam table. The room was almost like a doctor’s office, but all the little details were different. A cotton sheet covered the table instead of a paper roll. Kids’ books littered a side table instead of outdated news magazines. The medical practitioner was wearing Birkenstocks and a peasant skirt.
Okay, maybe doctors also wore sandals in the summer. But really, if you drew a cartoon of a hippie midwife, Donna was it. Her confident, quiet voice belied any stereotypes, though, as she deftly answered each of Liam’s researched questions. Evie had already answered half of them on the drive to Essex, but she encouraged him to take all the time he needed to get comfortable with Donna and the style of health care Evie had chosen for herself and the baby.
Evie pulled her shirt up, baring her still flat stomach. A mile of pale skin, dotted here and there with freckles. His fingers itched to cover her lower abdomen in a ridiculous show of possession. This was a medical appointment, for Christ’s sake. But then she was inching her yoga pants down, first revealing her hip bones, and then lower still, and her abs dipped in the most delicious way into a subtle shadow that couldn’t hide her tan lines from that damn bikini, and still she wiggled the fabric southward.
Jesus. He was going to pop a boner in front of the hippie.
He shifted his gaze up to Evie’s face. “So this is old hat to you, eh?”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Still a little nerve-wracking. I’m feeling sicker each day, so that’s a good sign, right? But it’ll be nice to hear that he or she’s ticking away.”
Donna brought a basket full of supplies over to them. “You’re only ten weeks, it’s really early, I need to warn you that we might not pick up baby just yet.”
Evie waved her hands in the air as the midwife tucked a heavy-duty tissue into the hypnotic yoga pants, protecting the fabric. “I know, but I don’t think we’re going to do an early ultrasound, so let’s give this a shot.”
“Okay, this is going to be a bit cool—” Donna squirted some jelly on Evie’s belly, then picked up the portable Doppler machine in one hand, the attached wand in the other. “Give me a minute.” A loud crackling sound filled the air as she pressed the wand into Evie’s skin, and when that faded, Liam found himself leaning forward, craning to hear……something. When the first whoomp whoomp whoomp was picked up, his breath caught in his throat, but Evie shook her head, and Donna chuckled. “Smart mama.” She looked up at Liam. “That one was Evie. Too slow to be the baby.”
The heartbeat disappeared as she pressed harder, tipping the wand in a new direction, and then with unassuming assuredness a tiny pulse twice as fast as Evie’s heartbeat bounced into the air around them. Whomp whomp whomp went his kid’s tiny heart, and Liam thought his own might just explode.
“Holy shit.”
“Pretty cool, eh?”
He swung his gaze to take in Evie’s smiling face. “It’s incredible.”
Another loud crackle filled the air, and the heartbeat disappeared. Donna lifted the Do
ppler wand and handed Evie a tissue from underneath the table. “Baby’s turned, but I think we’ve heard enough. Good steady rate.”
Liam watched as Evie swiped the ultrasound gel from her belly. Her belly, which was growing his baby. He soaked up the unobstructed view of her body with new appreciation. The physical twitch of need was ever present, especially as her fingers dipped beneath her waistband. She had to be brushing the hair on her mound, and the visual made his dick twitch yet again, but on top of his desire for her as a woman was a new layer of gratitude.
She was going to bear his child.
Nothing would be too much for Evie to ask of him. He’d move mountains and slay armies for her. Bring her ice cream and pickles. Or, knowing Evie, maybe cashews and dried seaweed snacks.
On the drive, she’d outlined in general terms her philosophy of diet and exercise, and how it was rooted in her history of getting sick when pregnant with Connor. He didn’t quite follow her logic, but when she mentioned it to Donna and the midwife nodded along affirmatively, Liam figured he’d leave it alone.
And after the appointment ended, he saw an opportunity to be supportive. “Do you want to stop at the health food store before we head back?”
“You don’t mind?” Evie cocked an eyebrow at him, skepticism written all over her face. So maybe his doubt wasn’t as hidden as he’d thought.
“Do you mind if I grab a slice from the pizza shop on the corner while you’re in there?”
She laughed, a quiet, rolling wave of comfortable noise. “Not at all.”
“You really think this diet will make a difference?”
“You heard Donna. No reason not to be healthy. Might as well try.”
“But there’s no scientific evidence—” He cut himself off. “I’m not questioning your decision, it’s just hard for me to understand how you ended up there.”
Frustration flitted across Evie’s face. “It just makes sense to me. Part of it is that I had a healthier pregnancy with Max, although I know there could be another explanation.” She shrugged. “It just feels right. Don’t you ever feel strongly about something that you can’t explain, you just know in your gut it feels right? Some decisions are leaps of faith.”
“The last time I had a gut instinct about something, I bought a pretty blonde a drink.” Her heavy blink told him that wasn’t where she expected him to go with his response. Her pink cheeks said she didn’t mind. But then she bit her lip, and damned if he could tell what that was supposed to mean.
“And how did that turn out?” She whispered the loaded question, maybe expecting it to be hard for him to answer.
It took him less than a millisecond to respond. “She’s sitting in my car, isn’t she?”
A soft gasp fluttered out of her mouth, and she stifled it with another adorable bite. He reached across the gear shift and drifted his thumb across that lower lip, pulling the swollen flesh out from between her teeth. Another blink, and he would have sworn he heard her pulse pounding in time with his own.
“I’ve got another totally illogical idea right now, but I’m pretty sure you won’t like it.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll like it far too much,” she whispered.
He curved his hand around to the back of her neck and tugged, urging her to meet him halfway. They were in a parking lot of a strip mall, this couldn’t be anything more than just a kiss, but his brain couldn’t figure out a way to convey that message to the rest of his body. Every bit of him was on full alert, aching to pull her into his lap and find a way to get inside her body. The sweet lap of her tongue against his, the hungry pull of her lips and the soft mewling sound she made as he deepened the kiss…it was all going to drive him mad.
She pressed him back into the driver’s seat far too quickly. “We need to stop doing that.” She smoothed her fingers over her face. “I know, I keep kissing you back, and I’m not going to pretend I don’t like it. But I can’t do this.”
He wanted to curse, to yell at her about mixed messages and making up her mind, but she hadn’t actually led him on. She was being as honest as she could be, and whatever she was holding back, it didn’t conflict with the obvious fact that she wanted him. She just didn’t think she could have him.
He’d have to prove her wrong. Or something that didn’t sound quite so adversarial. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
“I’m having dinner with you tonight.”
“No, I’m coming over tonight, and eating with you and the boys. Let me take you to the city for a nice meal. A secret…” He thought better of admitting he was asking her out on a date. “Outing.”
She grinned. “No dates, Liam.”
“Why not?”
Her face softened, and she reached across the gear box to momentarily rub his jaw. “Because too much time alone leads to kissing. And that’s not fair to you.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m a big boy.” With a big problem in his pants half the time, but he’d deal.
“Besides, I work tomorrow night.”
“Another time, then.”
“Ha. No. But you can buy me lunch before next month’s appointment.”
“It’s a date.”
“Not even close.”
Nope, not even a little bit. And wasn’t that a shame.
CHAPTER TEN
Dinner had gone well enough that Evie invited him back the next week, and dropped a casual mention or three to the boys that Liam would probably start visiting every Wednesday night. By his count, that gave him twenty-nine Wednesdays to prove himself worthy before the baby arrived. Worthy of what…he tried not to think too hard about that. But he wanted more, and she’d started at offering less, so a weekly dinner was progress.
By the beginning of August, they’d settled into a pleasant routine. An awful word, pleasant. As the calendar pages ripped by in his head, Liam knew he needed to step up his game. Twenty-eight weeks, twenty-seven…
He parked in the now familiar narrow drive, behind Evie’s station wagon covered in bumper stickers promoting local food and outdoor living, and gave himself a mental high five. Evie usually started cooking at half past five. He’d purposefully arrived thirty minutes early so she wouldn’t need to do that. Beside him, two large pizzas promised to be a big hit. Pepperoni and mushroom for Connor and himself, Hawaiian for Evie and Max. He’d been paying attention.
At the door, whooping and hollering halted his raised hand mid-knock. The heavy thump of music from the other side told him the effort would be futile, so he let himself in.
Inside, a priceless tableau greeted him. Connor and Max, in sunglasses and sideways baseball caps, legs splayed wide and fierce. Connor with his arms crossed, Max playing air guitar like Smash. And Evie.
Jesus Christ.
In the middle of the room, shaking her tight little booty like mad and laughing hysterically, was the woman carrying his child.
And when she twisted to the side, her tank top riding up a bit, he caught his first glimpse of a roundness to her formerly flat belly, a gentle curve between the low waistband of her shorts and the white cotton above.
He wanted to fall on his knees and press that pale flesh with kisses. Stroke it gently and sing his baby a song. Shit he’d have mocked any guy for a few months earlier. But that was before he’d gotten a taste of what could be.
This felt right. Backwards, yes. But still exactly where he should be, bringing dinner home to Evie and her sons. Except he should have brought flowers for her, too. Or a yoga mat. Seaweed.
Whatever her currency was, Liam was going to find out. This little glimpse into what might be was going to fuel a campaign that would convince Evie—
“Hey, Liam’s here!” Max yelled over the music. “And he brought pizza!”
“Pizza. You da man, Liam.” Connor sauntered over, still being Mr. Chill. “Put it there.” He held out a fist. Liam might be an engineer, but he could pound it with the best of them. Or at least, the best of nine-year-olds. He put it there.
All
puffed up like a rooster, he carried the pizzas to the table before spinning around to give Evie a big grin. “Surprise!”
She wasn’t grinning. Her booty wasn’t shaking. He was definitely not da man.
He should have brought a yoga mat. “You don’t like pizza?”
“I adore pizza. And I can’t eat it right now.”
Technically, she wouldn’t eat it. But pointing out that she was the only one imposing such strict constraints on herself would be stupid.
“You’ve been here for dinner, you know what I make. Why on earth would you bring pizza?” She stomped into the kitchen.
“Do you want me to take it away?”
“And make me the bad guy with the boys? Mr. Cool brings over pizza, and I shit-can their happiness? No.” She tossed open a kitchen cupboard, grabbed three plates, and thrust them into his chest. “You guys eat. I’ll have leftover salad from lunch.”
“You need more than salad—” He cut himself off when she shot him a withering look.
“My salad has more protein and fiber than your slices, I assure you.”
She didn’t look like she wanted an apology, so he lifted his hands in silent acquiescence and backed out of the room. As the boys dug into the boxes, he could hear the clink of a spoon in a bowl, the fridge opening and closing…and even though he knew he should give her some space, he pushed back from the table.
“You guys get started, I need to talk to your mom.”
Since the kitchen was three feet away, she heard him. The spoon clattered in the sink.
This time, he stepped all the way into the kitchen and pressed the door closed behind him. She was studiously inspecting her salad. Even that was cute.
“Evie, I’m going to make a lot of mistakes. This will be easier if you either give me a set of ground rules to follow, or give me a chance to respond to feedback before you fly off the handle.”
“Can I blame the hormones?”
“Sure. Is that the real reason you got upset?” They both knew the answer to that.
“Who knows.”
“You do.”
“Stop being wise, it’s annoying.” But she offered him a small smile, so he pressed on.
