Complicating (Preston's Mill Book 3)

by Noelle Adams

  Carter looked slightly surprised, but he said easily enough, “Sure. I’d be happy to.”

  ***

  An hour later, Daisy and Carter were sitting on her couch.

  She’d told him the details of the appointment, and she’d shown him the sonogram images. He’d asked a few questions—obviously clueless about babies and pregnancies—and now he was staring down at the sonogram.

  “Wow,” he said at last.

  “I know.”

  “How can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl?”

  “You can’t yet,” she said with a little chuckle.

  “When can they tell?”

  “It depends on the position of the baby and everything but usually around eighteen weeks or so. So maybe another month or so?”

  “Why does the position matter?”

  Daisy raised her eyebrows.

  Carter must have realized the answer to his own question. “Oh. Right.”

  She giggled again. He’d taken off his jacket and was wearing a black T-shirt and worn jeans. He was big and masculine and sexier than was comfortable for her, but he was also kind of cute, trying to follow discussion of the pregnancy and think about things he’d probably never thought about before.

  She couldn’t help but remember what had attracted her to him at the wedding reception. He wasn’t just good-looking with those blue eyes and a great body. He was funny—with a dry sense of humor—and he was surprisingly thoughtful and observant.

  “Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking a girl, but it might just be because I know a lot more about girls than I do boys. I’m not sure what I’d do if I have a little boy.”

  “You don’t have brothers?”

  “No. I’m an only child.” She paused. “What about you?”

  “I have a one brother. He lives in Boston now.”

  “Does he have kids?”

  “Nah.” Something strange flickered across his face.

  “What?” she said, genuinely interested in whatever he hadn’t said.

  “He was in prison for a few years. But he’s been doing okay for the past year.”

  She swallowed hard. It wasn’t Carter’s fault his brother had been in prison. He seemed worried about him. She wasn’t going to let it affect her impression of Carter himself. “That’s hard,” she murmured.

  His eyes shot over to her face, like he was surprised by her reaction. “Yeah. Anyway, how’s everything else going?” He was clearly ready to change the subject.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, everything else. Have you started making plans for when the baby comes?”

  “Oh, yes, naturally. My parents are going to help out, watching the baby while I’m working. At least whenever they can. I don’t want to put too much on them, but there’s a good day care in town I can use when I need to. It just expensive if you use day care all the time.”

  “Do you make enough money at the library?”

  She wondered if he was going to offer money, and she wondered how she felt about it. “Yes. I think so. It’s not a huge salary, but living in Preston isn’t that expensive. I think I’ll be okay.”

  He nodded and didn’t say anything.

  She felt a little nervous and rambled on. “I started fixing up the second bedroom. It’s not very big, but it will be fine for a nursery. My dad painted it since I’m not really supposed to be inhaling a lot of paint. But I picked out the colors. I’m going to use green and yellow since I don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl. I had a friend who thought she was having a boy, but it turned out to be a girl, and she had to totally redo her blue nursery with trains and airplanes on it.”

  Carter’s mouth was twitching slightly, maybe because she couldn’t seem to stop talking.

  Daisy bit her lip and told herself to relax.

  “Can I see it?” he asked.

  “See what?”

  “The room.”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s not done yet, but… It’s in here.”

  They got up, and she opened the door to the tiny second bedroom in her apartment. Her father had painted it a pretty, moss green, and she’d put up some animal appliques on the walls. That was all she’d done so far, but she’d bought some bolts of fabric, which were lying on the floor, and there was the big box of the crib she’d bought.

  “I still need to put it together,” she said as Carter gazed around the room, his eyes coming to rest on the box.

  “You can’t put that thing together by yourself.”

  “Why not? I can follow directions.”

  “But it’s big and complicated, and you’re… you’re…”

  She frowned at him. “I’m what?”

  “You’re pregnant.”

  “It doesn’t mean I’m helpless.”

  “I know, but you should have someone help you with it.”

  “Chloe said she’d help. She’s my neighbor and one of my best friends. And I can always get my dad to come over to help if we can’t do it ourselves. But I don’t like having my parents always doing things for me. I’m a capable adult, you know.”

  “I didn’t say you weren’t.”

  “Well, you’re acting like it.” She wasn’t sure why she’d gotten so annoyed by the conversation. She’d actually been thinking fond thoughts about him just a few minutes ago. But now she wanted to shake that cool, arrogant look on his face.

  Who was he, trying to tell her what to do?

  She was distracted from her perfectly legitimate annoyance with him by the buzzing of a text message on her phone. She went back into the living area to check it.

  “That’s Isabella,” she said after she’d read the message. “She lives downstairs. She says she made some muffins for me and I should get them while they’re warm. I’m going to run downstairs for a minute if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure.”

  Isabella had offered to bring them upstairs, but Daisy really didn’t want to make a lot of introductions. So she left Carter in the nursery and hurried downstairs to the apartment where Isabella had just moved in with her fiancé, Jace.

  Isabella was in a bright, talkative mood, and it was several minutes before Daisy could get away and return to her own apartment.

  Carter wasn’t in sight when she opened the door and laid the tray of muffins on the kitchen counter.

  When she walked over and looked into the nursery, she gasped. “What are you doing?”

  Carter was on the floor. He’d torn open the box with the crib in it and had started pulling the light maple wood pieces out. “I’m putting this thing together.”

  “Why are you doing that?”

  “So you don’t have to.”

  “But it’s my job to—”

  “Why is it your job? This is my kid too, right?” He was still on his knees, staring up at her.

  She grew still. “Y-yes.”

  “So can I please help you by putting this thing together?”

  For some reason she was having trouble taking a full breath. “Okay,” she said at last, very softly.

  His features relaxed. “Good.”

  “I really would have been fine doing it myself.”

  “But why shouldn’t I help?”

  “You can. I said you can.”

  “I can help you in other ways too.”

  Her heart was beating even faster now. “What ways?”

  “I don’t know. Other ways. I want to help. I’m just realizing what a… what a huge thing taking care of a baby is going to be for you. You shouldn’t have to do it alone. I want to help.”

  “O…kay.” She had no idea what to say. Her blood was pulsing in her veins though, and she didn’t know if she was nervous or excited or touched or overwhelmed. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

  “You shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

  “I’m not alone.”

  Something strange flickered on Carter’s face, and he raised himself up on his knees.
He reached for her hand, and she let him take it because she was starting to tremble a little. “I was just thinking. I mean… I know this just sort of happened but… but… I’ll marry you if you want.”

  She stared down at him, completely flabbergasted by this halting proclamation.

  The silence stretched on for too long, and Carter’s earnest expression turned into a scowl. “I just said something, you know,” he muttered.

  She covered her mouth so a giggle wouldn’t escape her lips. “I know,” she said. “I’m sorry. But that would just be crazy.”

  “Why would it be crazy?”

  “Because we still don’t really know each other! We can’t get married just for that.”

  “I’d be a decent husband.”

  “I’m sure you would, but…” She couldn’t hold back the giggle now. “I’m sorry. I really appreciate it. You’re… You might act all rough and tough and cool, but you’re a really sweet guy.”

  He sucked in an audible breath. “I’m not sweet.”

  “Yes, you are. Only a sweet guy would have made that offer—or reacted the way you did when I told you I was pregnant—but I guarantee you’d start to regret it by tonight. How about this? You can help. I’ll let you help. In reasonable ways. We can… we can work together at this. How about that?”

  Carter’s face relaxed. He was still holding on to her hand. “I’d like that. Thanks.”

  They were smiling at each other when Daisy heard a sound from the other room. And then a voice that was obviously Chloe calling out, “Daisy? Where are you? Wait until you see this little hat I found for the baby! You’re going to love it. Ooh, are these muffins homemade? Daisy? Are you mooning over the nursery again?”

  Before Daisy could process the fact that her friend had let herself in, Chloe stuck her head into the nursery.

  Carter was still on his knees, holding Daisy’s hands.

  Chloe’s eyes grew as round as saucers, and an expression of amused knowledge transformed her face. “What-cha do-ing?” she asked in a lilting, singsongy voice.

  Daisy blushed red hot and pulled her hand away from Carter’s. “Nothing.”

  Chloe was eyeing Carter with interest. “This is the daddy, isn’t it? Is there anything you want to tell me?”

  “No! Carter was helping me put together the crib.”

  “Okay,” Chloe said. “If you say so. But just give the word, and I’ll disappear so you can go right back to doing nothing.”

  Six

  “What the hell…?”

  “Dude, you have to put that book down. You’re getting a little crazy.”

  Carter barely glanced up from the page to give Kirk an annoyed glare.

  “I’m serious,” Kirk said, stepping into the office. “I get how you want to be informed and all, but this can’t be good for you.”

  “You’re the one who told me about the damn book,” Carter snapped. “Do you realize how much there is to know about pregnancy? I have no idea how Daisy’s handling it all!”

  “My sister has four kids. That’s how I know about the book. My brother-in-law swears it saved him from doing stupid things during Lisa’s pregnancy.”

  “Wait, what?”

  Huffing with mild irritation, Kirk leaned on the desk and whipped the book out of Carter’s hand. “He read the book so he was prepared for the stages of pregnancy when Lisa was going to need more sleep or when it’s more common for her ankles to swell. He knew not to freak out when she started to snore or when she was popping antacids like they were Pez.” He waved the book around. “But he only read a chapter at a time and only when they were approaching that phase of the pregnancy or if he had a question.”

  Standing up, Carter snatched the book back. “Yeah, well, that’s because he was there with Lisa to witness it all and knew what was going on. Daisy calls me after her doctor’s appointment, but…”

  “You got to help put the crib together,” Kirk said conversationally. “And you said you met her folks.”

  Carter rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Big deal.”

  “What? You said they were nice.”

  He shrugged. “They were, but I think they were just being polite. It was obvious that they weren’t exactly thrilled that I was the one who knocked up their daughter.”

  “From what you’ve told me about Daisy, can you blame them? I mean I only saw her for like ten seconds, and even I could tell that the two of you look kinda weird together.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Just being honest, man,” Kirk said, holding his hands out defensively. “She’s your typical sweet librarian, and you’re…”

  “What?” Carter demanded. “I’m what?”

  “You’re a big, tatted biker,” Kirk said with amusement. “Now granted, that doesn’t make you a bad person. I happen to know you’re a big old softie. Just look at how you’ve been taking care of that big mutt.”

  “Teddy’s not so bad. He just needs a little TLC.”

  “He looks like a beast, and I think you’re going to find that most people will run in the opposite direction to avoid him. But not you.” He smiled. “Maybe it’s why the two of you have bonded.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you both look like these big, scary dudes, but deep down, you’re sweet. I think you understand him, and that’s why you’re drawn to him.”

  “Thanks for the praise, Dr. Phil,” Carter mocked. “But I wasn’t drawn to Teddy. He was there and he hasn’t left. I don’t believe in being cruel to animals, so I fed him.”

  “And we have a big bucket of dog food here now because…”

  Carter huffed. “I just said why. There’s no reason to sit and watch the dog starve.”

  “You could just call animal control,” Kirk suggested.

  “Weren’t you just the one who said people will run from him? Do you honestly think they’re going to find someone to adopt him?” he scoffed.

  “And the new studded collar he’s now wearing?” The smirk on his face made Carter want to punch him.

  Hard.

  “Weren’t we talking about Daisy?”

  “No. We were talking about you being obsessed with this damn What to Expect book,” Kirk replied. “It’s a good reference book. You don’t need to read it from cover to cover every day.”

  “I haven’t been that bad.”

  Kirk gave him a look that said otherwise.

  “Don’t you have work to do?” Carter snapped, and once Kirk was out of the office, he glanced down at the book. It really did have a lot of information, and he had to wonder if Daisy was experiencing any of the things he’d read about.

  He let out a sigh and couldn’t help but try to imagine what Daisy was dealing with. Was she already resenting this pregnancy? With all the weird symptoms and body changes the book talked about, she had to be at least mildly freaked out.

  He sure as hell was.

  And then, because he couldn’t seem to help himself, his mind wandered to his own mother. His father had mentioned more than once how sick his mother had been while she was pregnant with Carter, and now he had to wonder if that had anything to do with her decision to leave. Even though his father had done a great job raising his sons, he still admitted to not being a very good husband—he’d said more than once that he could have shown a little more compassion or been a little more supportive.

  Maybe if he had, Carter’s mom might not have left.

  Here was an opportunity to learn from someone else’s mistake.

  Looking at the clock on the wall, he saw it was only two in the afternoon. Things were slow in the shop—nothing Kirk couldn’t handle on his own—maybe he could cut out early and take a ride into Preston.

  A slow smile spread across his face, and he stepped around the desk and began to head for the door.

  “Oops,” he murmured before turning around and grabbing the book. With a sense of purpose, he walked out of the office. “Now I’m ready.”

  ***

  “Carter? What are you doing he
re?”

  The surprised look on Daisy’s face—and her lack of smile—didn’t deter him. He held up the shopping bags in his hands and gave her a lopsided grin. “I come bearing gifts.”

  She seemed to relax a little as she stepped aside to let him in. “I wish you had called first.”

  He put the bags down on the living room sofa and faced her. “Do you have plans?” he asked. “Because if I’m interrupting, I can go and maybe come back tomorrow.”

  Daisy closed the door and walked over and began to curiously look at the bags. “Um, no, I don’t have any plans. It’s just I wasn’t expecting anyone and…” She straightened and motioned to her outfit.

  Personally, he thought she looked adorable. This was a new look for her—a pair of yoga pants, an oversized T-shirt that showed her barely rounded belly, and her hair up in a ponytail. He’d seen her as a sexy siren and the good-girl librarian, but this girl standing in front of him? She was by far the most appealing.

  He swallowed hard and turned his attention to the packages. “So, uh, I’ve been reading that What to Expect book, and I got you some things.”

  “Wait, what?” she asked, confusion written all over her face. “Why?”

  “It occurred to me,” he began nervously, raking a hand through his hair, “that there is a lot to know about pregnancy. I know I’m overwhelmed, and I’m just reading about it. You’re experiencing it, feeling it, and I figured there might be a lot that you’re dealing with, and I wanted to help.”

  “Carter—”

  Holding up a hand to stop her, he took a steadying breath and mentally prepared himself to dazzle her with how considerate he was to her needs.

  “First you should probably be sitting down,” he said, gently taking her by the shoulders and guiding her down onto the sofa. “You’re on your feet all day, and this is the stage of pregnancy where you’re prone to swelling in your ankles.”

  “Carter, really. It’s not—”

  He pulled a small footstool from one of the bags and immediately placed it under her feet. “You should try to keep your feet elevated, even mildly so, as much as possible. It’s good for you.”

  Daisy looked at him with irritation. “My ankles aren’t swelling. They’re fine.”