The Ladies' Man

by Susan Mallery

“I do,” Carter muttered from the bedroom.

  He couldn’t possibly know who—

  Rachel opened her front door to find Nina Brockett on her plant-filled front balcony.

  “I know, I know,” Nina said with a bright smile as she passed over a covered basket and stepped inside. “I’m interrupting. Carter’s always saying I should call instead of coming by. But it’s so much nicer to talk in person. Besides, when I went to Carter’s house and he wasn’t home, I knew just where he was going to be and I was right.”

  Rachel opened her mouth, then closed it. Heat flooded her cheeks and she knew she was blushing.

  “I, ah…” She pressed her lips together and struggled for control. “Good morning.”

  “Morning, dear.” Nina tapped the basket. “Cinnamon rolls. Carter’s favorite. Don’t let them get cold.”

  Carter walked out of the bedroom. He’d pulled on jeans and his shirt. “Mama, you gotta stop doing this.”

  “Doing what? A mother isn’t allowed to talk to her only son? I knocked. Where’s the crime?”

  He leaned against the door frame and sighed heavily. “Okay, fine. What are you doing here?”

  “My water heater is broken. Just like that, it stopped working. Gordon is already off buying me a new one, but he’s going to need your help putting it in.”

  “You could have called,” he told her.

  “You weren’t home and I didn’t know if you would be going home to get the message. Besides, I don’t have Rachel’s number.”

  “Cell phone, Mama,” Carter said. “You could have called my cell phone.”

  “Oh. I didn’t think of that.” Nina smiled again. “Besides, it was a lovely drive over here and I’m happy to see you two getting along. It makes an old woman very happy.”

  “You’re not an old woman,” Carter said. “You’re going to outlive us all.”

  “Don’t say that. No mother wants to outlive her children. Now you two enjoy the cinnamon rolls. Carter, you should call Gordon and see when he’ll need you.”

  With that, she waved and left.

  Rachel carefully closed the front door and then crossed to the sofa. As she sank onto the cushions, she covered her face with her hands.

  “I’m so embarrassed,” she whispered. “That was your mother. She knows what we were doing.”

  “Oh, yeah. She’s real clear on that.” He took the basket from her and set it on the coffee table. “Rachel, it’s okay.”

  “It’s not. She’s your mother.”

  He sat next to her. His mouth twitched slightly and she guessed he was trying not to smile.

  “You think this is funny?” she asked in outrage.

  “It’s not that big a deal. She knows about the baby, so she’s probably not shocked about the sex thing.”

  Oh, yeah. Good point, but still. “It’s just wrong. I felt so awful.”

  “Don’t. She’s the one who barged in here. This is your home.” He grimaced. “Now it’s going to have to be one hell of a fight to convince her we’ve broken up.”

  Broken up? Then she remembered. This wasn’t real. She and Carter weren’t a couple. They were just two people having a baby and trying to convince his family that they were involved, so they could end things later and get back to their original plan of just being two people having a baby.

  “We’ll need witnesses,” she said.

  “And a script.”

  He was being funny, but suddenly she didn’t feel like laughing. Nothing about this situation was turning out how she’d thought. Carter’s family wasn’t supposed to matter, but she found herself hating the thought of Nina thinking less of her. Carter wasn’t supposed to be important, yet she wasn’t sure she was ready for the breakup they’d planned. Which meant what? That she wanted this to be real? That she wanted to get involved?

  No way. Not with him. How could she be with a man who had dated nearly every single woman on the planet? He’d made it clear he didn’t want a relationship with her, so she’d better get the idea out of her head.

  But wouldn’t getting involved with the father of her child be the most logical choice?

  The following Thursday, Rachel left work a half hour early and headed for her car. She felt as if an entire team of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach and were currently arguing on the best way to fly in formation. She was shaky and scared and telling herself that everything was fine, but it didn’t seem to be helping.

  Ever since she’d made the appointment with her doctor, she’d had a barely controllable urge to burst into tears. Not because she was especially nervous about the baby—having a child was still something she thought in her head rather than felt in her heart. Instead, she wrestled with the terror of being alone.

  Although she’d lost her parents fourteen years ago, she still missed them. At the oddest times she longed for one or the other to be with her. Today it was her mother. She wanted familiar arms to hold her close and say everything was going to be all right. She wanted to hear stories of her mother’s pregnancies and births. She wanted a connection to family.

  Maybe she should have called Noelle or Crissy, she thought as she drove toward the medical building. Both of them would have been happy to be with her. Noelle was experiencing pregnancy firsthand. But she, Rachel, hadn’t wanted to be a bother.

  “Talk about dumb,” she murmured as she parked and got out of her car. “This was not the time to be noble.”

  Next time, she promised herself. Next time she would call her friends. Besides, this was only a first appointment. She would be fine.

  She walked into the four-story building and started for the elevator, only to come to a complete stop. There, in the center of the lobby, stood Nina, Merry and Liz.

  Rachel stared at Carter’s mother and sisters. “What are you doing here?” she asked, a little surprised at the coincidence.

  Nina shrugged her shoulders. “When I was over on Saturday, I happened to notice the note you’d written about your doctor’s appointment. I know, I know, I’m meddling. So sue me. I tried to forget you were coming here, but I couldn’t. I know you don’t have any family and this is your first baby. I couldn’t stand for you to be here alone.”

  “We wanted to come, too,” Merry said, giving Rachel a hug. “Shelly’s sorry she couldn’t make it, but the sitter we hired got the flu and she offered to stay with all the kids. But she’s here in spirit.”

  Rachel opened her mouth to speak, then couldn’t when her throat got tight and her eyes began to burn.

  “You didn’t have to do this,” she managed to say, “but I’m really glad you did.”

  Nina exhaled in obvious relief. “Here I was all braced to be told to mind my own business. I’m glad you’re not mad.” She slipped an arm around Rachel. “All right. Let’s go talk to this doctor. Between us, we’ve had a lot of kids and we know the right questions to ask. You’ll be fine. Pregnancy is sometimes easy, sometimes hard, but then you have a baby and it’s all worth it.”

  “She’s right,” Liz said, claiming her other arm. “When you’re ready, we’ll tell you stories about childbirth. It’s not so bad.”

  “Take the drugs,” Merry added.

  “Exactly,” Liz said with a grin. “Why suffer?”

  They continued to offer advice all through the elevator ride and into the doctor’s office. The four of them claimed a corner of the cheerful waiting room. Rachel held on to Nina’s hand and found she didn’t miss her own mother quite so much.

  “This means a lot to me,” she said. “You can’t know how much.”

  “We’re happy to be here.” Nina patted her hand. “This isn’t about Carter, you know. This is about you. Whatever happens with him, you’re one of the family.”

  Rachel touched her stomach. The pregnancy had been an accident and for a while she’d thought it might be a disaster, but now she was starting to wonder if having this child was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

  “Dr. Richards will see you now,
” the nurse said. “She’d like you to start in her office, so you can talk. She’ll do the exam after.”

  They rose together and headed for the large office. There were plenty of chairs. Nina stayed next to Rachel while Merry and Liz were on either side of them.

  When Dr. Richards entered, she grinned. “I love it when a baby brings a family together. Good afternoon, ladies.”

  Rachel bit her lower lip. “I know this is kind of a lot but…”

  Her doctor, an attractive woman in her mid-forties, shook her head. “Don’t apologize. The more support, the better. There’s no better source of information for a pregnant woman than other women who have been through it already. They understand what’s happening to your body and they know what questions to ask. All right, first things first. Your due date.”

  Rachel fought against embarrassment as she said, “I, um, know the day I got pregnant.”

  Liz nudged her. “I heard it was night.”

  Merry laughed. “I heard it was a very good night.”

  “Girls,” Nina scolded. “Stop. You’ll upset Rachel.”

  But Rachel didn’t mind the teasing. It made her feel a little less self-conscious.

  “Technically it was night,” she admitted and gave the date.

  “That makes the calculations easier,” Dr. Richards told her. “So we have a due date.”

  “Not that the baby will come that day,” Nina said.

  “Exactly,” Dr. Richards said. “But it gives us something to shoot for. I’ll be giving you an examination and doing some preliminary blood work. I expect everything to go normally. You’re in great health. There are some dietary changes I’d like you to make, which we’ll also discuss.”

  “Prenatal vitamins,” Liz said with a groan. “They made me constipated, so drink lots of water.”

  “Yeah, drink now, before the baby decides to spend all day sitting on your bladder.”

  They continued talking, exchanging stories and advice. Rachel listened more to their voices than their words. The information wasn’t as important to her as the connection. They had meant what they said—that she was one of them now. A member of the family. It had been so very long since she’d been able to be a part of something so very precious.

  Carter stopped by his mother’s house after work.

  “You called?” he said as he walked into the kitchen and found her stirring something on the stove.

  She raised her head for his kiss, then studied him with her dark eyes. “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Water heater working all right?” he asked as he grabbed a cookie from the cooling rack and then pulled out a chair at the round table by the bay window.

  “It’s fine. You’re always good to me, Carter. You come by whenever I need you. You’re the same with your sisters.”

  He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. On the surface, it seemed to be a compliment, but he knew his mother and she hadn’t asked him to stop by so she could give him a pat on the back. Life was never that easy.

  “And?” he prompted.

  “You’re a good man. I appreciate that. I take some of the credit.”

  He grinned. “Of course you do.”

  Her smile faded. “Rachel went to the doctor today.”

  He dropped the cookie onto the table and stood. “What? Is she all right? Did anything happen?”

  His mother waved him back into his chair. “She’s fine. It was a routine prenatal visit.”

  Right—pregnant women had to go to the doctor. That made sense. “She didn’t tell me,” he said, more to himself than his mother. He’d seen Rachel most of the weekend. Why hadn’t she said anything to him? Was she trying to keep him from getting too involved or had she thought he wouldn’t be interested?

  Whatever she thought of him, he had a right to be involved. He was the baby’s father.

  “She didn’t tell anyone,” his mother said. “I saw the note when I was over on Saturday and Merry, Liz and I just showed up. I thought she might be angry, but she wasn’t. Do you know why?”

  “Because you bullied her and she didn’t want to be rude?”

  His mother narrowed her gaze. “Such a smart mouth. You didn’t get that from me. No, she wasn’t angry because she’s alone, Carter. She’s pregnant and alone in the world.”

  He actually knew that, but still, his mother’s impressive ability to make him feel guilty kicked into play.

  “I would have gone,” he said. “I wanted to go. She never mentioned she was going to the doctor.”

  “Maybe you should ask. Your sisters have been pregnant enough for you to have an idea of what goes on. You have to get involved. There’s going to be a baby soon, and then what?”

  And then, he didn’t know. The direction of this conversation was clear. He braced himself for the familiar attack, but instead of readying his arguments, he wondered if maybe his mother was right.

  Whoa—where had that thought come from? Right?

  “You should marry her,” Nina said. “The baby will need a father, and don’t tell me you’re going to be a father regardless of whether or not you get married. You can’t show up every other weekend, Carter. You need to be there all the time. You need to give this baby a name. Do the right thing. And not just because it’s the right thing. Do it because you want to.”

  Marriage. He had very particular ideas about the institution—most of them involving him running as far and fast as he could. Sure, it looked good from the outside, but then what? How could he think about forever when he wasn’t sure he believed he could ever be in love.

  Except, for once, the idea wasn’t so uncomfortable. He could see himself with Rachel in a few years. In a lot of years. He wouldn’t mind fighting with her and making up with her. He kind of liked thinking about sharing diaper duty and decorating for Christmas. He suddenly wanted to know if she liked dogs.

  Was he serious about this? Could he honestly imagine spending the rest of his life with Rachel? Fidelity had never been an issue, mostly because he always knew he could move on. But this time there would be no moving on. In his mind, marriage was forever.

  Could he be with just her?

  The answer came more easily than he ever could have imagined. Yes, he could be with her forever. He could grow old with her. He could love her.

  Love? Him?

  And if he could or did love her, what did she think about him? She’d been completely comfortable with the idea of not getting married. She was one of the few women he knew who didn’t talk about getting married. Did that mean he’d finally found “the one” only to have her not want him? His ex-girlfriends would have a party in the streets if that turned out to be true.

  But he was getting ahead of himself.

  “Carter, are you listening to me?”his mother asked.

  “Not really.”

  “Then listen to this. It’s time for you to grow up.”

  A common theme in his life, he thought. First the captain and now her.

  He stood and crossed to the stove. “Mama, I love you, but you don’t get a say in this. I’ll do anything for you except live my life the way you want me to. It’s time for you to back off.”

  She eyed him. “You’re standing up to me.”

  “It’s not the first time.”

  “I know, but I think maybe now you mean it.”

  “I do.”

  She smiled. “You’re a good man, Carter. I’m very proud of you.”

  He kissed her again and left. As he crossed the street to his own house, he was again reminded that there were way too many women in his world. Was he really thinking of inviting in one more?

  Chapter Eleven

  Rachel pushed her cart through the grocery store. Carter had called and suggested barbecuing that night. He’d offered to bring everything, including a portable grill, but she’d insisted on providing dinner. After all, their last couple of meals had been compliments of him…or at least his family.

  Carter being a typical guy, she bypassed
chicken in favor of steaks, then picked up some ingredients for salad. In the dairy aisle, she grabbed a few cartons of yogurt to help with her calcium intake.

  It felt strange to be shopping for two—in a guy way, not a baby way—and yet it was fun. She’d been alone for a long time and having Carter around was nice. More than nice. He was a lot of things she’d been looking for in a man. So was she being too hasty in thinking they couldn’t maybe work things out?

  The biggest problem was how Carter saw her. Was she someone he would get serious about? Was he—

  “Hi. I know this is really weird, but are you Rachel?”

  Rachel turned to see a stunning blonde in a T-shirt tight enough to cut off circulation smiling at her. Describing the woman as “pretty” was practically an insult. She defined beautiful, from her gleaming, waist-length hair to her large blue eyes.

  “What?” Rachel blinked and tried to get her brain to work.

  The woman smiled. That was perfect, too. “I’m sorry. I’m Pam. Liz and I go way back. She mentioned you were seeing Carter. My two kids go to your school, so I’ve seen you around. How is he?”

  Carter had dated this…this…goddess?

  “I, ah, he’s fine,” Rachel said, knowing she sounded about as stupid and clueless as she felt. Suddenly her sensible dress seemed drab and unflattering. Her makeup had long since worn off, although there weren’t enough skin products in the world to get her face to look like Pam’s.

  Pam’s smile widened. “I fell for Carter when I was seventeen. And eighteen and nineteen. We were young and things were a little volatile. Liz is thrilled he’s finally found the one. I’m totally content in my life, but I’ll admit to a twinge of envy when I heard he was settling down. Carter’s one of the good guys. I hope you two are really happy.”

  The other woman’s sincere good wishes made Rachel feel like slime, especially since she and Carter were still in the pretend dating stage of their relationship.

  “Thanks,” she murmured as Pam moved away.

  Later, when Rachel had carried the groceries into her apartment and set them on the counter, she stared out the window. The women were everywhere. How many had he dated? A hundred? Five hundred? She supposed that logically all that one-on-one interaction would mean that he would be completely clear on who and what he wanted. While he’d never indicated she was that one, if she was, could she handle it? Could she give her heart knowing that for the next ten or fifteen years women would be coming up to him and offering various degrees of good wishes, some sincerely, some wishing they were in her place?