One Last Objection_A Small-Town Romance

by Nancy Stopper

  “Thanks, Dr. Alexander.”

  The doctor handed her a stack of papers and smiled. Maggie had selected just the right doctor to calm her frazzled nerves. “We’ll see you back in four weeks. Just make an appointment on your way out.”

  Maggie started to slide from the table but her eye caught the top paper on the stack. A small black and white photo in a weird shape. Almost like a pyramid, but not quite. The images were gray and fuzzy, but the doctor had typed the words “Hi Mommy!” right above the image of the baby. She was going to have a baby. Oh my God, she was going to have a baby.

  “Maggie, are you all right?”

  “I’ve just never seen a sonogram picture before. At least not up close like this.”

  “Pretty magical, isn’t it? Makes it all just a little bit more real.”

  She sighed. “Sure does.”

  The doctor scooted out of the room. Maggie got dressed, but she couldn’t stop staring at the picture of her baby. Their baby. She laid her hand over her belly. “Hey, little one. This is Mommy. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, but I promise, I’ll figure it out before you get here. Deal?”

  Maggie made her next appointment and rode the elevator to the lobby. She continued to stare at the sonogram image as she headed out of the building and ran smack dab into someone.

  Chapter Four

  MICHAEL CUPPED HIS hands around Maggie’s elbows so she didn’t fall over. Her focus was on the pile of documents in her arms. She mumbled a quick apology but didn’t look up. As soon as she took a step back, she raised her head.

  Her eyes widened.

  “Michael!” As she screeched, her arms flew up and all of the documents went flying. The wind caught them, tossing them around.

  Maggie bent to grab the closest papers and Michael chased after a couple of loose sheets and snatched them up. By the time he returned to Maggie, she had the rest in a haphazard pile in her arms, fumbling to keep them from falling again.

  This was not the normal put-together Maggie he was used to. Despite that, he was thrilled to see her, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. She’d ignored all of the texts since his last visit. If she couldn’t bother to respond to a simple text as to how she was doing, what kind of relationship did he think they could have? Though he hadn’t had a chance to call or text since he’d packed up his condo, she hadn’t been far from his mind, including how he would broach the subject of a more serious relationship. “How have you been?”

  “What, me, oh, I’m fine.”

  Her eyes darted anywhere but his face, and she shuffled the papers clutched to her chest. The redhead standing in front of him with her hair sticking out in several directions and her coat hanging off one shoulder was anything but fine. “What’s going on, Maggie?”

  She straightened and squared her shoulders. “Nothing. It’s been a long time, Michael. I heard you were moving back to town.”

  “I wanted to tell you myself.”

  “Ya think? I had to hear from your sister.”

  Okay, so she was pissed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried. She’d know if she’d bothered to respond to him. As happy as he was to see her, her anger didn’t feel fair. “I texted you a couple of weeks ago but you never answered. I bought Jeff Taylor’s law practice.” While Maggie hadn’t been the impetus for his relocation, she certainly was an attractive enticement. The prospect of spending more time with her, exploring a relationship, had helped ease the anger at his unplanned career change. But he could have neither of those things if she wouldn’t talk to him.

  “I hadn’t heard, which is surprising considering there are no secrets in this town.”

  “Listen, it’s really cold out here. Can we go somewhere and talk? How about I buy you a cup of coffee?”

  Maggie continued to rifle through the papers in her arms. She wouldn’t look at him. “I don’t know, Michael. I’m really busy right now. It’s been a long time. Maybe in a couple of weeks.”

  This was really not like her. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

  She couldn’t fool him. Something was definitely not right. He lowered his voice. It would do no good to get her riled up. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. Maybe I can help.”

  She stepped back and hugged the pile of papers in her arms. “There’s just a lot going on, Michael. Can I have my things so I can go?”

  Oh, right. He offered her the two small slips of paper he’d chased down the sidewalk. A glimpse of the top one revealed a small black and white image, kinda fuzzy. Someone had typed “Hi, Mommy” in bright white letters. This was…

  “Maggie, what is this?”

  She snatched the paper from his hand and tucked it on her pile. “Nothing.”

  “That was not nothing. That looked like a sonogram photo. Is that yours?”

  She stared at her feet. Maggie had never been this way before, evasive and discombobulated.

  When she didn’t answer, a heavy weight sank into his gut. “Are you pregnant?”

  She shuffled her feet back and forth. “I was going to tell you.”

  Wait, what? When he’d asked the question, he’d expected a stock answer about a patient or another non-personal response. But to hear the words from her mouth now, his heart sputtered then raced. “When? How far along are you?” And had she planned to tell him… ever? If he hadn’t moved back to town, if he hadn’t slammed into her on the sidewalk, how long would he have remained in the dark?

  She turned her head and looked behind her. “Not so loud.”

  Michael wrapped his fingers around her elbow and guided her back into the hospital. She didn’t resist, her silence deafening as he guided her down the hall. That explained why he’d run into her here. A few minutes later, he grabbed a couple bottles of water and sat her down at a table in the cafeteria.

  She twisted off the cap and took a huge swallow. He gave her a minute to regroup while he reigned in his frustration. There had to be a simple explanation for why he was just now finding out she was pregnant.

  “Okay, now talk.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Michael. Am I pregnant? Yes. I just had my first appointment with the OB/GYN.”

  First appointment. He didn’t know much about babies, but they hadn’t been together in almost three months. It couldn’t be his if she was just now going to the doctor.

  Wait… she’d been with someone else? They’d agreed to be exclusive in the bedroom. Was this why she’d ignored his texts? His fists clenched and he forced them to relax. What in the hell was he doing here? “First appointment, huh? So whose baby is it?”

  The muscle in her jaw ticked and she threw him a fiery look. There was the Maggie he knew… opinionated, strong-willed, I-won’t-take-shit-from-anyone attitude. And all of that was directed at him. “It’s yours, asshole.”

  He gulped his water and shook his head. “Can’t be. We haven’t been together since Labor Day. If you just had your first appointment, you had to have gotten pregnant after that.”

  “You’re full of it, Bennett. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She leapt to her feet and hurried toward the door.

  His heart jumped. She couldn’t leave before he got to the bottom of this. His? He didn’t have time for a freak out now. He had to get more information. Michael hurried behind her and grabbed her shoulder. “Maggie, wait. How is it mine?”

  “It’s really simple. We fucked, something went wrong, and I’m pregnant. Twelve weeks pregnant, if you must know.”

  He mentally counted back. She was right—he was an asshole. He lowered his head, sighed, and gestured to the table. “I’m sorry, Maggie. Please. Sit down and let’s talk about this.”

  She shot daggers at him but returned to her seat. He dropped his hands to his lap so she wouldn’t see them shaking. He shouldn’t have yelled, but she also should have told him before now. “I’m sorry. I guess I assumed—”

  “You assumed wrong.�
�� Okay, so his apology hadn’t been enough to fix the situation.

  “Why didn’t, I mean, you could have called me. Why didn’t you call me?” He scrubbed his hand over his jaw. Now that he’d had a moment to process this information, anger gave way to hurt. This was his child, too. He wanted, no, he deserved, to be a part of the child’s life.

  Maggie snapped her fingers in front of his face. “You still with me?”

  He shook his head. “Yeah, sorry. Why didn’t you call?”

  She fiddled with the papers in the pile. “I didn’t know until about a month ago.”

  He reached over and stilled her hands, smoothing his thumb over her soft fingers. “You could have contacted me then. I would have been here for you.”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

  Her heart wrenched and sweat broke out on his upper lip. “Is something wrong with the baby?”

  “Oh, no. Nothing like that. I have a medical condition. The doctors said I probably couldn’t get pregnant. I didn’t know that I missed a period because I skip them all the time. But after two, I got worried. I took a test at home.”

  He heaved a big breath. Thank God nothing was wrong. But if Maggie had a serious condition, was it safe for her to be pregnant? “The test was positive?”

  She nodded. “Needless to say, I was a bit freaked out. And then I was afraid that something could be wrong with the baby. I, uh, I wanted to be sure before I told you.”

  “Is everything okay? With you, I mean. Is it okay for you to be pregnant?”

  Her smile lit up her entire face, crinkles popping at the corners of her eyes. “It’s perfectly all right. PCOS just means it’s hard to get pregnant. Guess I showed them, didn’t I?” She huffed out a breath so strong that her bangs flipped on her forehead.

  He wanted to know everything about what was happening. As soon as he was done here, he was getting online and buying a book about pregnancy. Maybe two. And one on her condition… PCOS? He hated being unprepared, and right now, he was like a fish out of water. If only he had a pad shoved in his pocket to jot some notes down. He was in over his head without a way to organize his thoughts. Maggie, pregnant. With his baby.

  “You look happy.” Maggie smiled at him.

  Huh? He was. What do you know? He’d moved back to town with a goal to transform his relationship with Maggie. This just accelerated those plans. Of course he wanted a relationship with the woman who was having his baby. And now she’d have to agree, right? “I am.”

  “That surprises you?”

  “A little bit. So tell me about your appointment.”

  Maggie’s smile grew as she recounted her visit. Damn, if only he’d run into her yesterday, he could have been with her. Holding her hand. He wanted to have words with the nurse who’d looked at her sideways about scheduling her appointment. But Maggie’s weight loss concerned him as much as it had the nurse. That was another thing he would research as soon as he got home. She looked perfect to him.

  He studied her a moment. Come to think of it, her breasts were a little fuller. That must be because of her pregnancy.

  He really needed to get that book.

  “And then I heard this fast swooshing sound… and it was the baby’s heartbeat.” She lowered her hand to her belly as she spoke.

  “That sounds… amazing. Can I see the picture again?”

  “Absolutely.” She shuffled the papers until she found the small black and white slip of paper. He held it up and tilted his head as he looked at the image. What was he looking at? Two grayish blobs in the middle of a black area.

  Maggie came around the table and leaned over his shoulder. “See, right here is the head. And that’s the heart.”

  Now that she pointed out a few features, everything came into focus. His baby. Warmth spread through him and settled deep in his chest.

  He was going to be a father.

  She slid back into her chair. “So what now?”

  “I don’t know. This has all kind of caught me off guard. I’m happy and scared. I want to be there for you but I haven’t even moved my stuff into my new place yet. I’m staying with Joey until I close escrow on my house next week.”

  “Rachel told me she was helping you move.”

  When had Maggie and Rachel discussed him? At one of Rachel’s sessions? Did Rachel know about the pregnancy—or who the father was? His sister had blossomed in her time with Maggie. He hoped that wouldn’t change now that Maggie was having his baby, but no sense borrowing trouble right now. “I got a great little cottage… front porch, huge back yard. Not too far from here.” And not too far from her condo, either.

  “Sounds great.” She looked at her watch. “Oh, shit. I’m so late.” She hopped to her feet and grabbed the papers. “I have a session in, like, five minutes.”

  “Wait, when can we talk? I have a lot more questions.”

  She rushed by him and waved on her way across the cafeteria. “I’ll call you.”

  Would she, though? She hadn’t reached out about the pregnancy. Once they talked, he understood where she was coming from. While she seemed to have a handle on her pregnancy so far, he wasn’t going to wait twelve weeks to talk to her again.

  Chapter Five

  MAGGIE PROPPED HER feet on her coffee table and loosened the button on her skirt. She huffed out a huge breath she felt like she’d been holding all day. Thank God. She’d been tempted to unbutton her skirt and hide the waistband with her blouse a number of times this afternoon. But that wasn’t the Maggie she presented to the town and she wasn’t about to change. At home? That was a different story.

  She couldn’t believe she’d slammed into Michael outside the hospital today. Any other day, she could have sailed through seeing him, but her mind had been focused on the image of her baby on the sonogram. The picture that she’d stuck on her refrigerator as soon as she got home.

  Her feet throbbed and every muscle in her body ached. Rascal jumped onto the couch and walked across her legs, curling up on her lap. He always seemed to know when she needed a little TLC. She sank her fingers into his fur and he turned on his motor. The even rumbles calmed her nerves.

  She didn’t have the strength to consider making something for dinner. Maybe she could call J.J.’s and beg Carla to send someone over with takeout. In a minute. Just as soon as she rested her eyes for a second.

  Knock. Knock.

  Her eyes snapped open. Had she fallen asleep? What time was it? She glanced at her watch. Eight o’clock! She’d been asleep for over an hour.

  Knock. Knock.

  Rascal let out a mewl and leapt from her lap. Daggone cat thought everyone who came by was here to see him. Who in the hell was knocking at her door? She brushed her hands over her unruly hair. Oh well, there was no taming her mane after she’d pulled it out of her bun anyway. As long as she didn’t scare away whoever was at the door.

  She stood and her stomach growled. Revolted was probably a better description. She gritted her teeth and breathed deeply. After another deep minute, the need to throw up passed and she opened the door.

  “Michael?”

  He looked especially delicious in his crisp white shirt and pressed khaki pants. Did this man even own a pair of jeans?

  “I couldn’t wait any longer to see you again.” He pushed his way through the door with bags in both hands.

  As he crossed to the kitchen, she checked out his ass. Finest glutes she’d ever seen.

  But none of that mattered. She couldn’t muster the strength to make dinner for him, and she was definitely not up for sex. “I said I’d call you. I’m really tired right now.”

  “I brought dinner. Are you hungry?” He dug into one of the bags he’d set on the kitchen counter and pulled out Styrofoam containers, holding one in the air. “Toasted turkey sandwiches with couscous salad on the side.”

  Turkey sandwich and couscous? What she really craved was a greasy cheeseburger and a side of fries. Maybe some onion rings, too, and a big brownie from Emma�
�s.

  “And just so you don’t think I’m a complete scrooge, I brought you a brownie from Mug ’n Muffin. I know how you love those.”

  Thank God. She rushed into the kitchen, snatched the sweet treat out of his hand, and took a bite before he could stop her.

  “Mmm. That hit the spot.”

  Michael laughed as he plated their dinners. “That was supposed to be for dessert.”

  She followed him as he carried both plates to the table. “No need to worry. I still have plenty of room. Don’t forget I’m eating for two.”

  His brows furrowed and the smile dropped from his face as he set the plates down and grabbed the other bag he’d brought with him. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  Michael shoved Rascal off the other chair and slid in before her precocious cat could reclaim his spot. The cat thought that chair was his. It’s not like she ever had anyone over.

  Michael slid the other bag he’d brought off to the side of the table and then took a bite of his own sandwich. He swallowed like it hadn’t gone down well and looked at her like he had something to say.

  What was he thinking? The two of them never had trouble talking in the past. She always loved to listen to him share about some of his more colorful clients. Anonymously, of course. He’d never been at a loss for words around her. He was a freakin’ lawyer, for crying out loud. Those guys talked for a living. Hell, he even liked to talk in bed. But now… nothing. His silence had her perched on the edge of her seat, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  After he swallowed another bite, he swiped at his mouth and pulled a notepad out of the bag. He grabbed his pen and clicked it open. “I have some questions, I hope that’s okay.”

  He flipped over the first sheet on the pad to reveal a page full of writing. Really small writing. How many questions did he have? And what was she doing wrong that she didn’t have a list of her own?