Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“Despite my reputation for kicking people out, generally they leave of their own accord.”
“She decided to leave?”
“We were…in the middle of things, though we didn’t get very far before I stopped it. She asked me why, and I blurted out that I was distracted because I was having a baby with my dead wife.”
“Well, that’d do it.” I covered my mouth with my hand to smother a laugh.
“It took her several seconds to wrap her head around it before she asked me what the hell I was talking about. I tried again to explain why I was preoccupied. I don’t know if I made any more sense, but she finally got the picture that nothing was going to happen, despite my original intentions. And that’s when you rang. It was rude of me to take the call. That made things worse. So she left.”
“You are quite the romantic, Sig.”
“I was for a brief time, about six months to be exact. Never before and probably never again. Now I’m just good at making women disappear.”
“I think we found your superpower.”
“Yeah.” He exhaled. “Anyway, I’m glad you called.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to apologize if I seemed a bit freaked out today. The ultrasound was…a lot. And once again, I neglected to ask how you’re doing in all this. I’m sorry for that.”
“There’s no need to apologize. Your reaction was to be expected. I can’t imagine what you were thinking.” I settled deeper into the mattress.
“It was amazing to see that life inside of you.” Sig paused. “These past few weeks, I’d fallen back into pretending it wasn’t happening. I don’t have to tell you how absent I’ve been. But after today, I know I can’t pretend anymore. I can’t pretend that little beating heart doesn’t exist. And I won’t react like that again. There’s no excuse for my absence lately.” He sighed. “But today after the appointment…I just needed some time to process.”
“And you figured you’d do that by shagging some broad from the Internet?”
“I have a strange way of handling things sometimes.”
“Don’t worry. I get it. And I wasn’t offended.”
“Are you happy here, Abby?”
My eyes widened in surprise. “I am, actually. More than I thought I’d be.”
“No thanks to me, though.”
“Well, you did bring me Devil Dogs. That’s a major point in your column.”
“I’d been searching for them ever since you told me you were wanting them.”
That gave me goose bumps. “Where did you find them?”
“I just happened to see them in the shop attached to the petrol station where I stopped to fill up tonight. Imagine that? Maybe the universe was telling me what an arse I was today and showing me a way to make it better. So I turned around and drove back to the inn to drop them off. You’d already left for Felicity’s.”
“Well, I’m gonna put them in the fridge and have them for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Ah, breakfast of champions.”
“Crap. I don’t have milk, though.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I do?”
“Go look in the fridge.”
“Really? You bought me milk, too?”
“You said you eat them with ice-cold milk. So I picked some up.”
“Wow. I’m amazed that you remembered that.”
“Onions have a good memory.”
I smiled. “It’s nice to talk to you again, Sig. I’ve missed your snark and your sense of humor. I thought I’d scared you away.”
“Scared me away? Why?”
“The night I stayed at your apartment, you sort of went quiet after I told you about my symptom.” My voice quivered. “I wondered if you thought I was insinuating something. You know, coming on to you.”
“I didn’t think that at all. But you disappeared into the bedroom so fast after you announced it, I’m not sure how you could gauge my reaction.”
“I suppose I did disappear. I was referring to your disappearing act in the days after.” I paused, trying to find the right words. “I also let it slip that I find you attractive that night. I wasn’t sure if that made you uncomfortable, too.”
A few seconds of silence passed.
“My absence has had nothing to do with any of that, Abby.”
“If you say so.”
He cleared his throat. “How’s everything going in that regard, by the way? With your symptom?”
“It’s still…going.”
“Good to know.”
“So, speaking of that, I have to tell you something,” I said, bracing myself.
“Okay…”
Here we go. “Sean from work asked me out.”
Dead silence followed.
“Are you still there?”
After a moment he said, “I’m here.”
“I didn’t give him an answer. He asked me about a week ago.” I took a deep breath. “I know how you feel about the guys from work, and honestly, I don’t want to do anything to upset you. But it’s gonna be a long nine months here—and I’m only going to get more pregnant as time goes on. That will complicate my social life.” I paused. “So I may take him up on his offer.”
Sig said nothing.
“I think you were right about Alistair,” I added. “But Sean seems like a nice guy.”