A Son for the Mountain Firefighter: A Secret Baby Second Chance Romance (The Mountain Firefighter Series Book 1) by Melinda Curtis

Author:Melinda Curtis [Curtis, Melinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purple Papaya
Published: 2020-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

When Dr. Stuart came to check on her at two in the morning, Lexie announced, “We’ve decided to call the baby Henry.”

Dr. Stuart looked less than pleased that they’d named the baby. Lexie was reminded of a stray cat she’d fed for a time when she was a kid. Her mother had cautioned her not to name it, but Lexie had done so anyway. “It’ll just hurt that much more when he runs away or gets hit by a car if you give it a name,” Lexie’s mother, ever practical, had warned her.

Lexie hadn’t wanted to listen. Back then, Lexie had been an optimist and searching for any love she could get. She’d named the cat Ruffles and she’d played with him every day. Until a few weeks later when she’d found the cat’s lifeless body in the gutter of the busy street they lived on.

Now Dr. Stuart seemed to be doing much the same as her mother, sending shafts of doubt to the foundation of Lexie’s hard-won optimism. “You have a delicate constitution when it comes to babies, Mrs. Garrett, as we learned from that miscarriage last year. We always take every precaution in a situation like this, but…”

To Lexie’s dismay, the doctor droned on.

Jackson’s expression had turned to stone. He nodded curtly to the doctor when he’d finished his “don’t worry, but don’t get your hopes up” speech, but didn’t say a word.

“I’ll check on you again in a few hours.” Dr. Stuart disappeared out into the hallway, leaving Lexie alone with Jackson.

“What’s he talking about, Lex?” There wasn’t even a trace of a smile on Jackson’s face.

Lexie chose to ignore Jackson’s question, looking instead at the muted television. What could she say? She’d been pregnant twice in the past year and hadn’t told him either time.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Lexie said wearily, when she couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “It’s in the past.”

“Was it mine?”

Lexie nearly cried out because his doubt cut her heart. “How can you ask that?”

Jackson didn’t say a word, didn’t make light of the situation or tell her it didn’t matter. The silence between them became unbearable, as it never had been before, because Jackson had never stared at her with so much raw pain in his face.

She should have told him.

“When?” he asked in a cold voice.

Lexie shivered. In all their time together, he’d never been this disappointed in her. But she’d been the one whose expectations weren’t fulfilled. He’d been nowhere to be found when she needed him most, when she was scared, bleeding and alone last summer in this same hospital. The memory gave her strength.

“Do you remember the day I asked you to move out?” Lexie held her head up and met his steely gaze squarely. “I asked you to meet me for lunch. We’d grown so distant. I’d just found out about the pregnancy and I was ecstatic about the baby. I thought it was a sign that we were meant to be together. I thought you’d be happy.

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