Worth the Risk by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber [Macomber, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Anthologies (Multiple Authors)
ISBN: 9780373837694
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The ringing of the cordless phone woke Harrison from a deep sleep. He was startled for a second, blinking against the darkness, wondering where he was and how he’d gotten there. Then something squirmed in the crook of his arm and he realized he was lying on the couch, holding a baby.

The full reality of the situation—the fact that this was his baby—connected in his brain a second later. But he still couldn’t believe it.

Using his free hand, he fumbled under the pillows and between the seat cushions, but didn’t reach the phone in time.

It was probably Rosie, checking up on him. Earlier, Jeremy had cried so much that Harrison had placed three distress calls to his mother and two to the nurses at the hospital. He’d been positive there was something critically wrong, even though, from a medical standpoint, he couldn’t figure out what that might be.

Fortunately the nurses he’d spoken to had confirmed what he thought—that sometimes babies cried for no apparent reason—and that everything was probably okay. Odd how different it was being on the receiving end of medical advice.

Thank God Jeremy had settled down at last. He was sleeping peacefully now, so peacefully that Harrison couldn’t imagine how he’d caused so much trouble in the first place.

He considered calling his mother back to tell her the situation had improved, but he decided to let it go until morning. He was so tired....

He let his eyelids drift closed once more, only to have the phone drag him to consciousness again. Evidently Rosie couldn’t wait until morning.

A new search yielded the handset before the ringing could subside. “Hello?”

“Harrison?”

“Yes?” It was a woman’s voice, but not his mother’s, and Harrison was too groggy to place it.

“It’s Noelle.”

Noelle! Clutching the baby, he sat up, trying to gather his senses. He hadn’t expected her to call so late. “Are you home?”

“I’m in my car. I just went by the hospital. Nurse Matheson told me they released Jeremy today.”

He gazed down at the bundle in his arms. “I picked him up this morning.”

The baby began to stretch, causing Harrison’s stomach to knot in dismay. Would he start crying again? The past few hours had been harrowing. Harrison had never felt so helpless or inadequate. He needed Noelle even more than he’d thought.

Leaning closer to the table beside him, he squinted at the bottle he’d left there, trying to see if there was any milk in it. But between the darkness and the kind of bottle it was—the one with the plastic liners designed to keep the air out—he couldn’t really tell. Don’t cry, kid. Come on, don’t cry....

“I left a message on your answering machine,” he said, lowering his voice.

“I don’t know how to check it remotely. Where’s the baby now?”

“Here with me.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t around to help. Are the two of you okay?”

For the moment, they were. But whether or not Harrison remained okay depended on what Jeremy did next. “I think so.” Still tense, he watched the baby squirm and yawn and squirm some more.

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