Baby On The Way (6 page)

“Tough. I do.”

“I need to get dressed.”

“We need to settle this first.”

He stood and her heart jumped. He wasn’t playing fair. He seemed so big in the small room. He knew she felt vulnerable and helpless without her clothes on, but he didn’t care. He wanted this settled—and, as usual, he wanted it settled
his
way.

She lifted her chin, knowing if she didn’t stand her ground now, he’d trample all over her. “You can talk all you want, but I’m not discussing anything until I get dressed.”

He didn’t like that; she could tell by the frustration on his face. But he obviously knew better than to try to argue. With a sound of disgust, he strode out of the room.

Only waiting long enough to make sure he wasn’t going to return, Libby climbed down from the table and hastily pulled on her blouse and jumper. She stepped into her shoes and sat down to tie the laces—a feat that grew harder every day due to her increasing girth. How could the doctor think she was underweight? There had to be some mistake. Surely she couldn’t get much bigger.

She stepped out into the hall and found Del waiting for her. She didn’t protest as he grasped her arm to lead her out of the back rooms, but when they reached the reception area, she pulled up short. “Wait a minute. I need to pay my bill.”

“I’ll get it.”

“No! I’ll pay for it myself.”

His jaw tightened. “Don’t push me on this, Libby. I’m losing patience.”

So was she, Libby decided. “Fine. Pay it,” she said. Why argue? She’d simply write him a check and make sure Christine deposited it in his account. She flounced
out of the doctor’s office without waiting for him, anger blinding her so that she almost bumped into the white-coated figure just entering the building.

“Whoa, there!” Strong hands caught her shoulders to steady her, and Libby looked up from the white coat her nose was pressed against to meet Dr. Dan’s smiling gaze. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “Sorry to almost mow you down like that.”

“No problem. I’ve never been one to object to pretty women running into me,” he said with a wink.

Dr. Dan was a handsome man, tall and lean with pleasant gray eyes. Very easy to talk to, Libby had discovered from the few times he’d come into the store where she worked. Right now his teasing grin was wide and white and Libby couldn’t resist smiling back. She stepped away and the doctor reluctantly released her, saying, “And why are you in such a hurry to leave, Elizabeth? Do you have to get back to work?”

She shook her head, but before she could explain that Del was with her, Dan asked smoothly, “Then how about lunch? There’s a little place down the street—”

“Libby and I were just on our way there,” a deep voice said from behind her. Del wrapped a hand around the back of Libby’s neck, saying casually, “Would you care to join
us?”

A growing heat burned in Libby’s cheeks as the doctor’s gaze rested speculatively on that proprietary hold on her sensitive nape, before returning to scan Libby’s face. He said slowly, “Not this time, thanks. Take care, Elizabeth.”

With a nod he moved on.

Del stared after him, his eyes narrowing. So that was the wonderful Dr. Dan, was it? He didn’t look so wonderful to him. Couldn’t Libby see the guy’s hair was thinning on top? And just where did the guy get off, flirting with a pregnant woman like that. His hold tightened a little as he glanced down at her. “So are you ready to get something to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.” Breaking away from him, she marched toward the parking lot.

Keeping up with her easily, Del caught her arm to steady her as she stumbled on the uneven asphalt, and Libby turned on him, demanding angrily, “What is it with you, acting like that?”

“Like what?” he drawled. She stood without answering, her brown eyes snapping, her hands on her hips. She’d buttoned her blouse crookedly, he noticed, and he reached out to fix it.

Libby slapped his hand away. “Like that! Precisely like that! Like you have the right to tell me what to do—or when to quit work—or even to rebutton my blouse. Despite what you told that nurse in there, you’re not really my fiancé, Del, so quit acting like one!”

His brows rose. “Okay, I will—when
you
quit acting like some kind of pregnant superwoman.”

“Oh!” She yanked at the truck door handle, forgetting it was locked. Fuming, she waited with tapping foot until Del calmly unlocked it and then she clambered ungracefully up into the seat. “Take me home.”

Walking around to the other side, he climbed in and started the engine. “First we’ll get something to eat.”

She had no intention of accompanying him to the restaurant. “I’m not hungry,” she said firmly.

He made a tsking sound with his tongue against his teeth as he pulled into the parking lot. “Don’t lie, Libby. I heard your stomach growling in that examining room.”

That shut her up long enough for him to usher her into the coffee shop and ensconce her in a booth. Libby hid behind the plastic-coated menu for another few minutes as her cheeks cooled and the old-fashioned atmosphere of the family restaurant exercised a soothing effect.

When the waitress came to take their orders, she managed to say with creditable dignity, “Just a salad, please.”

“And chicken soup, too, for the lady,” Del tacked on. When the waitress left he met Libby’s annoyed look with a bland one. “I’ve heard chicken soup is good for you.”

“If you have a cold,” she said haughtily. “I don’t think it’s going to cure my pregnancy.”

“But maybe it will help cure your crankiness,” he murmured.

She ignored him as she ate her meal. There was nothing more annoying, she decided twenty minutes later, than a man who was right. She did feel better after eating the rich soup—and much more able to handle the disgustingly satisfied-looking male who sat across from her watching her eat.

Setting down her spoon, she dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and then plunged into the issue at hand. “I can’t afford to quit work yet.”

“You can’t afford not to if you’re endangering your health,” Del countered, pushing aside his own empty
plate. His lips flattened in a straight line as he added, “I have enough money to help tide you over.”

Libby met his gaze.
^“That’s
beside the point. I told you having this baby was my decision—and my responsibility. I’m going to be a mother. I need to be able to stand on my own two feet.”

“And you will, but right now that isn’t possible.” He added impatiently, “What other choice do you have than to accept my help?”

She picked up her abandoned napkin and absently began shredding it into tiny pieces. Good question. What choice did she have? She didn’t have enough money saved up to last until the baby’s birth. The inheritance she’d received from her father was a help, but not enough to support her for too long without a job. She’d planned to work at least another month.

“I could call my mother, I suppose…” she said slowly. Liz would help, but she’d take over, too. Leaving her mother’s financial stranglehold had been hard enough the first time—it would be well nigh impossible with a small baby. “But she’d have me go back to live with her in California,” Libby admitted. She pushed the napkin pieces into a small white pile. “And I don’t want to do that.”

“Then accept
my
help,” Del said firmly. When she didn’t answer, he sighed. “C’mon, Libby. Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She added a few more pieces to her napkin mountain. “I just don’t want to depend on you—or anyone.” She glanced up fleetingly. “I don’t want to be…weak.”

He looked as if he was about to argue, but she didn’t give him the chance, adding fiercely, “Do you know
how hard it is to summon ambition when there’s always someone there to pick up the bills? Would
you
have worked so hard to get where you are in your job if you hadn’t needed to provide for Christine and your mom?”

He frowned. “Okay—maybe you’ve got a point. But the situations aren’t the same.” Reaching over, he caught her fidgeting fingers in his big hand. “I have a moral and financial responsibility to help you-and the baby-that can’t be ignored.” His grip tightened a little as he added, “I’m not trying to weaken you, Libby. I’m trying to do what’s right.”

Her fingers clung to his. “You’ll interfere—”

“I swear I won’t. How could I when I have to go back to work soon?”

The remark sent a wave of desolation through her—and the feeling frightened her. She pulled her hand away from his grasp. She didn’t want to miss him when he was gone.

He frowned. “What’s the problem? I don’t understand.”

Of course he didn’t understand. He hadn’t built foolish dreams around one night. He hadn’t spent days—all right, weeks!—waiting for the phone to ring.

She glanced at him. He’d leaned back in a corner of the booth, resting one arm on the table and the other along the seat. His tanned face wore a concerned look and the deep blue Oregon sky framed in the window behind him was no more intense than his azure eyes.

She stared down at the napkin pieces, and then pushed them aside, scattering the pile she had made. She wanted him gone. She wanted to regain some of the serenity she’d worked so hard to find the last time
after he left. She wanted to feel in control of her life again.

So maybe she should quit arguing. Del wasn’t like her mother, who used money to tie people to her. For Del, the opposite was true. The sooner she agreed, the sooner he’d leave. She’d simply make sure she accepted his help on her terms. “You’ll let me pay you back as soon as I can?” she asked.

He bit back an expletive. “Fine.”

“And I still don’t want anyone else to know you’re the father.”

She saw a muscle tense in his cheek, but he didn’t argue.

Libby clasped her hands tightly in her lap and drew a deep breath. “Okay, then, I’ll quit work. For the next few months
^only,
I’ll accept your financial help.”

H
e’d won, Del realized, meeting her brown eyes. Not only had he gotten her to agree to tell the doctor he was the father, but now she’d also agreed to accept his financial help. “Good,” he said shortly. “Let’s head back.”

It wasn’t until they were on the road and halfway home that Del admitted to himself that he still felt oddly discontented. He frowned, thinking deeply while Libby gazed out the window by his side. He felt as if he should do something more. Maybe buy her something before he left. Like a crate of diapers…or formula. He suddenly remembered the article he’d read.

“Are you going to breast feed?” he asked abruptly.

She whirled around, her eyes wide and startled. “Whether I breast feed or not is none of your business.”

“I didn’t say it was. It’s just that breast milk—”

“I know all about breast milk, Del, and you have to stop this before you drive me crazy,” she said firmly. “I’ve agreed to let you help me financially—and we’ve told the doctor you’re the father—but that’s where it ends. You promised me you wouldn’t interfere.”

She was right, of course. He had promised. “Sorry,” he said, a bit tersely. “I’m just worried about you—and the baby.” The memory of that small, rapid heartbeat echoed in his mind.

She touched his arm lightly—the first time she’d touched him of her own accord since he’d gotten back, he realized. He glanced at her, meeting her softened brown gaze as she said, “You can stop worrying. I have everything under control. Well.except for childbirth classes.”

His interest sharpened. Ken and Barbie had mentioned childbirth classes. “Haven’t you signed up for them?”

Libby nodded, leaning her head back against the seat. “I did, but now it looks like I’ll have to cancel. Christine was going to be my coach.”

Del frowned. Christine, coach? She’d never been on a team in her life.

“…but she’s leaving on another buying trip next week.”

Del’s frown deepened. Which meant Libby would be alone in that big, old house. He’d have to do something about that. He tucked the thought away for future deliberation and returned to the problem at hand. “Isn’t there anyone else who could coach you?”

She drew off the ribbon that had loosened from her braid and idly wrapped it around on her finger. “There’s someone I thought of asking. I haven’t known him very long, but we hit it off immediately.”

She paused, glancing at him fleetingly, and inexplicably Del’s heartbeat quickened. Could she be talking about
^me?
he wondered.

“The only thing is, he’s so busy.”

Damn, she
was.
But he needed to get back to Seoul.

“He’s really nice—I’m just not sure whether it would be fair to even ask him. I don’t want to put him on the spot…” Her voice trailed off.

He’d have to let her down easy, Del decided. He said huskily. “He’d probably appreciate being asked, Libby. Even if he has to say no.”

Her troubled frown lightened, and she straightened in her seat. “You’re right. Next time I see Dr. Dan, I’ll—”

“Dr.
Dan!”
Del’s hands tightened on wheel, and Libby gave a startled squeak as the truck swerved. Swearing under his breath, Del pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and braked to a halt. Clicking off the engine, he turned to face her. “Are you talking about that doctor who tried to pick you up? Why on earth would you ask him?”

“He wasn’t trying to pick me up—he was merely being nice, which is the reason I thought I’d ask him. He is a doctor, after all—births aren’t anything new to him. He told me once when I ran into him in town that he doesn’t have much to do on his evenings off. Since he’s a bachelor he’d probably enjoy going to classes with me.”

Del’s hands tightened on the wheel. Nice? Couldn’t she see the guy was on the make? He demanded, “Isn’t he on call a lot?”

“I suppose he is—part of the time. But he can’t be on call every minute. And since he’s new to Lone Oak, too, we probably have a lot in common. We both need to meet more people.”

“You don’t need to meet more people. You already
know
lots
of people like. like Brooke. Or Susan. Why don’t you ask one of them to stand in for Christine?”

“Brooke and Susan have enough to worry about. Brooke is working two jobs to help support her elderly aunt, and Susan is busy with her kids. I’m not going to impose on either of them.”

“Okay, then, what about Mrs. Peyton. She has time on her hands.”

“Mrs. Peyton!” Libby stared at him in amazement. “She’s very kind, of course, but.”

“But what?”

“She’d drive me crazy,” Libby blurted out. “Anyone would be better than her.”

“Fine,” Del said promptly. “Then I’ll do it.”

If Libby had looked amazed before, now she appeared positively dumbstruck. “You? But you’re leaving.”

Del scowled, even more surprised than she was by his offer. Was he insane? She was right. He had to get back to work.

Libby must have deduced from his silence that he agreed. She sighed in relief. “Don’t worry about it. I honestly don’t think Dan would mind—”

Del clenched his teeth. Dan! Why was she so hung up on that damn doctor!

“Don’t bother him,” Del said abruptly. “I’ll take a couple more weeks off and stand in for Christine.”

“But—”

“You’re not the only one who can make sacrifices, you know. I’m willing to do my part.” His eyes roamed over her surprised brown eyes, soft mouth, and down to her rounded breasts and belly. Turning away,
he started up the engine. “Simply for the baby’s sake, of course.”

“I need a couple of weeks. Yeah, John, I know the situation in Seoul is deteriorating—I’ve been tracking it on the computer. But I have a.situation on my hands here that I have to take care of,” Del said into the phone two hours later.

While his boss droned in his ear, Del stealthily opened the kitchen door to the parlor, making sure that Libby or Christine hadn’t come back downstairs unexpectedly. After the battle he’d had getting Libby to agree to let him coach her, he definitely didn’t want her to hear him arguing on the phone. She’d use it as the perfect excuse to back out of the deal.

No one was around. Del eased the door closed again and turned back into the kitchen. John paused to take a breath, and Del grabbed the opportunity, saying, “You know I’ve got the time coming. More, in fact.”

John yammered on again, mentioning Steve Douglas. Del winced. Douglas, a family man and less willing to travel, was the guy he’d managed to beat out for his last promotion. John was obviously making it clear he was having second thoughts. “Two weeks is all I need,” Del repeated. “As soon as I settle things here, I’ll be on the first plane out. Count on it.”

He hung up the phone.

“Gotcha!” someone said from behind him.

Del stiffened, then turned around. His sister was leaning against the kitchen door, her arms folded over her chest, her jeaned legs crossed jauntily at the ankles. A distinctly smug look adorned her pixie face.

He scowled.

She smirked.

“What are you doing, sneaking around like that?” Del growled.

Her smile widened. “I wasn’t sneaking. Libby couldn’t find the bear Dorrie Jean gave her so I offered to check to see if it had been left down here. You were just too busy arguing with your boss to hear me come in.” She lifted a slim brow. “So what was that all about?”

“Nothing.” He glanced around. Spying the bear lying facedown on the kitchen table he picked it up and offered it to his sister.

She ignored it. “Don’t give me that. I know what’s going on—Libby told me all about it.”

His fingers dug into the bear’s fur. “She did?”

Christine nodded. She rescued the bear from his stranglehold and put on a solemn look. “I have to say I’m shocked…”

So was Del. He’d thought Libby was going to keep his identity as the baby’s father a secret. He opened his mouth to explain.

“It’s not like you to volunteer for something as personal as being a childbirth coach—even asking for time off from your ‘top secret’ job to do it,” Christine continued.

Del’s mouth snapped shut. He shrugged. “I’m just going to fill in until you get back from your buying trip.”

“So Libby told me.” Christine combed the bear’s fur with her red-painted nails, then paused to admire the effect, adding, “I’ve realized why you’re so willing to help her, you know.”

His gaze narrowed on her face. “You have?”

“Of course I have—I’m not a dummy. It certainly wasn’t hard to figure out…”

He opened his mouth again.

“It’s obvious that the reason you’re doing all this is because you’re interested in Libby.”

His mouth snapped shut. He felt like the dummy—a ventriloquist’s dummy, with Christine pulling the strings. He slanted his sister a warning glare. “Stay out of this, Chris.”

She looked shocked. “I wouldn’t
dream
of interfering. Even though I know that Libby.” Her voice trailed off in a tantalizing fashion. She became immersed in combing the bear’s fur again.

Del clenched his jaw to resist the bait. He failed. “Libby
what?”
he asked through gritted teeth.

“You’re not intereste…”

He’d strangle her, that’s what he’d do. His hands lifted. “Damn it, I’m going to—”

She danced out of reach. “Okay, okay, since you insist.” She glanced around the kitchen as if someone might have entered unnoticed, then lowered her voice to a confiding whisper, “I think your chances with her are very, very good.”

His anger melted away. Libby must have confided her feelings—her
real
feelings—for him to Christine. “Oh, yeah?” he said, trying to act casual. “Why’s that?”

“Because she told me yesterday that she’s completely over the baby’s father. She must have realized what a jerk he was to leave her in the lurch.” Christine beamed. “So don’t you see? Compared to him, you’ll look good.”

His eyes widened—then his mouth thinned. “Thanks a lot.”

She smiled sweetly. “No problem. Hey, why don’t you take the bear to her? It’ll give you a chance to make some points.” She handed it over, and with a final pat on the bear’s head, she left the room.

Del stared broodingly at the door swinging gently shut behind her. So Libby was completely over him, was she? His jaw hardened. No surprise there.

His scowling gaze fell on the stuffed bear in his hand. He carefully brushed off a bread crumb clinging to the furry little face. The synthetic fur felt soft beneath his fingertips—as soft as Libby’s hair. “Quit touching me,” she’d said, and the memory sent a small shaft of pain through him. Unlike his sister, he wasn’t normally a “touchy” kind of person, but it was so hard to keep his hands off Libby. Stroking her silky hair and satiny skin, holding her in his arms, felt as natural as breathing. Feeling her slim fingers clinging to his…

His eyes narrowed on the bear’s blank gaze. That’s right. In the restaurant—before she’d drawn away—her fingers
had
clung to his. Would a woman who was no longer attracted to a man do that?

He absently rubbed the bear’s furry belly with his knuckles while he considered the question. Maybe it had been unintentional. Or maybe she was just too proud to let him know she still wanted a physical relationship.

Well, one thing was for sure—he had the perfect opportunity to find out.

He tapped Teddy gently on his black button nose. “You know, I’m really looking forward to those classes.”