Pregnancy Countdown

“I would have been willing to sacrifice myself as the main course,” he told the closed door. Since she didn’t return, he settled for climbing out of bed and walking into the bathroom, where he found his tuxedo hanging neatly on the back of the door. The last he remembered, his jacket had been abandoned somewhere in the hallway and the pants tossed on the floor just before they fell onto the bed.

Mark turned on the shower and tested the temperature before stepping into the cubicle. He surveyed the array of shower-gel bottles lining the shelf.

“I can either smell like a sugar cookie, fudge brownie or key lime pie,” he murmured. “Whatever happened to plain old vanilla?” He finally settled on key lime pie, thinking it would be similar to the lime-scented shaving foam he used. He soon discovered it wasn’t even close.

It wasn’t Mark’s first time in a woman’s bathroom, but it was the first time he’d been in Nora’s. Deciding he had the time, he did a little exploring. A closet revealed a colorful supply of towels in tangerine, turquoise, lime and lemon colors. The bath towels were oversize, the dimensions perfect for a man. He wondered how many men had showered in her bathroom. He quickly decided it wasn’t something he wanted to think about.

Once he finished, he towel dried his hair and worked to make himself as presentable as a morning-after visitor could be.

Mark left his jacket in the bathroom as he followed his nose to the kitchen. The homey aroma of food cooking sent his appetite level up several notches.

Damn, if he didn’t feel like the man of the house going in to have breakfast with the woman of the house. He stopped abruptly. Now where had that come from?

WHO KNEW?

Nora felt her pulse rate start to speed up as sultry images again invaded her mind.

Mark’s family liked to tease him that he never moved any faster than he had to. Last night, Nora had learned that was very true. The man knew how to draw lovemaking out until she’d been gasping and crying out for him to put her out of her misery. He had ignored her pleas, and when he finally did release her, she felt as if she’d been shot out into space among the stars.

She was positive she still hadn’t come down.

Nora concentrated on putting last night in a logical perspective. It wasn’t working. She didn’t want to call last night a mistake, but the word was blinking in bold red letters inside her head. She feared making love with Mark was the first step down a path she didn’t dare travel. She told herself she could make it easy. She could blame the event on unsettled emotions. She’d been grappling with mind-numbing grief that had evolved into the need to connect with another living being. Mark holding her last night had fed that need.

She tried to tell herself that it could have happened with whomever had been holding her last night, but Nora had never been a good liar.

Come on, Nora, call it what it was. A one-night stand.

Sure it was. The earth spun around, the stars fell down around us. I’m still in shock.

Making love was different with Mark. They shared a past, even if that past hadn’t included their being lovers. After they broke up, she’d told herself it was easier because they hadn’t been lovers. That had been because she wasn’t completely sure of Mark. For a man who’d been given more than the usual allotment of charm, he’d never provided her with any reason to distrust him. But she had always felt it could happen at any time. Mark had only to flash one of those devastating smiles of his and women fell all over him. Literally.

Nora never stopped to think that it was her own insecurity that pushed her away from Mark. That what her father had done to the family had remained in the back of her mind and affected any chance of Nora finding love because she was afraid she would be left behind the way her mother had been. She never stopped to think that the breakup might have been her fault, not Mark’s. Nora couldn’t live with the fear that one day, Mark might be tempted to leave.

“Something smells good.”

She whipped around so fast the small pitcher she was holding slipped from her fingers. Only Mark’s quick reflexes kept it from shattering on the floor. He set the jug on the counter.

“Pancakes?” He eyed the golden-brown circles on the hot griddle.

“Sourdough pancakes,” she explained, picking up a plate. “What with my being gone a while, I didn’t have too many supplies in the house, but I did have my sourdough starter and I had some freeze-dried eggs to use along with some sausage from the freezer. I’m surprised I had as much in there as I did.” She nodded toward the coffee pot. “There’s juice in the refrigerator if you want any. Glasses are in the cabinet.”

“Want some?”

Been there, done that.

She banished her mocking private voice to the far reaches of her brain. The man was merely inquiring if she wanted orange juice.

“Yes, thank you.” She slowly poured more of the pancake batter onto the griddle. At least she could hold on to her composure on the outside.

It wasn’t the first time a man had spent the night in her bed. Although, for many months, the only male who had been there was Brumby, her beloved bulldog.

A few minutes later she handed Mark a plate heaped high with pancakes, sausage and a couple of scrambled eggs. The look of bliss on his face rivaled Brumby’s when he was given a beef bone.

“Tell me about the wedding,” she requested when she sat down across from him.

“The usual. Everyone was dressed up like grown-ups, Zach looked as if he was ready to pass out at any moment, Ginna looked gorgeous,” Mark replied. “The only hitch was the nephew-to-be, Trey, taking his ring-bearer duties too seriously. When big brother Jeff untied the ribbons to give the rings to Zach, the little guy pretty much threw a fit. He said loud and clear that he was to protect the rings and Jeff couldn’t have them. Trey’s sister, Emma, told him to shut up and stop acting like a baby. That broke up any solemnity the service had.”

Nora smiled at the idea of Zach’s twins adding a few surprises to the ceremony. “Who caught the bouquet?”

“Our aunt Minnie pretty much trampled the competition,” he replied. “Six marriages and she’s still hopeful she’ll eventually get it right. I give her credit for perseverance.”

“And the garter?” She referred to the custom of the groom tossing the bride’s garter over his shoulder toward the single men. A custom that revealed who the next groom would be.

Mark studied his pancakes as if they held the secrets of the universe. “No one interesting, although Aunt Minnie wanted to participate. Dad and Gramps told her no way.”

Nora arched an eyebrow. Her smile grew in proportion with her glee as she easily figured out who the lucky recipient was.

“You caught the garter?”

“It was a conspiracy. I had no plans on standing out there with the other idiots,” he said. “At the last minute, Jeff and Brian pushed me out into the front of the group, and just like the Red Sea the group parted so the garter was literally thrown in my face.” His expression boded ill for his two older brothers.

“You should have known you’d be the next target. Your dad said he hopes Nikki waits until she’s forty before she gets married,” Nora reminded him, speaking of his youngest sister.

“Nikki has no desire to get married until she’s out of medical school. It’s Aunt Minnie who needs watching. The reception had barely started before she had husband number seven narrowed down to three victims.” He leaned back in his chair and spoke, emphasizing his words with eloquent gestures.

Nora’s smile widened into a genuine one as she listened to Mark’s stories about friends and relatives celebrating his sister’s special day. He described each incident so well that she felt as if she were right there with him.

But she also knew she had to consider last night a one-night stand even though that kind of experience wasn’t her style. The last thing she needed was to get caught up with Mark Walker again. It hurt too much when she’d broken up with him. After making love, she feared that not only her heart, but her soul, wouldn’t recover if she got involved with him a second time.

She’d put all the blame on herself for last night. She was hurting and vulnerable and he was there.

There was no reason for it to happen again, no matter how much her tingling body argued with her at just the memory of what had flared up between them.

No reason at all.

Chapter Two

“I really appreciate you fitting me in, Nora,” Lucie Donner said, settling back in the soft-cushioned salon chair.

“You sounded so urgent on the phone I was afraid you were going to walk in here with purple hair.” Nora smiled at Ginna’s new sister-in-law.

“After everything that’s gone on, that would be a plus,” Lucie laughed.

“That’s right, you lost part of your house. What’s happening with that?” She ran a brush through Lucie’s hair then ran her fingers through the shoulder-length strands.

“You haven’t lived until you come home and discover an airplane engine has dropped into your home office at ten o’clock in the morning,” she confided. “Talk about a shock.”

“And?” she prodded.

“And I realized that ordinarily I would have been sitting in there, except I had a parent-teacher conference with Nick’s teachers that morning. I’ve decided it’s time to make some changes. I sold the house.”

“You’re moving? I thought it was being rebuilt for you after the accident.”

“Accident is an understatement,” Lucie chuckled. “Almost half my house was flattened after that jet engine fell through the roof. I didn’t even want to consider going back there. I’d mentioned selling it to a neighbor and he wanted to buy it for his son and daughter-in-law and rebuild the house to his own specs. He offered me a great price and I took it. I’m hoping that moving to a new area will give Nick a new chance. I swear, it was getting to the point where I thought I’d have to seduce a judge just to keep my baby boy out of jail,” she said.

“I thought he was doing much better.” Nora mentally cataloged highlight shades and which ones would do best for Lucie.

“Oh, he is. I haven’t received a call from the school for almost three weeks. That’s pretty much a record for him. But I never drop my guard,” she chuckled, half turning. She froze. “Ohmigod!” She grasped Nora’s arm. “Is that who I think it is?”

Nora smiled. She easily guessed which client Lucie was staring at. She pressed her hands on Lucie’s shoulders, keeping her turned to the mirror. “Yes, it is. Try not to drool.”

“Drool would be the least of my problems. I once seriously thought about moving to Australia because of that man. Look at his smile!”

Nora chuckled as the object of their conversation turned toward them, smiled and winked.

“Now I can die happy,” Lucie sighed. “Right after you turn me into a blonde.”

“And we want this because…?”

Lucie’s smile dimmed. “We want this because I’ve come to realize life is much too short. Just the idea of having that engine come so close to wiping me out started me thinking about my priorities. I realized a majority of my outside contacts consist of being the helper mom at Nick’s school, chaperoning his class’s field trips, and being a voice over the phone when someone is booking a trip. Other than occasional recharge days here at the spa, I haven’t done much for myself. I don’t mean that I hate being known as Nick’s mother or Zach’s sister or even so-and-so’s travel agent. But, there are days when I’d like someone to think of me as Lucie, Wild Woman.”

“Well, Wild Woman, you don’t have to be blond to change your life. Besides, going totally blond wouldn’t suit your coloring,” Nora explained. “What if we intensify your highlights? That won’t be as drastic.”

Lucie stared in the mirror at her reflection. “Whatever you think best.”

“Carte blanche. I love it.” Nora combed her fingers through the other woman’s hair. “Don’t worry. You’ll look great when I finish.”

She brightened. “Maybe the new me will tempt the sexy Australian.”

Nora chuckled. “Oh, honey, stand in line.”

Two hours later, Lucie surveyed her new image. Shades of dark blond, gold and copper added more light to her hair. Nora had trimmed a few inches off the ends, giving her a more casual look.

“I like it,” Lucie said. “Now to buy some new clothes to go with the new image.”

“Are you sure Nick can handle having a sexy mom?” Nora teased.

“If I can handle that sky-high IQ of his, he can handle this.” She quickly stroked dark coral lip gloss across her lips. “Yep, just what I needed.”

“You’ll be beating the men off with a stick,” Nora predicted.

Her face lit up. “You know, that wouldn’t be so bad.”

After Lucie left, Nora glanced at the empty station that belonged to Ginna. She missed having her best friend there. Then she mentally reminded herself that Ginna knew her only too well. The last thing Nora wanted her friend to hear was that Nora had slept with her brother.

Even if a tiny voice deep inside reminded her that sleep hadn’t been exactly high on their list that night.

“HEY, buddy, Magnum called. He wants his shirt back!”

Mark rolled his eyes at the reference to the famed television private detective operating out of Hawaii.

“Ha, ha, very funny. I never heard that one before,” he said with perfect deadpan delivery. He opened his locker door and pulled out a navy blue polo shirt with the fire department’s insignia embroidered on the upper left-hand corner of the chest. He hung up his short-sleeved shirt on a hook inside the locker. He didn’t care what anyone else thought. The shirt with swaying palm trees and hula girls dancing under the trees across the white cotton fabric was one of his favorites. He tossed his well-worn khaki shorts into his locker after pulling out navy twill pants that finished his uniform, identifying him as a paramedic.

“I hate to think where you find those shirts,” his older brother Jeff said as he also changed into his uniform. His locker door slammed shut with a metallic clang. “I worry about you, baby brother. I’m thinking in forty or fifty years you’re going to be one of those little old men with the knobby knees, eye-blinding plaid Bermuda shorts, black socks and sandals who’ll be chasing sweet young things.”

“As to that horrifying little-old-man picture you drew, there’s no way I’d steal that pleasure from you, big brother. Don’t worry, Jeff, I’m leaving that up to you and Brian.” Mark clapped him on the back. “I can see it now. You two will be wearing shirts that match Abby’s and Gail’s dresses,” he said, referring to his brothers’ wives. You’ll all take cruises together and play shuffleboard and bingo. Maybe you two will even go wild playing a few hands of canasta. Lights out at nine,” he snickered. “You’ll be real party animals.”

“Grandma would whomp you upside the head if she heard you describe her lifestyle that way,” Brian, Mark’s other older brother, warned. “That woman can party all three of us combined under the table and you know it. That’s why Gramps quit traveling with her. He couldn’t keep up with her.”

“I thought Theo had agreed to go on that Alaskan cruise with Martha and her bridge club,” Eric, one of the brothers’ friends and co-workers, commented as he walked past them.

“Grandma said Gramps could stay home, which makes him happy since he doesn’t like cruises. But he didn’t like it when she told him he cramps her style,” Jeff replied.

“She is the grade-A party animal,” Eric agreed. His head whipped up when a piercing signal echoed over the speaker system. “Time to roll!”

Mark and Brian exchanged telling looks as they heard information about a multivehicle traffic accident. They knew their skills as paramedics would be needed.

At the station, Mark was known as the party animal. If there was a practical joke played, he was most likely behind it. He was the one to plan any celebration. But when it came to his work as a paramedic, he was all business. Anyone who was familiar with the lighter side of the man would not recognize his more serious demeanor.

The two brothers climbed into their EMT truck and rolled out with the fire engines. Their day was just beginning and it was promising to be a long one.

MARK COULDN’T STOP thinking about Nora. He was convinced his fingertips could still feel her silky skin. He even imagined her subtle scent was imprinted on him. He could feel the touch of her lips on his mouth, his jaw, his shoulder and just about everywhere else on his body.

He remembered once reading about a fever in the blood.

That’s how he thought of her. She was a fever that never let up.

So if they had something that good, why hadn’t she returned any of his calls in the past couple of weeks?

No wonder he was parked outside her house at six o’clock in the evening.

He hadn’t realized before just how isolated Nora’s house was. While its location on the end of the street was ideal for privacy, the nearest house was set some distance away with a small park in between. He frowned at the open grassy area set between Nora’s house and her neighbor’s. Most of the area was set up with a variety of playground equipment. He thought it was a nice little neighborhood park where mothers could take their kids for playtime. But he didn’t like it for Nora’s sake. With evening coming on quickly and the old-fashioned–style streetlights spaced far apart, he felt she was too vulnerable to a home-invasion robbery.

“Why did she pick a house that doesn’t offer very much protection?” he muttered, sitting slouched behind the steering wheel. “Any pervert could sit out here watching her.” He didn’t stop to think that anyone might view him as the kind of unwanted intruder he was visualizing.

Finally realizing it might not be a good idea for him to just hang around there, Mark switched on the truck engine with the intention of leaving. He was getting ready to pull away from the curb when he noticed a light turn on by the front door. The door opened and a tan-and-white bulldog walked out. He slowly made his way down the front walk in a bowlegged waddle while Nora stepped out onto the porch. She leaned against the front post and watched her dog walk across the street and over to Mark’s truck. He stopped by the front tire and awkwardly lifted his leg.

“Damn dog,” Mark muttered, throwing open the door and climbing out. He scowled at the damp spot on his front tire. The dog looked up at him and gave a canine grunt.

“Are you lost?” Nora called out with a mocking tilt to her lips.

“I just happened to be in the neighborhood,” he said, offering her one of his patented killer smiles while inside he winced at the use of an old line that hadn’t lost any of its idiocy over the years. Judging from her set expression, it wasn’t working. He forced himself not to flinch when Brumby attached himself to his leg. “Ah, would you call off your dog, please?”

Nora’s gaze shifted downward to her dog then back up to meet Mark’s eyes. “Brumby has a mind of his own.”

“And that was a fact I’d happily put in the back of my mind.” Mark shifted from one leg to the other. Damn! He hadn’t felt this awkward since fourth grade, when he’d asked Julie Chambers to sit with him at the class picnic. She had turned him down flat and elected to sit with Ryan Miller instead. Payback had come in the form of a nice juicy-looking lizard showing up inside Julie’s hamburger. The teacher had had no trouble nabbing the culprit. And Mark had suffered detention after school for three weeks. He hadn’t minded. It had been worth it.

“Can I come in?”

He didn’t miss the indecision shadowing Nora’s eyes before she finally gave a brief nod. She called out to her dog and waited as the bulldog lumbered back up the walkway. Brumby rotated his head just enough to look back at Mark with a gaze that was suspicious at best.

“I was invited,” he informed the dog as he followed Nora into the house.

“One of my neighbors called me to say there was a strange man lurking across the street from my house. She was ready to call the police, but I informed her you were fairly harmless,” she told him as she made her way to the rear of the house. “Of course, if you’d rather have the police hauling you in I can call her back and tell her to feel free to make the call. She loves nothing better than to call in anyone she considers a pervert. You’d make her day.”

“Gee, thanks for saving my dignity. Such as it is.” He found himself walking carefully as Brumby still tried to keep himself plastered against Mark’s leg.

Nora eyed his shirt covered with swaying palm trees and hula girls. “Have you ever had a parrot try to built a nest on you?”

“Not lately.”

Mark sniffed. If he wasn’t mistaken, he could smell cinnamon and a few other scents that could only add up to one thing, cookies fresh from the oven. He closed his mouth before he embarrassed himself by drooling. There was no hiding his hopeful expression.

Nora sighed. “I suppose you want some of my cookies.”

He opened his mouth, ready to throw out one of his infamous lines loaded with innuendo. Luckily for him he closed it in time.

Nora glared at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Yes, please,” he said meekly, shifting over to lean against the counter. He watched her place several good-size cookies on a plate. She opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a carton of milk. A filled glass soon followed the plate to the table. A soft snuffling sound attracted her attention. “No cookies,” she told her dog in a firm voice. “The vet said you have to lose five pounds.”

A rumbling response from the bulldog told them his opinion of the diet. He settled back awkwardly on his haunches. His tongue lolled happily as he gazed up at his mistress with adoring chocolate-brown eyes.

Nora didn’t miss that a pair of sizzling blue eyes were also watching her. Except, instead of adoration, she saw something more fundamental in his stare. Her first instinct was to look away, so she forced herself to return his steady gaze. She wasn’t about to let Mark know he left her feeling unsettled.

Without taking his eyes off her, Mark pulled the chair out on the other side of the table. When Nora settled herself in it, he carefully pushed it forward before walking around to the opposite chair and sitting down. He picked up a cookie.

“Oatmeal?” he questioned. She nodded. “Please tell me these don’t have raisins in them.”

“I firmly believe oatmeal cookies should only come with chocolate chips,” Nora told him, aware of his extreme dislike for the tiny wrinkled fruit.

He bit into one and groaned with delight. “Still warm,” he muttered, taking a second bite. “Damn, these are good!” He paused. “Please don’t tell my mom I said that or I’ll never get any cookies out of her again.”

“You’re safe. It’s your mother’s recipe,” she replied.

Mark polished off the rest of the cookies in record time. He cast a beseeching look in Nora’s direction.

“Brumby begs a lot more eloquently.” She carried the plate over to the counter and put a few more cookies on it then dug a dog biscuit out of a box and tossed it in Brumby’s direction. The dog’s jaws promptly parted long enough to catch the biscuit before snapping shut. A low rumble of satisfaction sounded deep in his throat after he finished his treat. He looked up with hopeful eyes.

“You are so pathetic,” she sighed as she tossed him another biscuit.

“Spoiled is more like it,” Mark muttered then grabbed his plate before she could take it away from him. “Well loved,” he amended.

“You’re as pitiful as the dog.” She used a spatula to place the rest of the cookies on a cooling rack. When she finished, she turned around. “Care to tell me the real reason you’re here?”

“I wanted to make sure that you were all right.”

That wasn’t the answer she had expected.

“I’m fine,” she said shortly.

Mark didn’t take his eyes off her. “After—”