Chance’s gaze locked with hers. “The old-fashioned way, huh?”
Sensation flared through her, making her skin feel too tight. He was simply repeating what she’d said, but he put that spin on it the way only he could.
When the ultrasound tech had asked Cordy if she wanted to know the sex, Cordy had frozen. She’d had an answer ready beforehand—yes, she wanted to know—but at that moment, she couldn’t say anything.
Reed isn’t here,was what she thought.He’ll never be here. He’ll never know what we’re having. What their name will be. Their first step, word, all of it. He’s missing it.
She told the tech she didn’t want to know. It was a small thing, but it made her feel closer to Reed. He couldn’t know, so Cordy would choose not to know until the time came.
“Everything okay?” Jaycee asked. “You look a little sad.”
Cordy made herself smile. “It’s just pregnancy brain.”
“Oh, I know.” Jaycee fluttered her hands in sympathy. “I’ll be walking into the kitchen for something, and halfway there, I’ll forget what I was going to get. I just stand there trying to remember. So silly.”
Gareth looked at her fondly. “It’s cute. You’re doing hard work, growing a whole human.” He set his hand on Jaycee’s belly. “So yeah, you’re going to forget things.”
The moment between them was so tender, Cordy’s throat clogged. She had to look away before she embarrassed herself. Instead, she put her own hand to her belly. Maybe she didn’t have a partner like Gareth, but she’d love this baby fiercely no matter what.
Behind her, she felt Chance’s arm twitch on the back of her chair. He’d slung it over there when they’d sat down, casual-like but tantalizingly close to her.
“You don’t have pregnancy brain,” Chance said to Cordy. “You’re on top of everything.”
Chance knew how much she had to be on top of. It made her want to cry all over again.
“I try,” she said.
Then Ms. Reston clapped her hands for their attention, and the class was on. It was a full two hours of information, with Ms. Reston going full speed. Cordy was either taking down notes as fast as she could or practicing with the doll and pelvic bones Ms. Reston passed around. Chance, to his credit, never once talked about calving.
He was actually the perfect partner. He handed her a new pen when hers died, held the fake baby while she got the fake umbilical cord sorted out, and kept his arm slung over the back of her chair when he wasn’t helping her.
That simple gesture touched her the most, a reminder that he literally had her back.
When Ms. Reston called an end to the session, Cordy flopped back into her chair, exhausted. She managed to pinch Chance’s fingers between her back and the seat.
“Sorry,” she said quickly.
Instead of pulling his hand back, he moved his fingers in what could have been a caress. Her breath came in a rush.
“You okay?” he asked in a quiet rumble. “You look tired.”
“My hand hurts.” Cordy made herself sit up and away from his hand. She smiled at Jaycee and Gareth. “We’ll see you on Thursday then.”
“Oh, we’ll probably see each other before that in town,” Jaycee said. “I’m glad you guys are here in the class.”
The other girl sounded so sincere it touched Cordy’s heart. And made her very aware of how alone she felt most of the time. For a moment, she wanted to ask if Jaycee ever sat in theParents’ Corner at the Donut Palace. Or if Jaycee might want to meet Cordy there.
But something held Cordy back. So all she said was, “Me too.”
Jaycee gave her a quick wave before looking Chance up and down, as if she still couldn’t believe he was there. “Later.”
Gareth nodded to them both, then helped his wife out the door.
Cordy waited until they were in the hall and far away from anyone else before she said, “My God, that was close. How did they end up in this class?”
“You’re not used to small-town life. You run into everyone everywhere. I should have guessed someone would be here.”
“Do you think they bought our story?”
