Page 40 of Healing the Mountain Man
When the sound of tires crunching gravel finally reached me, I stepped outside before she even parked. My truck door opened, and she got out slowly, a paper bag in one hand.
Her eyes found mine immediately. Big, wide, shining.
I stilled. “You okay?”
Instead of answering, she walked up the steps, closed the distance between us, and handed me the bag. Inside was a small, white box. Unmarked. Plain. I looked down at her, something in my chest starting to pound.
“Open it,” she whispered.
My fingers weren’t steady, but I got the box open. Nestled inside was a stick.
A pregnancy test.
Two bright pink lines stared up at me like they held the weight of the world.
I blinked. Swallowed. And looked at her again. “You sure?”
Her voice shook. “I took three.”
I kept staring. Not at the test, but at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes soft and searching. “You’re…” I started, but the words failed. “You’re really pregnant?”
She nodded, lips trembling now. “Yeah.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “Fuck.”
“Not the reaction I was hoping for,” she said, trying to joke, but her voice cracked right at the end.
I set the box on the porch rail and reached for her, wrapping both arms around her body and pulling her tight against my chest. “Hey. No. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Her hands slid up under my sweatshirt, clutching at my back like she needed grounding.
“I just…” I buried my face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her, the one that had become home. “I don’t have the right words for this.”
She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. “Try.”
I brushed a curl from her cheek. “I’m terrified,” I said quietly. “But I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been. And I didn’t think those two things could live in the same damn place.”
Relief broke across her face, and she let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. “I was scared too. I didn’t know how you’d take it.”
“Nothing matters, Callie, except that you’re here.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “That you stayed.”
“Of course I did.”
“Then we’ll figure out everything else.” My hand drifted to her belly. “You and me. And the kid. We’ll figure it out.” Max gave a sharp bark and we both laughed. “And Max. The reason all this is happening.”
She laid her head on my chest. “We’re having a baby, Gabriel.”
I felt the truth of it settle into my bones, heavy and solid and perfect. “Yeah. We are.”
And just like that, my whole world shifted again.
Not with a storm this time.
But with a heartbeat I had yet to hear.
