“Just the two of you?”
“Yeah. Small job. Nice lady. Real pretty. She’s getting takeout, too, actually. Let me introduce you.”
Owen opened his mouth to protest, but Adam was already waving his hand in the air. Under his breath, Owen muttered, “What are you doing?”
Adam grinned at him. “Reminding you that there’s more to life than work and fatherhood.”
Easier said when one didn’t have a mortgage or a kid to support.
His brother couldn’t read his mind, though. “Kerry, this is Owen, my big brother.”
Owen’s heart sank as he turned around. There was no way to avoid the awkwardness of the next moment, he realized that, and yet he still wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.
Standing in front of him in a tight, white parka, snug black leggings, and oversized winter boots was his daughter’s midwife.
Her gaze landed on his face and she froze. He froze, too. Nobody else knew about Becca’s pregnancy yet. Then she smiled, as if they’d never met. “Nice to meet you, Owen. I’m Kerry.”
“Kerry works with Jenna Foster.”
“The new clinic,” Owen said, leading them as quickly as possible through this charade.
“That’s the one.” She turned and looked at the counter. “My dinner’s going to be ready any minute now, so…”
It wouldn’t be, though. Not if she’d just come in and placed her order after him.
But he watched her walk back to the counter, then turned sharply back to his brother, who was shaking his head. “What?”
“Man, you are hopeless. She’s exactly your type.”
“I don’t have a type.”
“Becca’s leaving the house soon, it’s time to get back—”
Owen glanced over his shoulder. The white parka and dark curls were hovering near the cash register. No easy out from this conversation.
“I’ve got her number if you want it,” Adam said, laughter bouncing through his words.
Owen growled and waved him off.
The thing was, his brother wasn’t wrong. In another time and place, Kerry would be the exact type of woman he’d want to spend time with. Get to know, get to taste, get to savour. But Beccawasn’tleaving the house any time soon. And even if he had the bandwidth right now for some fun, her midwife was off-limits in that regard.
But he didn’t have the bandwidth. He’d never been great about juggling a private life and parenting. Add in pregnancy hormones to the mix and he was on thin ice.
Six more months.Then the newborn period.It wasn’t going to end any time soon.
When he glanced over his shoulder the next time, Kerry wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so he figured maybe it was safe for him to escape back in the direction of the cash register. “I should go check on my order.”
He said it in the direction of his brother, but he didn’t wait for a reply before stalking off. As he waited by the cash, his phone vibrated. Expecting another request from Becca, the back of his neck heated up with stifled frustration as he pulled the phone from his pocket. But it wasn’t his daughter.
It was his ex-wife.
Rachel:Do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow night? Hudson got a new smoker.
Owen: Becca’s developed an aversion to meat.
Rachel: Aw, crap.
Owen: I’m at Mac’s, picking up dinner because she didn’t want me to cook burgers in the house.
