A Pregnancy And A Proposal. Mindy Neff
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Название: A Pregnancy And A Proposal
Автор: Mindy Neff
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
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Her impassioned words seemed to echo off the tiled walls of the rest room. For a long moment, Flynn didn’t comment. He just watched her, making her squirm, making her forget why they were there…making her want.
“Did you run away?” His voice was soft and deep.
“No, but a close friend in school did.” Darcie didn’t want to think about that outcome. But her heart clenched anyway. “And we’re wasting precious time.” She juggled the baby as she reached for a piece of paper.
“Here, let me take Mary Beth.”
Darcie kissed the baby’s cheek and passed her back to Flynn, deliberately ignoring the flash of heat that streaked up her arms as their hands bumped and tangled.
Why, oh, why did she have to be so crazy about this guy?
With fingers that trembled slightly, she wrote down the address and telephone number of her parents’ house and handed it to Flynn.
“This is where my folks live. Are you familiar with the area?” The address was in a blue-collar section of Trenton called the burg. Her family had lived there for more than thirty years. At one time Flynn O’Grady had too.
“I can find it,” Flynn said.
“Good. Give me an hour head start and then meet me there.”
“I don’t like this.”
She softened, placed her hand on his arm and gave a compassionate squeeze. The jolt was there, as she’d expected. But she couldn’t not touch him. This man needed. Needed badly.
And that’s why she’d suggested her family’s home to meet. If she had any hope of staying out of trouble with him, she needed people around her.
Added to that, her mother had plenty of experience soothing the ruffled feathers of a rebellious teen. It was a knack. Between her mother and her grandmother, they would feed Heather back into good humor. And if Darcie’s guess was right, Flynn would come away from the evening a winner, too. Nobody left the Moretti house without a meal or dessert or a week’s worth of leftovers.
“I know you don’t like it, Flynn,” she said softly, making herself remove her hand after one final squeeze—that one purely for herself. “But please let me try with her first. I want the best for all of you.”
He nodded, his nicely tapered fingers absently stroking his baby daughter’s silky blond curls. “I’ll meet you in an hour.”
She hoped to God that was long enough.
And she hoped she’d find the nerve somewhere along the way to tell him he was going to be a daddy. Again.
Chapter Two
Heather O’Grady sniffed and wrapped her gloved hands around the chain of the swing, pushing off with her feet. The canvas strip hugged her thighs like a soft horseshoe cradle as the metal chains creaked against the swing set crossbar. It was dark in the playground, and quiet.
Snow started to fall again, the flakes dropping and melting against her coat. Absently she wondered if they would pile up in her lap if she stayed real still. Would they freeze her to death? Would anybody find her frozen body? A kid, maybe?
Oh, that wouldn’t be right.
Heather thought about her baby sister, Mary Beth. She was a cute kid, and Heather loved her. But sometimes she sort of resented her, too. If Mary Beth weren’t around, Mom would probably still be here.
The minute the thought surfaced, she pushed it back. She wasn’t quick enough to stop the sting of tears, though, the horrible ache in her throat. Her breath puffed out in a cloud as a soft sob escaped. This park had been her playground, the place where she and Mom had come, just the two of them. Before Mom had gotten that stupid job. Before the baby was born.
Heather swiped at her cheeks, her gloves scratching her wind-chapped face. It wasn’t fair to blame the baby. She pictured Mary Beth’s cute little face, her round blue eyes, the way her dark blond hair flipped up around her tiny ears. The kid slobbered a lot, but that was probably because she was getting more teeth.
Pride nudged her. She was getting good at guessing what was wrong with Mary Beth, tending to the baby’s needs. Sometimes, she even felt sort of like a mom, which was a pretty weird feeling for a thirteen-year-old girl to have.
She felt old one minute and young the next. She wanted to be a little kid again, then five minutes later she wanted to drive and go to parties and hang out alone with Robbie Sanders. She’d been thinking about sex lately and that made her feel really confused—and guilty. Robbie wanted to do it and she kept saying no. Her friend Gina Warnelli said it was no big deal, that she should just go ahead and do it. But Gina had a bad reputation, and Heather didn’t want everybody talking about her that way.
She couldn’t admit to any of her friends that she didn’t really know anything about sex. They’d think she was some kind of prehistoric creature or something. But who was she supposed to ask? Not her dad. He’d blow a gasket. He’d immediately assume she was talking about Robbie, and he’d do something stupid, like taking the phone away or grounding her till she was thirty or something. Her dad already thought Robbie was too old—just because he was in high school! That was so stupid. It wasn’t like she was a baby or anything.
She kicked at the sand where glistening snowflakes turned the earth damp. Her heart lurched when she saw a shadow from the corner of her eye. Her fingers tightened against the chain. What if some bad guys tried to come and take her?
A whimper sneaked past her throat, catching her off guard, scaring her half to death. Then she really did feel like a baby. Nobody was there…were they? Her eyes burned from staring and her palms stung where the chain cut into them through her wool gloves.
Maybe she should go find a phone and call Robbie. Or maybe she should just go home. She’d told Darcie Moretti she was gonna run away, but so what? Darcie only knew her name, not what she looked like or anything. It wasn’t like she’d have to face the lady or anything. And Dad didn’t know she was gone. He was at that stupid Daddy Club meeting trying to figure out how to be a Mr. Mom.
She rolled her eyes. If only he’d just get a clue.
Headlights swept the playground equipment as a compact car pulled to the curb. Heather’s heart pumped.
Daddy?
Relief swept her and she nearly cried out. Then she took a closer look, her heart dropping like a stone.
It wasn’t Daddy. The car was too small and there wasn’t a baby seat in the back.
And Daddy was totally oblivious to what she was doing anyway. Like that was any big news flash, she thought.
As whoever it was got out of the car Heather picked up a rock and cupped her gloved fingers around it. She was scared. She was sorry she’d come out СКАЧАТЬ