Stonehill series collect.., p.114
Stonehill Series Collection, page 114
“It’s still bleeding pretty good. Put pressure on it again.” Once she did, he said, “Open your eyes.”
His voice was soft but so full of concern that Meg had to swallow hard to find the strength to do as he said. Why did he have to be so close? Why did she have to notice?
She cleared her throat and pulled away. “I’m fine, Aiden.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I didn’t hit that hard.”
“You’d be surprised how little impact it takes to bruise a brain.”
“Just because I didn’t finish medical school doesn’t mean I don’t know how fragile the human body can be.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he muttered.
He held up a penlight and flicked it back and forth, offering a distraction from his proximity. She couldn’t see him as clearly, but she could still smell him, feel his hand on her, and feel small bursts of warm breath. Finally, he turned the light off and dug in his kit for something else. A moment later he asked her to lower the scarf. She did, and he touched her face again. Apparently satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, he applied a small butterfly bandage.
“There.” He dropped his hands from her face. “That should hold until we can get you to the ER.”
“The ER?”
“Don’t argue with me on this,” he said firmly. “You’re not going to win.” He pulled out a bottle and tapped two tablets into her hand.
She used her cold coffee to wash it down and winced. “Yuck.”
Aiden set the first aid kit on the back seat and then put the gearshift into reverse. He gently pushed on the gas. The vehicle rocked slightly but didn’t move more than a few inches. He tried again. And again.
“Okay, I’m going to have a better look and see if I can figure out how to get us out of here,” he said. “Are you okay to wait, or should I call 9-1-1?”
She cocked her injured brow at him. She almost winced in pain, maybe did just a bit, but she refused to let him see how much that move had actually hurt. Instead, she climbed out and walked to the front of the car to have a look.
The front tire had gone over a huge branch that kept the treads several inches off the ground. No amount of pushing or accelerating was going to get them out of this mess.
“You were right,” she said when Aiden came to stand beside her. “We’re going to need a tow truck.”
Chapter 5
“I really don’t think this is necessary,” Meg said. Again. Aiden wouldn’t listen to her argument that she was fine with butterfly stitches. She knew how to care for her wound. She could take care of herself.
He ignored her as he continued examining her in the ER, once again flashing a penlight into her eyes. Then he tilted her head and pressed along the edge of the wound, causing her to jerk back.
“Leave it alone. The doctor will be here any minute. The on-duty doctor,” she corrected when he glowered at her.
“Humor me, okay? I did this to you. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
She was about to argue that it had been an accident when the door opened and a woman walked in. The doctor was close to Aiden’s age and just an inch or two shorter. When she saw him, she smiled widely, in a way that made it clear she was extremely happy to see him. Too happy, as far as Meg was concerned. Maybe this doctor was the reason he’d come back to town. He had said earlier that he wasn’t dating anyone, but that would not be the first lie he’d ever told her.
Meg’s stomach knotted, and she had the sudden urge to run.
“Doctor Howard,” the other doctor said lightly, “I didn’t expect to see you here until next week.”
“I’m not on duty. The ice got the better of me unfortunately,” he said. He gestured toward Meg. “My car slid off the road.”
“Oh, no. Where at?”
“Out on old Johnson Road.”
“My goodness. What in the world were you doing out there in this weather?”
Meg rolled her eyes as the woman carried on with Aiden like this were much more important than the gash in Meg’s head. Seriously? Was this not the ER? Was she not sitting on the table with an open wound?
Aiden made a show of taking Meg’s hand.
“We were looking at a place to buy out there,” he said. “I think this was a good sign that we need to look in town. Don’t you agree, honey?”
“Definitely,” Meg said. She focused on the other woman. “I’d hate to have an accident like that once we have kids.”
The woman forced her smile back in place. “Of course not. Let me take a look at your head. Oh, that looks painful.”
“Oh,” Meg returned with oozing sarcasm, “probably because it is.” She had never been territorial before, but the frustration she felt at this woman flirting with Aiden right in front of her had instantly pissed her off. How freaking rude.
“Let’s get some stitches in that and get you on your way.” She looked at Aiden again. “I’m sure you’d rather not spend more time than necessary here. You’ll be here plenty once you start.”
Meg ground her teeth as the doctor stuck a needle in her forehead to numb the skin. She suspected the prick was delivered to be a bit more painful than was necessary, but she kept the accusation to herself. The stress radiating through the room didn’t ease until the woman finished putting three stitches in Meg’s forehead.
The doctor returned her attention to Aiden, asking if she needed to go over warning signs and symptoms that he should be on the lookout for. They laughed as he told her he thought he could handle it. Meg ground her teeth again.
The woman left with a flat smile.
As soon as the door closed, Meg scoffed. “Unbelievable.”
Aiden leaned close and checked the doctor’s work. “Looks good. Shouldn’t leave much of a scar.” Taking her hands, he helped her off the table. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not outing me as being a single doctor. I have a feeling that’s a dangerous condition around here.”
Meg scowled as her frustration grew a bit. “I didn’t do it for you. What kind of doctor flirts when she has a patient on the table?”
“She was just being friendly.”
“My ass.” She sighed. “Can we go now? I’d really like to get home.”
“No way. You need someone keeping an eye on you tonight. You’re coming home with me.”
“Oh, I bet your mother would love that.”
He nodded, clearly realizing her sarcastic response was right on the money. His parents had always tolerated Meg but never seemed to care much for her. She’d never asked why, but she suspected having their sweet little white boy dating a Japanese girl had not made them happy. His mother always stuttered over saying Megumi but, much like Debbie, chose to use her full name instead of the shortened version most people used. Meg thought that was a way for people to remind her that she was different from most of the residents in Stonehill, as if she could somehow forget.
The small town had definitely gotten more diverse in recent years, but for a long time, the Tanaka family stood out amongst the very Caucasian crowd. Meg doubted either of Aiden’s parents wanted him marrying or having a family with someone outside of that crowd.
“Okay. Call Mallory. I’ll take you there.”
“No. She’ll be up all night checking on me. That’s the last thing she needs this late in her pregnancy.”
“Then I’m coming home with you.”
Meg snorted. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re not going home alone. If you have a concussion—”
“Stop it. I’m fine.”
“Meg.” He sighed as he dug his phone out of his pocket when it started ringing. “This isn’t finished,” he said before answering. “Hey, Phil. Meg’s fine. We’re just about to…” He trailed off as he listened, and then his eyes grew wide. “Oh. Oh, wow. Okay. We’ll see you up in maternity, then.”
Meg gasped as she grabbed his arm. “We’re having a baby?”
He nodded.
“But she’s early.”
“Not enough to worry about,” he assured her. “The baby will be okay.”
“You’re right.” She exhaled a heavy breath. “You’re absolutely right.” She smiled and squealed loudly enough that a couple of nurses walking by looked their way. “We’re having a baby!”
Meg could tell Aiden she was fine a hundred times over—hell, she probably had—but he still didn’t believe her. Logically, he knew she wasn’t seriously injured, but that didn’t make him worry less. Every time she shifted, sighed, or moaned, he sat up, ready to carry her downstairs to the emergency room if necessary.
She told him he was making her crazy, but he couldn’t stop. Seeing the bruise forming on her brow, the swelling flesh surrounding the stitches holding her together, and knowing she was in pain, even though she refused to admit it, had him on edge. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, but she had made it clear she wanted him to back off. So he’d backed off. They sat on separate couches in the waiting room, and when Jessica came bouncing into the waiting room to tell the small gathering that she had a little brother, Aiden smiled awkwardly while Meg exchanged hugs with Mallory and Phil’s family. Well, all of their family except him.
She insisted he could take her to her office to get her car, but he didn’t want her to drive. And he insisted that she wasn’t staying alone. Instead, he asked her for directions and drove her to her apartment.
By the time she opened the front door to her apartment, he could barely stand. They were both exhausted. He checked his watch and frowned at the late hour. Well, technically it was a very early hour. Almost two a.m.
He suspected if she weren’t feeling as exhausted as him, she would have argued more about having him stay. The only other option he gave her was for him to call her sister. Someone had to stay with her. As he expected, Meg settled on him.
“It’s chilly in here.” He looked around for a moment before walking to the thermostat. He bumped the temperature up a few degrees and then turned to where he’d left her. She had fallen back onto the sofa and let her eyes close. Though he’d done so a hundred times, he leaned close to her and checked her stitches.
She didn’t look at him, but she must have sensed him. “Do you think they’re going to fall out or something?” she muttered.
He grinned. “The swelling is going down. Which is good since you didn’t put ice on it like I kept reminding you to do.”
“You’re so bossy,” she whispered.
“How about another aspirin before I put you to bed?”
“That would be amazing. In the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.” She pointed to a door and closed her eyes.
In the bathroom, he opened the cabinet and chuckled aloud. When they had lived together, she had organized her medicine cabinet the exact same way. The bottles forward, alphabetically. She had changed in a lot of ways, but her need for organization was the same. He grabbed the first bottle on the top shelf and tapped out two pills.
“Don’t go to sleep until you take these,” he said, bypassing the sofa and heading into her kitchen. He went to the cabinet just right of the sink and opened it. Again, he smiled. If he opened the cabinet next to that, he suspected that would be where she put her bowls and plates. He peered in just to verify before he filled a glass halfway full of water.
When he joined her in the living room, she sat up and accepted the pills.
“Come on,” he said as soon as she swallowed them down. “Let me put you to bed.”
He followed as she led the way to her bedroom. The same framed image of “The Great Wave of Kanagawa” hung above her bed. The print had been given to her by her grandmother years ago and had meant the world to Meg. In all the time that he lived in New York City, he’d only made one trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He’d stood in front of the display of that image, thinking of Meg. He’d been mesmerized by the big blue and white wave, but not because of the beauty of the image. Because it reminded him of how foolish he’d been to leave the woman he had loved to chase a dream that had turned into a nightmare.
Standing there looking at the same print that he used to see every night before bed brought a strange sense of comfort to him. The same peace that being with Meg brought. The same comfort and familiarity he felt being with her.
“I can’t believe how perfect the baby is,” Meg said, falling onto her bed. “The most beautiful little boy ever.”
Aiden covered her with blankets and smiled as he ran his fingertip down her nose before tapping the tip—something he hadn’t done in four years yet was as familiar to him as breathing. She opened her eyes, wide with surprise, before he realized he shouldn’t have done that. Their gazes locked, and his heart rolled in her chest. He hadn’t meant to close the emotional distance between them, but the familiarity got the better of him. Pulling back, remembering that they were barely even friends now, he fisted his hand and shoved it in his pocket.
“I’m so sorry I broke your head,” he said.
She stared, clearly surprised by his tender touch. “Yeah, me too.”
“I’ll be on the sofa if you need anything.”
She grabbed his hand when he turned to walk away, startling him. He looked down at her, not sure what to expect. His heart swelled with a strange twisting of desire and dread. He couldn’t deny that he still yearned for her or that his heart ached with the memories of a love he still couldn’t let go.
“There are blankets and an extra pillow in the closet by the bathroom.”
Aiden smiled his thanks and then left her to sleep. Grabbing the spare pillow and blanket, he stretched out on her couch and stared at the ceiling, telling himself that he’d blown his chance with Meg. No way was she going to give him a second chance, no matter how much he may have wanted it.
Chapter 6
This wasn’t the first time Meg popped into Mallory’s place after her exercise class, but this was the first time she felt weird about it. She parked next to Aiden’s SUV, the front end still dented from their accident, and then looked at the black spandex pants she had worn. She had never been self-conscious about her dress before and wasn’t at all above running into the store in sweatpants and a messy bun, but for some reason, having Aiden see her so unkempt didn’t feel right.
“You used to live with the man,” she reminded herself as she grabbed her purse and stomped up the sidewalk. He’d seen her in worse. Hell, he’d held her hair while she barfed after a few too many shots more than once. Spandex and a fitted T-shirt were nothing new.
Knocking, she bounced a little. The tight pants did little to ward off the chill of the December morning. She smiled at Phil when he opened the door. His dark hair stood in a dozen different directions, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Oh, no. Was the baby up all night?”
He shook his head. “Not all night. I just couldn’t get back to sleep. I haven’t gotten back in the habit of sleeping when I can yet. Once I’m awake, I have a hard time drifting off again.”
“How’s Mallory?” she asked, slipping off her tennis shoes.
“I’m good,” Mal said, coming out of the kitchen. She pouted and tilted her head as she watched Meg take her coat off. “I can’t wait to go back to class with you.”
“Soon,” Meg said. “It’s only been a week since you dropped a baby. Give it time.” She tried to be casual about it, but she couldn’t help glancing around and wondering where Aiden might be.
Mallory caught her scanning the room and smirked. “Aiden’s gathering the trash to take out.”
Meg forced a dismissive look to her face. “I was looking for Jess.”
“She’s at Mom’s,” Phil said.
“I want to hold this squishy little thing.” Meg headed for Mallory and the little bundle she was holding. They had named their son Harrison Marcus after Phil’s father and Mal’s stepfather, but as of yet, they hadn’t settled on what to actually call him. She snatched the bundle and cuddled the baby against her before kissing his little head. “You guys made such a cute human.”
Mallory smiled. “We’re going to call him Harris. We considered Squishy Little Thing and Cute Human, but they both seemed like a mouthful.”
“Harris,” Meg whispered, and even though she didn’t think it was possible, she grew to love the little guy more. “I’m gonna be the best auntie you could ever ask for.” Sitting in the rocking chair, she was stroking her finger over his cheek as he slept when Aiden came in.
“Got anything else…”
She smiled up at him. He was obviously surprised to see her, but she couldn’t tell if this was a good or bad surprise. His mouth hung open as he stared before he blinked and snapped it shut.
“Uh, hey, Meg. I didn’t hear you come in.”
She smiled at him. “I’m stealthy like that.”
He cleared his throat and continued on his mission. “Is that everything that needs to go out?”
“I think so,” Phil answered. “Thanks so much.”
“No problem.” Aiden disappeared, and Meg returned her focus to the baby.
Within minutes Aiden had washed his hands and was closing in on her. “Were you out running?”
“I went to exercise class.”
He leaned down and looked at the bruise and stitches on her head. “How did you feel during class?”
“Fine.”
“Any headache or dizziness?”
“No, Dr. Howard.”
“I wish you had consulted me first.”
She flashed him an exaggerate scowl. “You’re not my doctor.”
Standing up, done looking at her head, he returned her scowl. “Did you consult your doctor first?”
Turning her face down to Harris, she whispered, “This is what is called overbearing and pushy. Don’t ever put up with this.”
“It’s called being concerned,” he countered. “I told Phil I’d make a grocery store run. Want to go?”
She was tempted to say no, but that was the exact reason she’d stopped by. She suspected if she left it up to Aiden, he’d get the wrong brands or flavors and Mallory would end up sending Phil anyway. The poor guy didn’t look like he was going to make it through the day, let alone get to the store.
