Cart Before The Horse (4 page)

Her heartbeat was ramping up, knowing he was in her home—in her life.

She opened the cupboard and pulled out two glasses, which she filled with water from the tap on the refrigerator. When she walked back to the living room, she found he had pulled back the blinds and was watching the world at his feet.

“It’s more impressive from the roof,” she offered.

“Really?” He spun around and his eyes danced.
“I’d love
to see that.”

“Some other time.
Water?”

“Sure.” He took the glass from her and settled his gaze on her.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Holly.”

She let out a long breath and turned away.
She wasn’t used to men looking at her the way he did. “Gabe, I’m not in
love with you.”

“Of course not.
You don’t know me.”

“Right.
I should have been in love with you before I went to bed with you. Lack of direction that night. But”—she was talking quickly to get to her point, and she made herself slow down and get it right—“what I want you to know is, we need to establish that we are just two people on this same journey. I don’t want you to expect anything from me.”

She turned back to him, and he gave her a slow nod.
“Can we at least work on being friends? It sounds better than
introducing my child to someone as Junior
and his mother, my acquaintance.
”

She felt foolish, and she assumed that was his
point. “Friends.”

Gabe sat down on the sofa and set his glass on a coaster on the coffee table.
“You’ve been to the doctor?”

Finally, they were talking about something that was a little more comfortable to her.
This was a question she could answer. Even if she didn’t want to think about it.

“Yes.”
She sat down in the chair across from him. “I’m exactly eight weeks along.”

“That gives us a full seven months to plan everything out.” He sat back. “Do you have another appointment set up?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like to be there. I’d like to be at all of them.”

“Is that normal?”
She’d be exposing everything to him if he came with her. But how dumb was that? Obviously he wouldn’t be asking to go to prenatal appointments if she hadn’t exposed everything to him once.

He smiled.
“Yes. My brother-in-law even delivered one of my nephews. He said it was amazing.”

She felt the blood drain from her head.
Delivery. That’s right. The unexpected child was going to bring pain.

Gabe stood and swiftly moved to her.
“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.
Just a little dizzy.”

“Would you like to lie down?”

“Maybe I should.” She stood and Gabe held her arms. She looked up at him. Her child would be good looking, because Gabe was striking. No wonder she’d fallen into his bed.

She tried to shake off the thought.
Friends was all she’d offered, and friends it was going to remain.

“Will you be okay?”
He loosened his grip.

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll let you be, then. Will you come down to the
restaurant for dinner?”

“No.
I’m okay. Really.”

“Hey, this is one of those things I can do. I can feed you and feed you well.”
He touched her face again and his fingertips lingered on her skin, sending a calmness through her she hadn’t felt in days. His eyes were compassionate, and the thoughts that he was still a stranger began to slide away. “Let me.”

It meant a lot that she didn’t have to worry he would slip away in the night.
He was offering her more than she could have ever expected, and that included decent meals. “I’ll think about it.”

Gabe pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
“And, so I

don’t lose you again, give me your phone number.”

She took the phone and just looked at it.
Agreeing to a meal was one thing. Giving him her number ensured he’d be able to reach her always.

It wasn’t nearly as big a commitment as having a baby with the man.

She typed her number into the phone, and he grabbed it back from her.

“Good.” He saved the information and stuck the phone back into his pocket.
When he rubbed his palms on his pants, she knew she wasn’t the only one who was nervous about what they were about to go through. “I’m not kidding. I’m not leaving you. This is
our
baby. I’m here for both of you.”

Holly bit the inside of her cheek.
Should she kiss him for caring? Or push him out the door before she lost her composure? “Thank you,” she managed, but her voice broke and the tears were bound to come next.

He walked to the door and opened it as he turned to look at her again.
“Dinner. Give it some thought.”

“I will.”

“Okay.” He turned around and leaned his hand against the doorjamb. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “I guess I’m going to head back to my office and call my mother. This very well might make her year.”

“Your mother?
You’re going to tell her?” Her voice rose in pitch and fear struck her in the gut, forcing the first tear. She batted it back.

He let go of the door and he looked at her in disbelief. “Holly, it won’t be a secret forever.”

“But… well…” She was at a loss. She certainly wasn’t going to be calling her mother the moment he walked out the door.

“I have to tell them, Holly.
They’re going to be grandparents. And they’re the kind to dote on a child.”

She felt lightheaded again and reached for the doorknob for support and with hopes it would hurry him along before she

exploded.
“Fine. I’ll talk to you later, then."

He gave her a smile and shut the door behind him.

Holly tried to rest.
She lay in bed for two hours and all that changed were the numbers on the clock. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t relax. Her life was in a spiral and she didn’t know where it was going to head. All that she knew was Gabe Maguire was now involved.

She sat up and tunneled her fingers through her hair.

Like it or not, the man was in her life forever. That was as crazy as those people who jet off to Vegas and marry someone they meet in a casino. Crazier. It didn’t only involve her and Gabe. It involved a person who was going to be dependent on them forever.

She fell back on her pillow.

Forever was a long time when you hadn’t planned for it.
She’d always assumed she’d have trust funds set up and names picked out before she had a baby. Oh hell, she’d thought that for one time in her life she’d do something right and have a husband before she had a child.

“One more time, Holly.
One more time you got your events messed up,” she thought. Why couldn’t she have just been normal and done it all by the book? Graduated with people her age. Snuck out at night and TP’d someone’s house. She should have learned to get drunk at a frat party in college, but no one in college would talk to a fifteen-year-old.

She looked at the clock.
It was four. Gabe would be heading into his dinner rush as people began to pack up their business day and head out without a care.

Carefree, that’s what she could have been if she wasn’t her.
She could just leave work and go have a drink with a friend—a man, even. But no. Holly worked twelve-hour days every day. And because of it she owned a condo on the tenth floor, a Mercedes, Chanel shoes, and Gucci purses. But the love of a man had never fit into her plans. Those men who had tried had left.

Now she had Gabe and a life she’d yet to meet.

She lowered her hands to her stomach, and a warmth filled her.
There was life within her.

Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
She wasn’t sorry—and it was the best feeling she could ever have hoped for. She was going to be a mother, and she swore she’d be a good one, too.

Through the tears laughter burst.
She’d be the kind that expected matched socks in drawers and clean hands at all times. Gabe probably would let their kids pick up frogs or wear pretty dresses out to have ice cream.

Could they balance each other out enough to raise normal children?
Children?
Her mind was already on the fritz. One was already more than she could handle.

“I promise I’ll try, little one.”

Gabe did his best to occupy his mind, but the best way to do that was to work, and he enjoyed all aspects of the resta
urant. He poured drinks and delivered them to tables. He manned the hostess station and seated new parties. When a table needed clearing he bussed it and mingled with guests. Chandra scooted behind him with a glass in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. “You seem out of sorts tonight. I really can handle this if you need to relocate yourself,” she said as she filled the glass with Coke from the tap and added a shot of whiskey.

“I’m in your way, aren’t I?”

“Didn’t want to say it right out.” She slid the glass to the end of the bar to the man who gave a wave as he caught it.

“I’ll find somewhere else to be.”
He walked around to the kitchen and watched the door swing back and forth as servers picked up plates and bussers brought them back empty.

It was what he’d always dreamed of.
But as of that morning, all his dreams had changed, and his mind spun with all the new things he wanted to do.

He stepped back as a
perky
, as Holly had referred to them,

s
tepped in to pick up her order. “You could help me with this,” she barked as she loaded her arms with plates.

Gabe gathered the rest of the order on a tray and followed her to a large table of diners who drank and laughed.
In the center of them all was an infant snuggled into her mother’s arms, sound asleep among the noise.

Nine months wasn’t so long.
Soon that would be him and Holly and their baby resting in their arms. The air whooshed out of his lungs and the plates in his arms teetered.

“You’re going to drop that.
Give it to me.” Penny, the waitress, took the plates from him and distributed them to the table. “Let me know if you all need anything.”

She turned and walked back to the kitchen, but Gabe stood for a while and watched as the baby stirred.
They’d be a family, no matter what Holly thought about him personally. His first step would be convincing her to consider them friends.

He walked to the end of the bar, managing to get in Cha
ndra’s way again. It was almost eight, and the dinner crowd would begin to wind down soon. The door opened and a large party walked through. He stood to help seat them, but behind them he noticed Holly walk through the door. She scanned the room and looked as though she considered turning around and walking out, but he caught her eye and smiled. The room warmed when she walked into it—and her coming to the restaurant was a sign she was accepting him.

She looked past the patrons at the bar to where he stood at the end.
She was dressed casually, but her hair was down, and he liked the way it framed her face and softened her eyes. The

chill in the night air had obviously forced her into a heavier coat and the responsible side of him was glad to see she was taking care of herself.

Gabe walked toward her. “I’m glad you came by.”

She brushed her hair back over her shoulder.
“I don’t feel right about coming down here.”

“You’re going to need to get used to it.” He touched her

cheek again, but she flinched and he removed his hand.
“Why don’t you sit here,” he said as he pointed to the empty stool beside him. “Or I can get you a quiet table.” He could see both options made her uncomfortable. “Or we could go up to my place and have a little dinner.”

“Really?
You can get away?”

“He’s in the way,” Chandra said as she wiped down the bar.
“He’s been stepping on my toes all night, and if he’d get out of here for an hour, we’d all relax.”

He knew how to read Holly’s eyes.
Any warm-blooded female would look at Chandra and be jealous. He’d have to work on assuring her that wasn’t going to be a problem.

“If you’re so anxious to be rid of me…”

“Why can’t you be like everyone else who runs a place like this and hide in your office?” She poured a beer from the tap and handed it to a man at the end of the bar.

Gabe laughed.
Well, at least they had all noticed that he wasn’t just the guy who held the title to the place. He was a presence, and it wasn’t going to change.