Pregnancy Plan (16 page)

A little patience would go a long way in
dealing with him. She just had to remind herself that he loved
her.

Otherwise, why would he have remembered her
at all? It would have been the perfect chance to forget about their
weekend together. He could have gone back to his old way of life
with no ties to her or the baby.

She entered the master bedroom. The new
curtains and bedspread brightened the room, and she smiled at the
four-poster bed that invited her to rest on its smooth surface. The
oak headboard gleamed with promise.

Her parents had shared this bed since the
day they’d been married. She hoped it would bring her the same type
of happiness. Yet, the strangeness of sleeping in a different room
made her undress slowly.

Would her parents approve of what she was
doing? Would they understand why she decided to live a lie?

Jillian slid into bed. Derek walked in,
turned his back to her, and started to undress. The muscles in his
back and arms bunched with each movement.

Would he hate her when he found out the
truth?

He stepped out of his pants. The round curve
of his butt and the lean design of his legs drew her attention. The
world believed he was her husband. He’d claimed her as his bride.
And even if he wasn’t the best at communicating, and things weren’t
perfect, she wanted him, needed him, and would do everything in her
power to make their marriage work.

“
Could you turn out the
light?”

He hit the switch. She waited silently for
him to join her. The movement of the covers alerted her to his
present. He settled, but didn’t touch her.

She lay quietly waiting, waiting. No hand
breached the distance between them.

Jillian briefly considered giving him some
space but she couldn’t. In a strange bed, with the weight of her
parents’ disapproval on her shoulders, she didn’t want to be alone.
She turned onto her side. Her hand found his chest. “Derek, will
you please hold me?”

He lifted his arm, circled her shoulders and
pulled her closer.

“
Any time.”

Jillian relaxed against his body. His warmth
dulled the chill around her heart, giving her promise to their life
together. In the future, she’d have to remember to make her needs
known. Otherwise, they would go unnoticed, maybe not because he
didn’t want her, but because he didn’t know how to show her what he
wanted.

Satisfied with this solution, she drifted to
sleep.

“
Jillian Wilson, what were you
thinking? You said you wanted to go off to Dallas and have a little
fun, but that’s no excuse for getting yourself pregnant.” Mr.
Jenkins marched down the store aisle, his cane clicking on the
floor with each step.

“
Wait a second, I’ll
explain.”

“
You darn well better explain.
Everyone in town is talking about you.” Head full of steam, Mr.
Jenkins continued with his tirade. “No woman in her right mind acts
that way. I know you’re missing your pa, but this is no way to
bring him back. Why your poor mother, bless her soul, is probably
turning over in her grave.”

“
Mr. Jenkins, I got married.” She
forced herself to stay calm.

Shock passed over Mr. Jenkins’s face. “What?
Now, you’re trying to tell me you went off and got yourself married
and didn’t even bother to tell anyone?” He pointed his cane at her.
“No. Don’t start lying to me to cover your crimes.”

“
I’m not lying. Derek had to go
overseas right after the wedding so we decided to keep our marriage
quiet until he came home.” The doubt in Mr. Jenkins’ gaze played on
her nerves and she raised her voice. “Honestly.”

“
Now, don’t shout at me. You’re the
one who has gone and gotten herself into trouble.” He patted her
shoulder. “But don’t you worry none, we’ll work something
out.”

Frustrated and unable to fight any more,
Jillian noticed Derek behind Mr. Jenkins. She indicated with a wave
him forward. “Derek Harris, this is Mr. Jenkins. He runs the
antique store right next to ours. Mr. Jenkins, meet Derek, my
husband and the father of my baby.”

Derek extended his hand. “Glad to meet you,
Mr. Jenkins.”

The old man paused a moment before he held
out his hand. “Mr. Harris. Is what Jillian here says, true? Are you
really her husband?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Well, where the hell have you been?
Why did you leave my Jillian here while you were out gallivanting
around the world? You got a lot of explaining to do,
boy.”

“
I was called back to work right after
our wedding. Believe me, I didn’t want to leave her, sir. But I had
a duty to the company I worked for.” Derek remained calm. “That’s
no longer a problem. I’ve resigned so I can stay here and take care
of her.”

Mr. Jenkins looked Derek up and down, passed
judgment, and then nodded. “Good.” Apparently satisfied with his
assessment, the old man continued. “Where were you at, boy?”

“
Middle East doing a security
assignment.”

"Ex-military?” Mr. Jenkins headed back to
the front of the store. Derek followed along beside him.

Jillian stood in the middle of the aisle
wondering what had just happened. First Mr. Jenkins had been ready
to kill her for getting pregnant, and now he was chatting away with
the man that had gotten her that way. Men. There was no way to
understand them. With a shrug, she turned and strolled back to her
office to handle some paperwork.

****

Tired after the steady stream of customers,
Jillian was more than ready to head home. The gossip mill must have
been spinning because it seemed like everyone in town arrived at
the store at one time or another during the day.

“
Why don’t you let me drive?” Derek
locked the store.

“
Okay.” She headed around the car to
the passenger side with him following her. He unlocked her door and
helped her in.

“
What would you like for dinner? I set
out some chicken this morning before we left. Or we can have the
roast leftover from yesterday.”

“
The roast is fine.” He rounded the
back of the car, opened his door and slid into the driver’s seat.
Backing out of the parking space, he drove down the street for
home.

“
What did you think of all the good
people of Gladewater? I think everyone in town was in the store
today to meet you.” Jillian studied his face to read his reaction
to question.

All day, he had given everyone the same
look, and answered only the questions he wanted. “Nice people.”

“
I heard you talking to Mr. Henderson
about a project he is working on. I didn’t know you liked to work
with wood.”

“
My father had a shop. He taught me
how to use some of the tools.” He turned onto the main
street.

“
Really? I thought he liked to work on
cars.”

“
He did, but he also liked to make
things out of wood.”

“
How about you? Do you enjoy
woodworking?’

“
If I have the right equipment,” he
said without the condescending tone most people would have used in
their reply.

“
Well then, I think I might have a
surprise for you.” She smiled. Maybe Derek would enjoy spending
sometime in her father’s woodshop.

“
What?” He glanced at her with his
normal blank look.

“
I’ll show you after dinner,” she said
as they pulled into the driveway.

After entering the back door, she turned to
him and suggested over her shoulder, “If you’ll set the table, I’ll
warm up dinner after I go change.”

“
Okay.” He stepped to the kitchen
cabinet while she escaped upstairs.

She found a dress in her closet that didn’t
have a waistline. The baby didn’t seem to like waistbands or belts.
Matter of fact, she didn’t have a waistline anymore.

Good thing Derek had come home. The baby
growing, she would have had a hard time hiding her pregnancy, even
if, the whole town didn’t already know about it.

Mr. Jenkins, kind soul that he was, would
never have forgiven her for getting pregnant without a husband. He
didn’t even like the fact that she was married without telling him.
Guilt pressed on her chest. If Derek hadn’t shown up, what would
she have done?

Stepping back into the kitchen, she noticed
the set table, the roast and potatoes steaming in their containers.
Derek, standing by the microwave, lifted the dish holding the green
beans from the night before.

“
I said I’d heat up the leftovers if
you'd set the table. You didn’t have to do both.”

“
You’re tired. No big
deal.”

He’d been brushing past her all day,
following her every step. Within reach, yet miles away. She
cornered him against the counter and stole a kiss. “Thank you.”

His glared intently at her for a moment then
he shrugged.

Jillian placed her hand on his cheeks. “I
love you, Derek.”

A brick crumbled from the wall. He tugged
her into his arms. Hot, urgent lips raced across hers.

Surprise melted into desire as her lips met
his every command. Shifting, turning, bending, she offered him full
access to her mouth, body, soul. Caught off guard, she sagged
against him when he suddenly released her. She rocked on her
feet.

He steadied her, and then he led her to her
seat. “You must be hungry.”

After transferring the beans from the
counter to the table, he settled into his seat.

Jillian tried to gather her thoughts. “Yes,
I am, and you were just beginning to satisfy my hunger when you
stopped.” She shoved back her confusion and studied his face. A
frown formed between his brows. “Why did you stop?”

“
We need to take our time.” He lifted
the potatoes and plopped a large spoonful onto his plate. “Here,
why don’t you have some potatoes?”

She recognized his closed stare, he didn’t
want to talk about it, but she couldn’t let it go. “I don’t want
any potatoes. I want to know why you stopped.”

“
I promised you we would take it
slow.” He clutched his fork tighter and his knuckles turned
white.

“
I’m confused, Derek. When did you
promise me to take it slow?”

“
The morning you woke up in my bed,
when I asked you to marry me. You said no because you thought we
didn’t know each other well enough. I promised you that if you
would marry me right then, we wouldn’t have sex again until we got
to know each other better.”

She leaned back and stared off into space,
remembering that morning. They had spent the night making love,
both knowing, it would be a while before they were together again,
they’d feasted on each others’ bodies with delight.

He had wakened her demanding she marry him.
Tired and cranky, she resented his rough manner and uncompromising
attitude. Stubborn switch flipped, she’d rebelled, fighting every
plan he’d devised. Even after she agreed, the deal to not have sex
until they were better acquainted hadn’t even entered the realm of
possibilities. They couldn’t have stuck to it.

Then he’d gotten another call, they had
fought, and she’d left. End of story.

Jillian returned to the present. Derek,
quietly eating, appeared as if he planned to follow through with
his crazy plan. She fought to come up with an argument that would
change his mind. The truth about them not being married wouldn’t
help. It would only confuse him and cause more problems.

For goodness sakes! She was pregnant
with his child. Why shouldn’t they make love? But, he wouldn’t
listen. Once the man set his mind on something, he wouldn't change
it. But…it didn’t mean she couldn’t try. A wick smile bloomed on
her lips
. Let’s see how much willpower the
man has.

“
After dinner, there’s something I
want to show you.”

He nodded and continued eating.

Later after they finished cleaning the
kitchen, Jillian slid her hand into his and let him out the back
door through the garage to a door in the back.

“
I hope you like this.” She opened the
door, and hit the light switch. “This is my father’s workshop.” She
walked into the room, running her hand along the edge of the
cabinets and scanning each piece of her father’s equipment. This
shop had meant so much him. She only hoped Derek would enjoy it
half as much. “I thought you might enjoy working in here. No one
has been in here but me since my dad died.”

She studied the workbench. “Michael wanted
to sell everything, but I wouldn’t let him. I told him we would
discuss it later. Seeing as he doesn’t need any money at the
moment, he hasn’t argued.”

She pictured the room as Derek saw it.
Cabinet along one wall, with a workbench in the middle of the room,
sawdust still scattered across the floor, it looked like every
other workshop she’d ever seen.

“
We can move things around if you
want.” She charted his path around the room.

He stopped next to the workbench and
examined the saw attached to it. “This is the same kind of saw my
father had.” He examined each piece of equipment on his trek around
the room.

Not sure whether he was pleased or not, she
waited for a reaction. “If you don’t like something, we can always
get rid of it, or get you some new equipment.”

His gaze unblinking, he paused in front of
her. “No, it looks like your father took very good care of his
tools. It'd be an honor to be able to use his shop.”

Jillian hugged him. “I’m glad you like
it.”