SWNOVELS Chance: Chapter 27
It waslate afternoon when Rory walked into the Dawg. She’d just left her obstetrics appointment and she was still reeling as she surveyed the kitchen. It looked remarkably normal, like they could open at any moment. Except for the fact there wasn’t any food being prepped.
When she’d left the obstetrician’s office, she wished she’d brought Chance along for moral support. She’d known she would have to be careful, that her blood glucose would have to be monitored closely, but she hadn’t expected to be so overwhelmed with the potential problems that could occur.
Her obstetrician was a warm, friendly woman who assured her they would handle anything that came along, that she would have the best treatment possible. And she’d assured Rory that knowing the risks and being prepared for them didn’t mean she was going to experience problems. She was healthy and her blood glucose was well under control with her CGM and insulin pump.
Still, it was scary to consider how different her pregnancy might be from someone without diabetes. Not that other women didn’t have problems, because they did, but everything in Rory’s life was always magnified by her condition. It was frustrating and disheartening if she let it be. Mostly she gritted her teeth and got on with it.
She hadn’t called anyone during the ride back to Sutton’s Creek. She’d wanted to process everything she’d been told. She was still processing it, but it was going to be okay. She had her friends. She had Chance, if only for right now. He’d help her through this, and even if he left her, she’d be okay.
She was always okay.
He said he loved her, but he was emotional about the baby. She understood. She was pretty emotional about that, too. Part of her wanted it to be true that he was in love with her, but the sensible part wasn’t letting her believe it for a moment. Belief lowered guards, which was a recipe for disaster.
The door from the dining area opened and Theo walked in. “Whoa.”
She lifted her chin. “What?”
“You look extremely serious. Did everything go okay at the appointment?”
She nodded. “Fine. As you might expect, there are things to be aware of, but I’ll have a good team taking care of me. You’ll get a kick out of this, though. Because I’ll be thirty-five soon, this is considered a geriatric pregnancy. Geriatric, Theo. Like Granny was having this baby, not me.”
Theo snorted as he came over to put an arm around her and squeeze. “Sorry, Pixie. I know that had to sting. Plus it’s kinda ridiculous. Geriatric? Couldn’t they think of another term?”
“You’d think,” she grumbled. “What’s been going on? Are we clear to open again?”
“Everything is dry and no sign of mold, thank God. The work upstairs will take a few more days, but nothing to be done about that. Just waiting for the county health inspector to tell us we can open. He’ll be here in the morning.”
“That’s good. Fingers crossed it goes well.”
“For sure. Soooo,” Theo began.
“What?”
“You haven’t been in town until just now, right?”
“Nope, why?”
“Apparently your man had a throw down with the Davises at Miss Mary’s this morning. Told them if they didn’t stay away from you, they’d be getting a personal demonstration of his military skills. He was a Navy SEAL, which you never mentioned.”
Rory’s heart was hammering. Chance had done that? For her? Adorable idiot.
“Chance was in the Army. Navy SEALs are in the Navy. Who told you the story?”
“Heard it in at the Gas-n-Go earlier. Chance parked Clyde in front of Miss Mary’s, went inside and ordered a burrito, then sat down with the two men while he waited, ate their bacon, and explained why it was a bad idea to harass you. Then he left. Guess there were a few folks who saw the whole thing so it’s been making the rounds. Oh, and everyone knows he’s staying at the farm. I expect Emma Grace’s mama to start inquiring about the wedding anytime now. Since Emma Grace and Blaze seem to be taking their time getting hitched, she might want to plan yours in the meantime.”
Rory growled. “We are not getting married.”
Theo only grinned. “Wait until everybody learns you’re pregnant.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake. This is not 1950. Women can be pregnant and have babies on their own. We don’t have to get married. It’s not like they’re gonna run me out of town for being an unwed mother.”
“No, definitely not. But they’re gonna have a lot of fun speculating why you and Chance aren’t getting married when you clearly have a baby on the way.”
Rory shook her head. “They can speculate all they want. It’s my business, not theirs.”
“Hey, y’all.”
Rory turned to see Emma Grace coming through the back door. She looked pretty and happy, like she got great sex on the regular and had no doubts that her man loved her. Rory was envious.
“Hey, Idgy. What’s up?”
“I’ve finished with my patients for the day and I saw you drive up when I was upstairs changing, so I thought I’d come see how the appointment went.”
“Plus you heard that Chance threatened the Davises on my behalf.”
Emma Grace laughed. “Well, that too. I doubt he really said he was a ninja, though that’s what Celia Lincoln told my mother.”
Rory blew out a breath. “Good grief. Better come on up to the office and I’ll tell you about the appointment.”
“I’m headed over to Kiss My Grits for coffee,” Theo said. “Y’all want me to bring you anything?”
“Oooh, a chai latte and banana bread. Let me give you my card,” Emma Grace said, starting to unzip the crossbody bag she was carrying.
“Nope, I got it. Pix?”
Rory rolled her eyes. “Now that you’ve trotted out that nickname again, you aren’t going to stop, are you?”
Theo grinned. “Nope. You want anything or not?”
“Decaf double espresso with stevia, please. No baked goods. I have to watch the sugar even more than usual.”
“You got it, hon. Be back in a few.”
Rory and Emma Grace went into the dining room and up the stairs behind the bar to the office. They sat in the old leather armchairs by the window. Her parents had picked out these chairs from an antique store in Huntsville and placed them here so they could chat about the business at the end of the day with a beverage and the day’s receipts.
Rory caressed one leather arm absently as she told Emma Grace about her appointment. All the things she had to look out for, like preeclampsia, eye and kidney problems, plus the greater risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and birth defects.
“It’s a lot,” Emma Grace said. “But it’s manageable. You workout regularly, you’re fit, and your blood glucose is well-controlled. If you have any doubts about anything at any point, you know you can call me. Don’t be stubborn about it. I don’t care how minor you think the issue is, or what time it is, call me.”
Emotion welled in her chest. “Thank you. I don’t want to be needy, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared about some of this stuff.”
Emma Grace reached for her hand. “Honey, I know. We’re going to get you through this and you’re going to have a sweet little baby coming in January. Have you told Chance about your appointment yet?”
“No. I will. I promised him I would.” Rory worried the inside of her lip. “He thinks he loves me.”
Emma Grace broke out in a huge grin. “Oh my God, that’s awesome! Of course he does. You’re terrific, Ror. He’d be crazy not to. How do you feel about him?”
Rory’s belly clenched. She’d been thinking about it since the moment he’d said something. It felt like there was a huge bubble of something wanting to break through the walls she’d erected, but she couldn’t let it. If she did, she’d be right back in that pit where she’d landed after Mark left her for Tammy.
“I like him, Idgy. But I don’t believe he really loves me. I think he’s overwhelmed with the baby, like I am, and he’s mixed up. He’ll sort it out in a few weeks when things get into a routine.”
Emma Grace shook her head. “Oh, honey. For someone who reads all those romance novels, you really are a skeptic. Do you honestly think the man doesn’t know his own mind?”
“I think finding out you’re going to be a father is an emotional event and maybe a bit overwhelming. I think he’s projecting those feelings onto me. It’s not that he doesn’t know his own mind, it’s that this is new territory for us both and maybe he’s put a name to something when it’s not the right name. He’s going to wake up one of these days and realize he doesn’t want to tie himself down, that he wants to go back to flirting with all the women and having his choice of who to take home each night.”
The idea of Chance taking anyone home made her stomach turn over. She couldn’t imagine him touching someone else the way he’d touched her. She’d told Amber he was fair game, but if she saw him with Amber now, she’d probably act like a total fool and lose her shit.
“Okay, I get it. But I think Chance has a lot more honor than Mark ever did. Can you picture Mark striding into Miss Mary’s and threatening two men with bodily harm if they bother you again?”
“Well, no, but Mark’s an attorney. He’d have considered the repercussions of his actions.”
“Exactly. He would have thought about himself and how he might get into trouble, not about protecting you. Big difference.”
Rory made a face. “That’s not a fair comparison and you know it. Being sensible about making threats that can come back to bite you in the ass, and therefore your livelihood, isn’t a terrible thing. Maybe Chance is the one who’s wrong. Maybe it’s a hotheaded thing to do and he shouldn’t have done it.”
Except she did love that he’d gone all badass warrior dude on her behalf. She really did, even if she shouldn’t.
Emma Grace held up both hands. “Okay, you win. Just saying that Chance isn’t Mark and I’d rather have a man who’s willing to inflict bodily harm on my behalf—not that I approve of such things, mind you—should it prove necessary.”
Theo arrived with the coffees then and the subject of Chance blessedly came to an end. Not that Rory could think of much else now that they’d been talking about it except the way he’d looked when he’d told her he was in love with her. Her heart had skipped and then hammered and she’d wanted to press her mouth to his and get lost in his kiss.
She’d wanted that lightning sizzling through her again, wanted to feel the incredible way her body responded to his touch. She’d almost said to hell with it and let him take her to bed last night, but she’d held on to the shreds of her control right up until she’d closed her bedroom door and left him to sleep on the couch.
Then she’d taken care of business with her fingers, his name a whisper on her lips the moment she’d shattered.