in the hospital,” the man said gently, looking at her.
“I paid your bills, Emma,” Ryan announced.
She was glad she already knew he’d done so. “I’ll pay you back,” she said, still avoiding looking at him.
“Emma, you and your baby are my responsibility.”
“No!” she exclaimed, glaring at him. “I and my baby have nothing to do with you!”
“The hell you don’t! Why am I listed as the father if that’s true?”
“Ryan, wait outside.”
Emma stared at the doctor, grateful for his intervention.
“Steve, I need to—” Ryan protested.
“Ryan, wait outside.” His voice was a little more insistent, and he stared at Ryan.
Emma closed her eyes. She heard Ryan’s footsteps leaving the room.
“Tell him I’ll have his name removed. I didn’t mean—”
“Are you telling me he’s not the father of your baby?” the doctor asked calmly.
Her eyes snapped open and she stared at him. Then she closed them again.
“That’s right,” she whispered. “I lied.”
“You’re lying now, Emma, and we both know it.”
Emma opened her eyes again and stared at the doctor. “I didn’t want my baby to have to wonder who her parents were. I didn’t intend to make Ryan pay for what he didn’t want. That’s why I need to go home today.”
“How will going home today change anything?”
She tried to sit up and he raised the head of the bed for her. “I see you know him. I know him, too. He’s a good man, but he didn’t want—want me or the baby. I don’t want him paying out of guilt. I’ll manage. I promise I’ll hold to the payment plan. Please don’t let him pay you.”
“Too late, Emma. He’s already paid,” the doctor said with a grin. “Hey, it’s not a problem for him.”
With the tears she could no longer hold back, she muttered, “It’s a problem for me.”
He pulled up a chair and sat down, shaking his head. “We’ve got something more important to talk about.”
The seriousness of his tone immediately frightened her. “Is Andrea okay? The nurse said—they haven’t brought her in. No! No, she isn’t—No!”
The door swung open and Ryan rushed in. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
The doctor ignored him and stood again, putting his hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Emma, your baby is fine. That’s not what I meant. She’s fine. The nurse is going to bring her in in a few minutes to show you how to nurse her.”
“You told her something was wrong with the baby?” Ryan demanded, his voice rising in alarm. “But you said she was fine.”
“You people are crazy,” the doctor said with a smile. “Listen to me. The baby—what’s-her-name—is perfectly healthy.”
“Andrea Leigh,” Emma said, wiping her cheeks, subsiding since the doctor wasn’t alarmed. She felt ridiculous for making such a fuss.
“Leigh?” Ryan repeated, disbelief in his voice. “You named her after my mother?”
She heard the anger rising in his voice. She drew a deep breath. “Yes, Andrea Leigh.”
“Hoping to get my mother on your side?”
“Ryan…” the doctor said in warning.
Emma had regained control, however. She looked at Ryan, really looked at him for the first time, and said, “Yes, I named her after her grandmother. Because she’s the only grandmother Andy will ever have.”
Then she turned away from Ryan. “What did we need to discuss, Doctor?”
Ryan stared at Emma. Two minutes ago, she was almost hysterical. Then she’d stared him down when he asked about the baby’s name.
His mother was going to be upset enough about the situation without discovering the baby was her namesake.
One more problem to deal with.
“No!” Emma shouted, upset again.
Ryan came back to the present to stare at her. “What’s going on?”
Steve sighed. “I explained about your offer to take Emma and the baby home with you while she recovered.”
She turned a stubborn look toward him. “No, thank you.”
Politeness with an attitude.
“Steve said you can’t go home, Emma. You need someone to take care of you.” She’d be reasonable. After all, he was a responsible man.
“No.”
No attitude now. Just an emotionless firm answer.
“Emma,” the doctor said, intervening again, “If you want to leave the hospital, you have to have someone to help you with the baby, to clean and cook for you. Do you have anyone who can do that?”
Emma stared straight ahead, ignoring both men. “I’ll manage.”
“Emma, I don’t want to have to ask Social Services to step in.”
Emma gasped, her hand going to her throat.
“Steve,” Ryan protested, knowing how much that threat would hurt Emma.
Steve held up his hand. “I don’t want to, but I’m not going to let you risk your baby’s health, Emma. Or your own. I don’t want you to lift anything, even your baby, for at least a week.”
It upset Ryan when Emma’s cheeks whitened. “Emma, Billy’s planning on you coming. He’ll take care of everything, and I’ll hire one of the wives on the ranch to help you every day. You won’t have to worry about me bothering you.”
He’d thought his words would help, but she looked even more devastated. Frowning, he tried to think about what he’d said to upset her, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
“It’s the only way, Emma, if I’m going to let you out of here before at least a week is up,” Steve added.
“Please, couldn’t I—”
“No.”
Ryan wanted to rail at her. She made his offer sound like torture. He was trying to help. What was wrong with her? But he didn’t need Steve’s glare to warn him to keep quiet. Every time he spoke it only made matters worse.
“If I
