they didn’t go quietly, the doctor herded the visitors from the room and left Caroline in peace.
As much peace as one could have, pregnant without knowing who the father might be.
Could she really have been sleeping with three men? Was she the kind of woman who hopped from bed to bed? Revulsion filled her and she wanted to believe that was not possible. But then why were three men claiming to be the daddy?
She recalled her father’s remark, that Max Daniels was only after her money. Once the pregnancy had been revealed, she hadn’t thought about her life before the accident. She was wealthy? Not that she objected. Not having to worry about paying hospital bills would be an advantage.
But she needed answers! She wanted to reclaim her life, to understand what was happening to her. And most of all, she wanted to know which man had made love to her two months ago. And heaven help her if it was more than one.
“ARE YOU ALL PACKED?” the nurse asked cheerfully, coming into her room the next morning.
Caroline murmured yes, not bothering to point out she had almost nothing to pack. She didn’t move her head, however. Even after twenty-four hours, it felt fragile. “Is—is my father here?”
She still wasn’t comfortable with James Adkins, or the other members of her family. Or even with herself, for that matter. She’d looked in a mirror and seen a stranger. A pregnant stranger.
That thought had been brought home to her when she’d gotten up this morning. Morning sickness, heightened by her concussion, the nurse had said, had attacked her. What little breakfast she’d eaten had come right back up.
Women go through this more than once? Voluntarily? The nurse had reassured her that her sickness was perfectly normal in the circumstances.
“He called earlier to let us know he was picking you up at ten. It’s almost that now. I’ll bring a cart for the flowers.”
Her father had flooded her room with floral arrangements. Even more interesting had been the offerings from two of the men claiming to have fathered her baby. Long-stemmed red roses. Two dozen apiece.
Nothing from Max Daniels.
“Why don’t you pass the flowers out among the sick?” Caroline said. “I think that might be easier than carting them all home.” Wherever that was.
“That’s very generous of you. I have several patients who never receive flowers.” The nurse smiled.
“Then I hope they enjoy these.”
Footsteps near the door had her turning around carefully. But it was neither the doctor nor her father. Her heartbeat picked up speed as she stared at Max Daniels.
How could she have forgotten making love to this man? He was certainly handsome, but there was something more—a connection she couldn’t explain—that took her breath away. She noted he was again in jeans, this time coupled with a starched plaid shirt, and he held a bouquet of daisies in his hand.
“Good morning,” he said.
She responded and waited, watching him. His eyes, as blue as the sky, looked wary, as if he weren’t sure of his welcome. The nurse slipped from the room, murmuring something about fetching a cart. Left alone with him, Caroline’s mouth went dry as she stared at the gorgeous man in front of her. The urge to touch him almost consumed her. When Max continued to say nothing, she asked in desperation, “Are those for me?”
He held the flowers out to her. “Yeah.” His gaze took in the roses and carnations that filled the room. “You told me you liked daisies.”
If she hadn’t before, she did now. If Max Daniels delivered them. “I do, thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
“Has your memory returned?” He took a step closer, his gaze intent.
She started to shake her head and then stopped. The headache hovering on the edge of consciousness edged closer with any radical movement. “No, it hasn’t.”
He thrust the flowers into her hands and stepped back. “Then how can I get a phone number where I can reach you? I’d like to stay in touch.”
“You don’t have it?” Some relationship they must’ve had. If he was telling the truth.
“No. If I’d had it, I would’ve found you a lot sooner,” he said gruffly, a fierceness entering his gaze that had her stepping back.
Either the movement, or the puzzle that was her life at the moment, pushed the headache out of control. She reached for her forehead with her free hand, clasping the daisies to her breast with the other.
“Are you all right?”
“I need to sit down,” she said faintly, and he guided her to the only chair. As she was sinking into it, her head lolling back against the top of it, the door to her room was pushed open.
“What are you doing to my daughter?” a booming voice demanded.
Caroline dropped the flowers into her lap and pressed both hands to her throbbing temples. “Please—”
Without answering her father’s question, Max walked to the bed and pressed the nurse’s button.
“I’m sorry, Caro, I didn’t mean to make your head hurt,” James Adkins hurriedly apologized, and then glared at Max, as if it were Max’s fault he had yelled.
“Yes?” the nurse asked as she came back into the room.
“Ms. Adkins’s headache has come back,” Max said softly. “Is there anything you can give her for it?”
“It never went away,” Caroline contradicted him.
“Because of the baby, we can’t give her a painkiller. She just needs to have peace and quiet.” The nurse glared accusingly at the two men.
“I’m here to take her home,” her father said stiffly. “I don’t know why he’s here.”
“Well, she needs to be back in bed as soon as possible. The doctor’s on the way up to release her.” She backed out of the room, still frowning at Caroline’s visitors.
“He wants my phone number,” Caroline told her father. “Would you give it to him, please? I don’t remember it. And get his.” Stupid statement. No one would expect her to remember a phone number when she couldn’t even remember her shoe size.
But she didn’t want to lose Max Daniels. Her reaction to him told her he had to be the one—the father of her baby. The love of her life? Frustration filled her—and not a little panic. What if she never remembered? What if—
Her father disrupted her fears by glaring at Max again and moving closer to her chair to say in a stage whisper obviously intended for Max’s ears, “Caroline, I’m not sure that’s wise. We only have his say-so that you two were—you know.”
Caroline rolled her eyes. Great. Next her father would want to explain the birds and the bees. “Intimate. That’s the word. Please give him my phone number.”
