Wendy watched him closely, noting there was no ring on his finger. No tan line either. Not that she cared. She wasn’t interested in his marital status. “What about you? Anything exciting happening in L&D tonight? Besides the impending arrival of the newest members of the Smith clan?”
Tom flashed her a crooked, endearing smile then shook his head. “Nah, not really. I handled a VBAC that got a bit tricky toward the end, but it’s all good.”
“Cool.” Wendy gulped some more coffee, searching for something to say. “Are you from Anchorage originally?”
“I am. Left to go to med school in Boston, but I’m back now. With my daughter, of course.”
“Oh, Sam’s a great kid.” Wendy smiled.
“I think so too. Even if she doesn’t think the same about me.” He looked at her, his expression a mix of warmth and wariness. “How about you?”
“What? Kids?” Wendy sat back. “Nope. No kids for me.”
He chuckled. “No kids now or no kids ever?”
“Ever.”
“Okay, then.” His smile grew into a grin and the results were dazzling. Warm, friendly, inviting. “I’m sensing some history there. That sounds pretty adamant.”
“It is.” And that was about as close as he was going to get to her truth. Pulse thumping loud, Wendy stood and hiked her thumb toward the exit, needing to get away from this guy before she did something stupid like tell him all about her Huntington’s. She never did that. Ever. Yet there was something about him that made her want to open up. Which was exactly why she had to go. “I, uh, should get back upstairs. Make sure Ned and Aiyana are doing okay.”
“Right. Sure.” He watched her for a long second, his expression unreadable, then pushed to his feet as well, his movements lithe and graceful. “I’ll ride with you. I’ve got other patients I need to check on.”
They walked out into the hallway side by side.
She’d no more than pushed the Up button when the doors opened. He gestured for her to get on first. She did, then fumbled for the right button, feeling awkward and out of sorts. To ease the silence between them, she cracked a joke. “If this was some TV medical drama, we’d be making out between floors.”
Wendy cringed, regretting the words the moment they’d left her mouth. God, what was it about this man that made her want to act like a such an idiot? Sure, he was nice and gorgeous and incredibly intriguing. That was no reason to go all gaga over the guy.
Must be the stress of the night. Yep. That’s what she was going with anyway.
“Is that an offer?” Tom asked, giving her some serious side-eye.
Okay. The wise thing would’ve been to ignore that comment and keep her mouth shut until the elevator ride ended. Too bad Wendy wasn’t feeling all that smart at the moment, her better judgment apparently having drained away in the wee hours of the morning. Plus, she’d been raised in a houseful of competitive guys and wasn’t about to let Dr. McHottiepants get the last word. She arched a brow in his direction, lobbing the ball right back into his court. “Do you want it to be?”
The elevator jolted to a stop, knocking him into her personal space, making heat spark through her nerve endings. His gaze bored into hers, the seconds feeling like minutes.
He took a step back as the doors opened onto the L&D floor again and he held up his hands in defeat, still clutching his coffee. “You win. I’m no good at flirting.”
Her reply came out breathier than she’d intended. “Could’ve fooled me.”
She followed him out into the hallway. They stood there dumbly, in the quiet hush of sleeping patients and beeping monitors. Even Aiyana seemed to still be dozing, the door to her room down the corridor closed, no sounds coming from inside.
Tom walked over to the nurses’ station and Wendy trailed a step or two behind, her gaze inadvertently dropping down to his rear. Taut and firm, he deserved a trophy for Best Butt Ever.
Ugh. Her rational brain said this would be the perfect time to set him straight in no uncertain terms, to tell him this—whatever this was—was nothing.
She was happy with her solitary life, happy without love or commitment or devotion.
Happy not knowing her test results.
Wasn’t she?
A loud shriek filled the air, the sound of a mother in the final stages of labor.
Tom’s blue eyes widened as he looked back at her over his shoulder.
“Aiyana,” they said in unison.
Adrenaline, like a bucket of cold water, splashed over Wendy. She bolted after Tom, running toward her sister-in-law’s room, her heart racing as they entered.
“Her water broke,” Tom said, staring at the wet floor.
“Carmen just did it,” Ned confirmed. He stood beside his wife now, helping her breathe through the pain. Wendy glanced at the monitors—heart rate, oxygen levels, blood pressure—all normal.
“Looks like we’re ready to meet your twins.” Carmen proceeded to palpate Aiyana’s belly to determine where she was in the process. “The babies have definitely dropped.”
A feral growl emerged from Aiyana and with help she stood with her legs wide like a sumo wrestler, her pretty face mottled from her efforts.
“Start pushing,” Carmen said.
“She beat you to it,” Ned said, holding his wife’s upper arm for support.
“I want an epidural!” Aiyana panted after the contraction subsided while Carmen crawled beneath her to place absorbent pads on the linoleum. Given the midwife’s stoic expression, she could just as well have been taking a walk in the park, not dealing with a flood.
“We decided to try natural childbirth, uuman. Remember?” Ned moved behind Aiyana, his arms ready to slide under hers and catch her if need be. “Besides, Carmen said it’s too late.”
“I don’t—” Aiyana moaned, her head lowered as her belly tightened.
“That’s it. That’s it,” Ned soothed.
“I can’t do this!”
“You are doing it,” Carmen interjected. Aiyana gave the midwife a look of exhausted resignation. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother.”
Mother.
Out of the blue, the word conjured sudden images of Wendy’s own mother reduced to a shell of the woman she’d once been, her once-graceful movements devolving into grotesque twists and jerks, her ever-changing moods and behaviors. That’s why Wendy had never gotten her test results, the possibility of dying a horrible, debilitating death and leaving her family behind when they needed her most. That’s why she tried never to dwell too much on the future. That’s why Wendy coped by picking
