Waiting for You(55)

The scent of Jake.

Okay, so it was going to be every bit as hard as she’d thought. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t do it.

She had to do it. Because if she didn’t, she’d lose her heart.

And her heart belonged to someone else now.

For the sake of their daughter, she’d forge a friendship with Jake. A good, safe, predictable friendship. Something that wouldn’t turn her inside out and make her dream of impossible things.

Her days of dreaming about Jake were over. She had new dreams now: dreams of raising a healthy, happy child and being the best mother she could.

Dreams that at least had a chance of coming true.





Chapter Twelve


Jake had always loved his family. Even during the hard months last year when they were driving him crazy, he’d realized on some level how lucky he was.

But he’d never loved them more than he did today.

His parents welcomed Erin with open arms, telling her how happy they were about the baby and then just pulling her into the family circle like they’d been doing for years. Five minutes after they arrived Erin was in the kitchen with Irene, helping to make gravy.

He went into the living room and found himself alone with his dad.

“How are you holding up?” Joe asked him, offering him a beer.

“Me? I’m fine. Erin’s the one who’s pregnant.”

Joe smiled. “Yeah, I know that. But it’s not every day a man finds out he’s going to be a father.”

His tone was light, but there was seriousness behind it.

“I had a pretty good role model,” Jake said. “And I figure you’ll help me out if it looks like I’m screwing up.”

His father clapped him on the shoulder, and the two of them turned their attention to the football game. But when Allison and Rick came into the room a few minutes later, Jake wandered back into the kitchen, where Erin was.

He didn’t know he was hovering until his mother gave him a look. “Do you mind giving us a little room? Or you can make yourself useful and mash the turnips.”

He decided to mash turnips. The truth was, he felt more comfortable when he was in the same room with Erin. Thinking about all those months she’d fended for herself made him want to stay by her side every second. He wanted to guard her, protect her, feed her and keep her warm.

All things she could do for herself, as she would tell him in no uncertain terms. Intellectually, he knew it was true. Erin was one of the most capable women he’d ever met. But on a much more basic level, his need to care for her and keep her from harm was the most powerful instinct he’d ever felt.

He only hoped he had it under control by Monday, when he was due back at the garage. He was pretty sure Erin wouldn’t agree to come to work with him every day—and the garage wasn’t the best environment for a pregnant woman, anyway.

Erin laughed at something his mother said, and Jake turned his head to look at her.

Maybe it was part of the same primitive instinct that had taken possession of him, but he’d never seen a woman look as beautiful as Erin did right now. The pregnancy had made her entire body more voluptuous—her arms and her hips were rounder, and her breasts were at least a cup size bigger.

The only thing about her appearance he didn’t like were the smudges under her eyes. He’d even called Allison that morning, to ask if it was normal for a pregnant woman to have those dark circles. His sister had assured him that it was perfectly normal and that she’d looked like a raccoon for most of her pregnancy, but he still worried that Erin wasn’t getting enough rest, that dealing with everything by herself had taken too big a toll on her.

He took a deep breath. He couldn’t go back and change the last six months, but he could make damn sure that Erin got everything she needed from here on out.

Including a husband.

When he’d told Irene he’d asked Erin to marry him and that she’d turned him down, he’d expected her to say something maternal and encouraging. Instead, she’d gone quiet—until finally Jake had asked her point blank if she thought Erin would give in eventually.

“I don’t know,” Irene had said thoughtfully. “Erin’s not easy to read. She’s so practical and competent, and of course as independent as they come, but I think she’s got a hidden romantic side, too.”

“And that means what, exactly?”

“It means she’d never marry someone just so he could take care of her—because she’s fully capable of taking care of herself. And she’d never marry someone who doesn’t love her.”

Jake remembered his mother’s words now as he looked at Erin, and a thread of panic tightened in his chest.