She felt his eyes on her from the moment he sat down, raking over her face, down her chest, landing on her abdomen, then back up. Over and over again. Like he was searching for something. So she let him search while she looked outside at her new home.
When she told her parents she wasn’t going back to Canada they were agitated. When she told them why, they were furious.
“I can’t believe how stupid that was of you,” her mother had said. “If you keep that baby, you’re just clinging to a fantasy. If he left you, he’s not coming back. This is the way the world works, Amelia. It isn’t a game. This is real life.”
Well, maybe it had been unwise to keep thinking her birth control would work. Maybe they should have stopped for condoms at some point. But they didn’t, and letting her parents rip her a new one didn’t change the past. Didn’t change the fact that now she had to think about herself and the future of her child.
They continued berating her, telling Amelia how disappointed they were. How, once she got her act together and came back home, they’d arrange an appointment for her to ‘take care of the problem.’
Her lips arched in disgust. They didn’t want a grandchild? Fine. They wouldn’t have their daughter either. It was her damned choice to make. Her body. Her baby.
Amelia’s hands held her belly tight. She had Gabby. And now, it seemed, Daniel as well. Maybe her parents would come around and change their minds about her living her own life and doing what she wanted to. Maybe they’d accept their grandchild once he or she entered the world. If not, she had enough love to give so her baby never had to go without.
“Amelia, love?” Daniel pried a hand from her abdomen and held it flat between his big, warm palms. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
In spite of the melancholy crushing her spirits, Amelia laughed. “That’s asking me to open a can of worms. Don’t you know men never ask a woman what she’s thinking?”
Leaning across the table and still holding her hand, Daniel kissed the corners of her mouth, then brushed his lips to hers. Softly. Sweetly. “I’m not other men, love, and I want to know. Can’t read what’s on your mind, so I’ll have to ask.” He winked, retaking his seat.
She didn’t want to spoil the mood by going into detail, so Amelia said, “Just my parents. I told them I was pregnant and they stopped talking to me. And, the truth is, Daniel, I really, really missed you. Even though Gabby is here”– She slid her lower lip between her teeth and nibbled –“she…she isn’t you.”
“Ah, lass…” Coming around the table, Daniel pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her cheeks, jaw, chin…he kissed her a thousand times before he reached her trembling, waiting lips.
“I’m here,” he murmured between kisses. His hands were in her hair, on her face, gliding to the small of her back. “You can’t get rid of me.” Daniel took her mouth and kissed her so soundly her toes curled and thighs clenched.
“Ugh, really?”
They pulled apart at Gabby’s voice, Daniel blushing and Amelia giggling.
“We’ll continue this later,” Daniel whispered, touching his lips to her forehead. To Gabby, he asked, “How are you faring today?”
“My brain is exploding and your voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard.” Gabby took two paracetamol from the cabinet holding medicine and vitamins, and drank them down with a glass of orange juice. “Remind me never to finish an entire bottle of wine by myself again.”
Daniel laughed. “I tried to take it away from you, but you threatened to chop my fingers off and shove them up me arse, if you recall.”
Amelia’s eyes shot wide, staring at her friend. “You didn’t!”
Gabby’s sheepish smile spread, despite her obvious efforts to keep it hidden. “I might have?”
“Might have,” Daniel balked in jest. “I’m getting one of those recording things for next time.”
“I’ll never drink again,” Gabby groaned.
“Where have I heard that before?” Amelia winked at Daniel.
Gabby tossed the dishtowel at him. He grabbed it in mid-air and snapped her thigh, winning a squeal. She ran away and Daniel chased after her, right up to the slamming door.
And for the first time since she disconnected the phone call from her parents when they threatened to disown her if she kept her baby, Amelia felt at peace. She had everything she needed in this cozy cottage in County Donegal.
“Quit freaking playing with that curl, Amelia. Your hair looks fine.” Gabby swatted her hand away and spritzed more hairspray. “There. Perfect. Leave it alone.”