Growing Love (Brookfield) (3 page)

“Give her some time.”

Time
; there wasn’t much left before the baby came. He didn’t want to be pushed away any longer. “Time? She’s had months.”

Tom slurped what was left of his drink through the straw before answering.
“You guys didn’t end it on good terms.”

“There is a kid involved.” Matt groaned. “And you get to be the daddy to it.”

“I’ve made a promise to Diane that I wouldn’t go anywhere. And I’m going to keep that promise. But you, you’re the father. If you really want to be, don’t give up. Stick around and show her.”

Matt raked his hand through his hair. “I plan to do that as best I can. But my life is now in Brookfield.”

Tom smiled. “I have a feeling she’ll end up there before long. She wants this baby to have family in its life.”

The waitress appeared, happy as before. “To-go boxes?”

“Please,” Tom said.

A moment later she set three white Styrofoam boxes on the table. “Here’s the check. Just pay at the register. Thank you so much for dining with us.”

Matt grabbed the bill. “I’ve got this. You go make sure Diane’s okay. I’ll be in touch again soon.”

Tom stood and picked up their food. “It was nice seeing you. Hopefully we’ll see you a lot more.”

After Tom left, Matt sat in the booth alone for a few minutes, trying to wrap his mind around everything that had happened. Tom seemed to be on his side almost, which was odd. He was with Diane, yet he wanted Matt to be in their life. God, hopefully, he didn’t think they were all going to be sleeping together again. Matt had allowed Diane to bring a third person into their relationship. That had been the biggest mistake he’d ever made. But when Diane had claimed they needed to spice things up, he thought at the time Tom would be a one-time thing. Somehow he turned into so much more. Thankfully, Diane never pressured them to have relations. Though he wouldn’t have put it past Tom to want that. He’d always gotten the feeling Tom liked men a lot more than women. But he could’ve been wrong. Tom and Diane were together and happy.

Matt stood, grabbed his to-go container
, and headed to the register. He was going to take Tom’s advice. He’d be around, even if he had to drive up here every weekend. He had to convince Diane to let him be in their child’s life.

*
* *

The doctor said Diane needed to be on bed
rest temporarily. Something about false labor or something. She didn’t really understand. She’d tried to listen to everything he said but couldn’t focus. All she could think about was Matt. And now, being in this house that she had once shared with him wasn’t helping. It was as though she could see his ghost walking around.

“I think you should go back to Brookfield temporarily. You can go to your sister
’s home during the day and she can help you. They’ve offered Connor’s old place numerous times for you to stay,” Tom suggested.

She ran her fingers along the side of the couch.
“What about you?” She couldn’t imagine being away from him.

“What about me?”

“You won’t be there.”

He put an arm around her, pulling her against his side.
“I’m only a phone call away and on the weekends I’ll come.”

She pok
ed her bottom lip out.

“You’re so cute when you do that.” He
squeezed her tightly. “This is only temporary.”

So why did it feel like everything was changing?
“I know.”

“Besides, we’ve talked about going to Brookfield anyway. This will be a good way for you to decide if it’s the right call.”

She’d love to move back to Brookfield. The town was so charming and the perfect place to raise a family. She just wasn’t sure about being around Matt. Bumping into him at the grocery store. Seeing him walking out of the coffee shop. If she was out with the baby, he’d know. If he was dating someone, she’d know.

Closing her eyes, she rested against him.
“Okay, I’ll do this only for you. But don’t forget about me.”

Tom laughed. “I could never forget about you, Diane.”

Chapter Three

By the time Diane got out of Alyssa’s car, she was going to need something for her headache. All her sister had done was gab the whole drive to Brookfield. Alyssa was excited to have her returning and the chance to
pamper her baby sister all day. While Diane sincerely appreciated her sister doing this for her, she couldn’t shake the feeling in her gut that her whole life was about to change.

“How much longer until we’
re at Connor’s?” she asked, rubbing her belly, trying to soothe the baby who currently suffered from hiccups.

“Almost there. H
is old place is right before you come into town. In fact, we’re about to pull onto his road.”

Thank God!
I need to pee.

“Are you feeling okay? We were hoping to take you out to dinner tonight.”

She wasn’t sure she could handle much more today. As much as she wanted to catch up with Alyssa and Connor, she knew she needed to lie down and kick her feet up. After all, that’s what the doctor ordered. “That would be nice and all, but I need a nap for the time being. I’m supposed to be lying down, remember?”

Alyssa pulled up to the apartment complex. “We’re here. Connor hired a cleaning crew. And we got some of his furniture out of storage for you. Just let us know what you need and we’ll take care of it.”

Right now she needed silence. A headache was creeping up. Diane climbed out of the car and walked toward the breezeway. This place was four stories high. If by chance he lived at the top, she was going to have this baby here and now.

Alyssa came up behind her carrying one of the many suitcases. “Don’t worry, he’s on ground level.”

“Good.”

As they headed for Connor’s old home, she wondered why he still had the place. He lived with Alyssa full time now above The Reading Corner in town. The only thing she could assume was he was finishing out his lease.

The door opened and Connor greeted them with a big smile. Alyssa leaned forward, placing a peck on his lips. They grinned at one another for a long moment until Diane cleared her throat. Those two were way too in love for her. “Get a room.” She walked past Connor and into the apartment.

It was nice. Modern with an open
-floor plan and completely updated to the standards she always saw people wanting on those house shows she was addicted to on HGTV.

“I st
ocked the cabinets and fridge for you. I figured when you got here, the last thing you’d want to do was grocery shop,” Connor said.

Diane placed her hand on her stomach. “That was nice of you. Thanks.”

“If you need anything, call us.” Connor took Alyssa’s hand and lowered his voice to a murmur. “She looks tired. Let’s leave her be to settle in.”

“She has about four more suitcases out there.
” Alyssa giggled. “Let’s bring those in and then we’ll be on our way.”

Diane wandered through the apartment.
This was a nice place. She liked it. If she stuck around, perhaps she could take over the lease. It would be perfect for her right now. No stairs and she could almost see every room, minus the bedrooms. So as Baby Bean got bigger and into things, she’d always have her eye on him.

“Here you go. That’s everything.” Alyssa set a suitcase down and walked toward Diane. They hugged
as tightly as they could with the baby bump in the way and Alyssa placed a light kiss on her cheek. “I’ll come by and get you in the morning.”

“Sounds good. Thank you again. This means the world to me.” Diane smiled
, feeling less hostile now that she was finally going to get some peace.

“Go lay down.” Alyssa walked toward the door with Connor.

“Oh, sis,” Diane called, “do me a favor. Don’t tell Matt I’m here if you see him.”

*
* *

It was raining
, which meant no work today. Matt sat down on the couch. With the weather forecast for the next few days, he was thankful it wasn’t winter. Otherwise they’d be in for a blizzard.

There wasn’t much to do. Maybe he’d catch up on his sleep. He’d tossed and turned all night. Diane and the baby were on his mind. He wanted to know how the doctor
’s appointment went. Was everything okay? He hated being the in dark. He’d been there for too long.  He never should’ve let her walk away before. But his pride had gotten in the way.

Matt picked up the remote and as he turned it on, his cell phone rang. Hopefully it was his boss a
nd he wanted him to come in anyway and do office work.

However, he wasn’t surprised to see i
t was Tom.

“Hello
,” he spoke into the phone, more curtly than usual.

“Matt, hi. I wanted to give you an update on Diane.”

“Okay.” He didn’t know what else to say. Having to hear about
his
child from another man was awkward. He should be the one there with Diane.

“She’s on a temporary bed rest. Her contractions shouldn’t be as strong as they are right now, so she needs to be off her feet.”

Matt sighed. His gut had been right. Something was off with her and it killed him that she was so far away. “Since she isn’t working, can I help out with the bills or something?”

“
We’re okay. I took over her bills awhile ago. Eventually we plan to live together.”

His gut churned at the idea of them sleeping in the same bed.
“Thanks for letting me know. I’ve got to go. Keep me up to date.”

“I will, but—”

Matt pressed the
end
button, not able to hear any more from Tom. All he could see in his head was Tom and Diane in the bed he’d once shared with her.

He pounded his fist into the couch cushion. Damn it, he didn’t want Tom having the life he was supposed to have. It was time he took control of this and quit hoping things would work themselves out. But first, he needed to learn everything he could about pregnancy. And he was sure that The Reading Corner had plenty of books. Now he just had to hope he could handle Diane’s sister Alyssa.

Thankfully his place was within walking distance of the bookstore. . The rain was really coming down, soaking him. Why hadn’t he thought to grab an umbrella? He hoped the store was open. Sometimes Alyssa closed shop on rainy days since no one was out shopping. But it was still early, so hopefully she was open.

At the glass door to the shop, he tugged on the handle to open it. But it was locked.

“Damn it!” he said a little too loudly.

He heard someone in the bookstore
before Alyssa’s face appeared behind the glass. She hurried to unlock the door.

“What are you doing here?”

“I need some books.” He stepped into the store, grateful to be out of the rain.

“Okay. I have those.” She stared at him quizzically.

“I need every book you have on pregnancy.”

She giggled. “I have two books I think might be perfect for you. Follow me.”

Alyssa rubbed her fingers along the spines of the books as she looked for what he needed. She then pulled two out and handed one to him.

“Thi
s one is a week-by-week guide. Give you an idea what size the baby is, what she’s feeling, and there are some neat little father tips in here to make her life easier…” Her words trailed off.

“Thanks. And that one?” He pointed
to the one she still held.

“This one is the
Father’s Guide to Pregnancy and Babies.
It’s humorous, but there are a lot of great tips in it.”

“Do you think this is enough?
” He took the second book from her hands. “Any other books?”

She rubbed his shoulder.
“These are enough. You’ve got lots of reading ahead of you.”

“I do.” He stared at the width of the books. They were huge.

He followed her to the front and set the books down at the register.

“You know you could’ve waited for it to stop raining before getting these. Or even called me. I would’ve put them aside for you.”

This was the nicest Alyssa had been to him in a long while. In fact, she hadn’t called him Jerkface once since he’d arrived. Maybe things were beginning to look up.

“That’ll be twenty-two dollars.”

“Twenty-two dollars. For two books?”

She laughed. “I gave you a discount too.”

He handed her his debit card. After he signed the receipt, she bagged his books . Thankfully the rain had let up some. “If you think of any other book I might need, let me know.”

“I will. Have a nice day. Don’t get too wet,
Jerkface.”

He smirked. There was the Alyssa he knew. He grabbed the bag and began to push the
glass door open.

“Alyssa
.” A female voice sounded from the back of the store.

Matt released the door and turned to see Diane appear.
His anger returned. What hadn’t anyone told him she was here?

She stopped walking and her eyes widened when she saw him.

“What are you doing here, Diane?”