already warned me that she is stressed. Her blood pressure is a little too high and she is being monitored closely. She could have the baby any time now. I want her to be my wife before she’s goes into labor.”
Keith sighed on the other end. “Brad, I will do everything I can to make sure that happens. Go and look after Emily. I’ll call you this afternoon after the meeting, I promise.”
Brad took his time walking back to the house. He shoved his hands into the lined pockets of his sheepskin coat. The weather was becoming colder and the rain had tapered off today. It was fall and Halloween was only a week away, but it seemed more like the dead of winter.
He stopped at the back door and shut his eyes, sending up a silent plea for Bob to sign the papers, and open his eyes to how he was hurting Emily and their innocent baby. Opening the door to the house, Brad stomped off the mud caking his worn cowboy boots onto the mat. Hanging up his coat, he listened for the floorboards to squeak.
Sure enough, Emily appeared in the doorway, with her hair tied back and her hands pressed into the small of her back to support her belly, large with his child. Emily was so tiny that Brad couldn’t imagine her belly becoming any bigger. For a minute he worried if she’d have trouble giving birth.
“Did you sleep?” asked Brad, wandering over. He rested his hands on her shoulders and squeezed softly, looking into her eyes at the weariness she was trying to hide.
“You know I can’t sleep during the day,” Emily replied. “And I’m getting tired of sitting around all the time. I wanted to do something, but Mary was here, and I know you called her again. She took Katy home with her again, saying she’d bring her back before dinnertime.”
Brad slid his arm around Emily’s shoulder and turned her. As he did so, he smelt an aroma wafting from the kitchen. “You cooking something?”
She grinned up at him. “I made some soup and there is a plate of sandwiches in the fridge. I thought you’d be hungry when you came in.”
Brad stopped at the table and pulled out her chair. “Well, I am starving, so you sit and I’ll dish up.”
Emily hesitated, but she knew that when Brad decided upon something, you had more chance of moving a mountain than changing his mind. He’d obviously decided that she was to rest, and do as little as possible. Emily glanced up at the ceiling, shook her head and sat down.
“Good girl.”
Chapter 6
It took some convincing, and Brad had actually threatened to carry her upstairs and tie her to the bed, but Emily agreed to lie down. He knew she wasn’t sleeping well at night, because he wasn’t either. Brad would listen to his partner’s frustrated breathing, and tossing and turning, as he stared at the ceiling for hours, trying to ‘will’ a way for Bob to sign those damn divorce papers.
“Do I have to tie you to the bed or do you promise me you’ll stay here?” he asked.
“You’re not tying me to any bed.”
Emily sat on their queen-size bed on top of the new floral duvet she’d ordered recently, which matched the new curtains. Redecorating and replacing the things Crystal had chosen was the only way that Emily could get her memory out of the house, and Brad had given her free reign to do it. Unlike Crystal, Emily was a bargain shopper and only bought what was reasonable.
Brad had just plumped up the pillows behind Emily’s back when his cell phone rang. Yanking the handset out of his back pocket, he glanced at the screen and turned away to answer it. “So what happened?” he asked.
Brad started toward the door, but before he reached it, he heard the bed squeak. Turning, he saw Emily getting up to follow him. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the bed, but she crossed her arms determinedly, as if she knew it was Keith on the phone and that the conversation involved her.
“He signed,” said Keith in a weary voice.
“You’ve got to be kidding? Thank you.” Brad glanced at
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley