Expecting him to propose.
Charlie owned a beautiful brick home with lots of room and an amazing fenced-in backyard just right for a family, in an up-and-coming neighborhood. If he hadn’t mentioned living together first, when her apartment lease came up for renewing, she planned to discuss moving in with him.
She was having Charlie’s baby. That might rush things a bit, which she regretted. She wanted him to ask her to live with him, to marry him, when he was ready, because he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life without her. She had no doubt that was where their relationship was headed and she had no regrets regarding her accidental pregnancy.
She wanted Charlie and she wanted his baby.
Although she’d dated in the past, she’d never met a man like Charlie. Never felt for a man what she felt for Charlie. Never felt as cherished as Charlie made her feel. It was what her parents had had prior to her father’s death when Savannah was seven years old. It was what Savannah had always known she’d hold out for. She didn’t need a man, but having a good one in her life gave a shiny glow to everything.
A shiny glow she’d found with Charlie.
She pressed her hand over her belly, trying to imagine that she could feel the little life inside her. Charlie’s baby.
Her and Charlie’s baby.
A miniature version of them growing inside her.
Savannah’s smile widened as her imagination took off. His brown hair and eyes and her fair skin? Or his strong, handsome facial features and cleft chin and her blue eyes? Or maybe her red hair and his dark features? Or...the possibilities were endless. Regardless, their baby would be beautiful. Would be loved. Would be their whole world.
A baby!
They’d not talked about children, but Charlie would be happy. He loved her. He hadn’t said the words out loud, but Savannah knew. She saw it in the way he looked at her, in the way he touched her, kissed her, treated her as if she was the center of his world. Charlie Keele was in love with her and would be ecstatic at their news.
She really was a lucky woman.
She was having the most wonderful man in the world’s baby. They were going to be a family and have a fabulous life.
Feeling as if she was floating, she glanced at her watch. He’d be here in a couple of hours. She’d tell him their news. He’d kiss her, twirl her around, sweep her off her feet, maybe even propose. Something grand, for sure.
Her hair and make-up were done up a little more than her usual ponytail pullback and light coating of mascara, just in case.
Maybe she should drop some hints and let him figure out her news in some creative way. Like a blue and pink cupcake or maybe she could get him to take her to a toy store under the guise of picking up a gift for her friend Chrissie’s son, Joss. They could stroll through the baby section and she could ooh and aah over the tiny little outfits. Or she could fill up his car with pink and blue balloons or... A dozen reveal ideas came to her, each one putting a bigger smile on her face.
Wouldn’t he be surprised when he realized?
Reality was, she’d never be able to keep the news from him for long. Already she was about to pop with excitement just waiting for him to arrive. No doubt he’d take one look at her and know.
She probably had a pregnancy glow.
Savannah laughed out loud, the happy sound echoing around her bathroom.
They were having a baby.
A baby! How amazing was that?
Needing to burn some of her energy while she waited for him, she hid the pregnancy test she’d done when her menstrual cycle had failed to make an appearance. Even if he beat her back, she wanted to see his face when he found out he was going to be a father.
When all evidence was safely tucked away, she grabbed her purse to head to the nearest department store.
There were some little pink and blue items she just had to have.
* * *
Frowning, Dr. Charlie Keele stared at the contract on his desk.
The signed and countersigned contract.
He’d done it.
He’d debated back and forth over the past month, but he’d really done it. He’d signed on to accept a job two hours away.
Taking the position was an amazing opportunity, but he had hesitated and he’d known why.
Savannah.
She’d become such an intrinsic part of his life, completely entangled in everything he did. He struggled to imagine leaving Chattanooga and the most remarkable woman he’d ever known.
But every time he’d considered turning down the offer, the past had reared its ugly head, reminding him of all the reasons why he should go.
He’d signed his name on that line for Savannah as much as for himself. More.
Savannah was an incredible woman. One unlike any he’d ever known or dated. Sure, he’d had a few long-term relationships over the years, but none that he’d ever thought twice about walking away from. Walking away had always been easy.
Nothing about leaving Chattanooga would be easy, except knowing that he was doing the right thing for Savannah by leaving before she became any more attached.
She was the most independent woman he’d ever met. He’d not expected her to get so intertwined in his life. Nor had he expected himself to become so tangled up in hers.
“Don’t let a woman hold you back from your dream, son.”
How many times had he heard that or something similar over the years? His father had dreamt of medical school, of working as a travel doctor with an organization such as Doctors Without Borders, of dedicating his life to medicine. Instead, he’d gotten his girlfriend pregnant, dropped out of college and gotten a coal-mining job to support his new family.
He’d resented his wife and child every day since for those stolen dreams. Charlie’s mother and Charlie had never been able to replace those dreams and his father had grown more and more bitter over the years. Rupert Keele had pushed Charlie toward going into the medical profession from the time Charlie could walk and talk. Talking about medicine, about becoming a doctor and traveling the world to take care of needy people, was the one time Charlie’s father liked having him around. For years Charlie had thought if he could make his father proud, that might make his father love him, might make life better for himself and his mother. He’d tried his best but, no matter how good the grade, the game performance, the above and beyond achievement, nothing had ever been good enough. Rupert hadn’t cared one iota about anything or anyone except himself.
Charlie’s mother hadn’t been much better, blaming Charlie for her lot in life as well.
Sometimes Charlie wondered if he’d have chosen something besides medicine if he hadn’t been brainwashed from birth and so eager to try to win his mostly uninterested father’s affections in the hopes it would somehow magically transform his parents into good ones. Regardless, when Charlie had been eleven, his maternal grandfather’s congestive heart failure had worsened and Charlie had decided that, rather than work as a travel doctor, he wanted to do cardiology, to work on healing people’s physical hearts, because he sure hadn’t been able to do anything with his parents’.
Charlie had dreamed of heading up a cardiology unit his whole life and now he had the chance.
* * *
If he’d learned nothing else from his parents,