“It would be only natural to feel resentment. Especially since Abe told me that your mother makes regular trips to Texas to see them.”
His hand lifted from her hip and then his fingers pushed into her long hair to lift the strands away from her cheek and neck.
“I’d never be jealous of that. Mac and Ripp have families and she needs to be a part of their lives. She missed out on so much. And Alexa lives there now, too. So she has plenty of reasons to go there often.”
“You ever get the itch to move closer to your siblings?” she asked thoughtfully.
“Move from New Mexico? Away from Gramps? Never. This land is a part of my soul. And Gramps is—well, ever since I’ve been big enough to walk, he’s been my hero.” With a throaty groan, he rolled her onto her back and poised his lips over hers. “Besides, if I moved to Texas, you’d have to come up here to the cabin by yourself. And that wouldn’t be any fun at all.”
No. Life without Quint would be boring and lonely, Maura thought. It was something she refused to think about. At least, for tonight.
“How lucky for me that you’re not a wanderer,” she murmured, then latching her fingers around the back of his neck, she pulled his head down to hers and closed the last bit of space between their lips.
Two weeks later Maura stared numbly across the desk at her sister. It was past the clinic’s normal working hours and the last of Bridget’s patients had left the building. All except Maura.
“What did you say?” Maura asked in a slow, dazed voice.
Her hands folded in front of her, Bridget leaned forward and in her no-nonsense manner, repeated, “I said you’re not suffering from an acid stomach. You’re going to have a baby. I’d say in about eight months from now.”
“A baby! How—how can … that be?”
Bridget smiled knowingly. “You meet a man, chemistry clicks and before you know it the two of you are too close for comfort.”
With a loud wail, Maura’s head shook back and forth. “That’s not what I mean! I’m talking about birth control! How did it fail? All those years with Gil—”
“Yeah. Thank God it didn’t fail with him,” Bridget muttered, then smiled at Maura as though she couldn’t be happier. “I suspect you unwittingly forgot a pill or two. Or it could be the dosage needs to be changed. In any case, do not take another one.”
Dropping her head in her hand, Maura struggled to think past the shock of the moment to the past month or two, before she’d fallen into bed with Quint Cantrell. “Now that I think about it, I did get fouled up for a few days. That’s when Dr. Weston was hounding me and I’d given the hospital notice to quit my job. I guess with all the stress I forgot to take a few pills. But I got back on schedule more than six weeks ago.”
Bridget shook her head. “Apparently the interruption was enough to give your reproductive organs a window of opportunity. And they took it.”
Oh, God. How was she going to explain this to Quint? How on earth was he going to react to the news that he was going to be a father?
Trembling now, she rose from the wooden chair and began to pace around the small space of Bridget’s office.
“Oh, Brita, this is unbelievable! What am I going to do?”
Bridget’s brows arched with faint surprise. “Why, Maura, there shouldn’t be a question with you. You’re going to have the baby.”
Stopping in her tracks, Maura bit back a yell of frustration. “Of course there’s no question about that! Every cell in my body loves and wants this baby. I was talking about the father! He—he is not going to be pleased. In fact, I figure he’s going to be outraged.”
Frowning with doubt, Bridget asked, “How do you know that? I’ve always thought of Quint as a sensible, responsible person. At least that’s how I always saw him in high school. ‘Course I can’t say much for him hanging on to that gold-digging Holly like he did. But I forgive him because he was young and it takes a man longer to wise up about life. I’ll bet after all this time he can see what a narrow escape he made with that witch.”
Stunned, Maura stared at her. “How did you know the father was Quint? I haven’t told you anything about seeing him and—”
A sly smile spread across Bridget’s face. “I’m not blind. I’m your sister. And I’ve been seeing the change in you since you went to work for old Abe. Then that night at the hospital, when Brady was there with the gunshot wound, I overheard you telling Dr. Weston, in no uncertain terms, to get lost and stay lost. I knew then that you’d finally woken up and come out of your shell. And I figured Quint had to be reason. Abe is certainly too old to bring about that sort of change in you.”
Groaning with embarrassment, Maura covered her face with her hands. “Oh, Lord, you must be thinking I’ve lost my mind. He’s so young and—”
“A hunk to boot,” Bridget finished for her, then let out a suggestive laugh. “I think for the first time ever, my sister has really blossomed into the woman she should be. And Maura, just think, you’re going to have a child! Finally! Oh, how I envy you!”
Completely dismayed, Maura walked back over to Bridget’s desk. “Envy me? Are you crazy? I’m divorced, single and pregnant. With a child whose father doesn’t love me. I’m sure you’d jump at the chance to trade places with me.”
Bridget shook her curly head. “How do you know Quint doesn’t love you? Has he told you that?”
Maura’s troubled gaze dropped to the floor. “No. But he doesn’t have to. What we have—it’s like you said a few moments ago. Just chemistry.”
“So you don’t love him, either? That’s strange because I just can’t imagine my big sister jumping into bed with a man she doesn’t care about. Really care about.”
Did she love Quint? For the past few weeks she’d been telling herself that her heart hadn’t taken that big of leap for the man, but deep down she had to admit she’d only been fooling herself. She was wild about him. Crazy about him. She couldn’t imagine life without him. If that meant she loved him, then she was definitely guilty.
“So maybe I do care about him,” she muttered. “Maybe I do love him. That doesn’t fix anything. He doesn’t love me back. And he sure as heck doesn’t want to get married.”
Sighing, Bridget reached for a prescription pad and began to scribble instructions on it. “Maura, you need to remember you’re not dealing with Gilbert anymore. Quint is a real man. Not a jerk.”
Standing, she moved around the desk and handed the scrap of paper to her sister. “Here’s a script for vitamins and something for your stomach. Take them all faithfully and try to eat right. Right now that little one’s most important parts are developing. We want him to be healthy whenever he gets here. Or maybe it’s a she,” Bridget added with a happy grin. “I can’t wait to see! Are you going to tell the family, or can I break the news?”
Maura’s mouth fell open. She’d not yet thought about her parents’ reaction to this news, or her other siblings. She’d always been the cautious, practical Donovan. Were they now going to see her as disgrace to the family?
“Don’t say anything just yet. I need a few days to come to terms with all of this and gather my wits about me. I’m not sure I can face anyone with the news right now. Especially Quint. And he needs to hear this first.”
A few minutes later as she left Bridget’s office, Maura began to doubt the wisdom of holding her secret for a few more days. The longer she held this sort of news from Quint, the worse it