“Marcus refuses to accept Lisa’s baby and it’s all my fault. I talked her into it. I was so sure it was the perfect answer. But I had a feeling she hadn’t told him, and I went ahead and inseminated her, anyway. And now it looks like she’s going to have to choose between the husband she adores and her baby. Where do I get off thinking I know what’s best for other people when I don’t even know what’s best for myself?”
“Shh. Slow down. What’s this about Marcus and the baby? He told me himself just two days ago that things were great between him and Lisa. He looked happier than he’s looked in years.”
Beth shook her head. “He is happy with Lisa. But he’s got some cockamamy idea that he and Lisa can be married while she raises her child herself. Even I know that’s no way to bring up a child.”
Oliver shook his head, sadness mingling with the worry Beth saw in his eyes. “She’s got to give him more time. Wait until he sees the baby. Until she brings it home. I suspect he’ll come around then. Marcus has a wealth of love to give. I’m laying odds he’ll make the right decision when the time comes.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“I’m not ready to consider that possibility. It would kill my daughter to lose Marcus. I know that as surely as I know my own name.”
To her chagrin, Beth felt tears fill her eyes. “Oh, God. What a mess I’ve made of things,” she said. How could she have ruined the lives of the two people she cared about most in the world?
“What do you mean? You did your job. That’s all.”
Beth shook her head. “I wish that was all. I’d been after Lisa for months to consider artificial insemination. I was just so sure it was the right answer. The only answer for them. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
“But the final decision was Lisa’s, my dear. She wanted this baby, make no mistake about that.”
Beth wished she could be so sure. “She said no for months, Oliver. She wouldn’t even consider it, because she knew Marcus would react this way. I see that now. But she was so unhappy, getting unhappier every time I saw her, so I kept at her. The week before we did the procedure she came to see me. I’d even picked out a donor for her and told her all about him. She still said no.”
Oliver put his arm around her shoulders again. Beth couldn’t believe how badly she wanted to snuggle into his embrace, in spite of how wrong that would be. “She didn’t come to you against her will, Beth. Lisa’s a big girl with a mind of her own. You, my dear, seem to have a tendency to be a bit too hard on yourself. You’re not to blame for Marcus and Lisa’s current situation any more than Marcus is to blame for his sterility.”
“It’s just that I meddle sometimes. I know I do. I try not to, I really do, but before I know it, I’m up to my elbows in someone’s problems.” Oliver might as well know.
He pulled her against him, right where she so wanted to be. “That’s called caring, dear Beth, not meddling,” he said softly.
Beth glanced up at the odd tone in his voice, and her blood started to race the minute she met his gaze. He was looking at her with complete honesty, holding nothing back, and the desire she saw in his eyes took her breath away.
“Oliver?” she whispered, knowing they were crossing a line never meant to be crossed, yet unable to prevent herself.
“Ah, Beth. Life’s too short, happiness too fleeting, to let this slip away. You feel it, too, don’t you? This thing between us. It’s not just a silly fantasy of a wishful old man, is it?”
“You aren’t old, Oliver. Not by a long shot. And yes, I feel it, too.”
As he bent his head and kissed her and she lost herself in the blissful experience of his touch, she hoped John would forgive her for falling in love with another man.
HER BACK ACHED. Drugged with sleep, Lisa rolled over, burrowing into Marcus’s side as she tried to get comfortable. But the pain came again, sharper this time, bringing her fully awake. And instantly afraid.
“Marcus?” she said, scared to move, to sit up.
“What is it, Lis?” He flipped on the bedside light, concern in his eyes.
“It’s the baby, Marcus. He’s coming and it’s way too early.” Tears stung her eyes, but she was afraid to cry. She lay perfectly still, hoping against all the logic of her doctor’s training that if she didn’t move, she could keep the tiny life inside her a little while longer.
Another pain gripped her, and Lisa cried out. Something was wrong. Drastically wrong.
“Lis? Do you need to get to the bathroom?”
“No!” she cried. “No. I don’t want to move. I’m not going to lose my baby. Not now. Please, God, no.” She started to sob softly, as yet another pain shot up her back. She’d been feeling twinges in her back for just over a week, but she’d thought they were perfectly normal.
Marcus was a blur in her haze of pain as he reached for the phone on the nightstand and dialed Debbie Crutchfield. He spoke quickly, then just as quickly hung up the phone and got out of bed.
“I’m going to have to move you, Lis. Debbie’s meeting us at the hospital in fifteen minutes.”
He pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt while he talked, shrugging into his jacket and pulling on his shoes in record time.
“Here we go. Just lie still, honey,” he said, wrapping the comforter from the bed around her and lifting her, still in her nightgown, into his arms.