LITMIR.BIZ

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to be safe than live with a lifetime of regret.

      “I need you to call Vera for me,” she said to him the moment the paramedics mobilized the gurney, snapping the wheels in place. They immediately began to guide the gurney in through the automatic sliding doors.

      Adam hurried to keep pace with the gurney. The name she’d just tossed in his direction meant nothing to him. “Vera?”

      “Dr. Vera Lee. She’s the veterinarian who works with me at the Laguna Animal Hospital. She’s going to have to take over the appointments and have Susannah reschedule the ones that aren’t emergencies until I can get back to work.”

      Which wouldn’t be for a while if he had anything to say about it, he thought. Childbirth might be natural, but it could knock the hell out of a woman and Eve needed to give herself some time to recover.

      “Susannah?” he repeated. Another name that meant nothing to him.

      “Susannah Reyes. She’s my tech and she doubles as a receptionist.” Wanda Peeples had been her father’s technician and receptionist for thirty years, but when he died, the woman, already in her seventies, had retired. Grief-stricken, she’d debated selling the practice for all of five hours, then decided to take over, rebuilding it from the ground up.

      Frustrated, Eve shook her head. “I really thought I was going to have more time.”

      Who was it that said life was what happens while you were busy making plans? “Life’s full of surprises,” Adam told her.

      And he should know that better than anyone, he thought, looking down at the infant cradled in her arms.

      “All right, I’ll call Vera and Susannah. Anything else?”

      “Yes.” She took a breath, then raised her head. Her eyes met his. “Thank you.”

      Adam hadn’t been expecting that. Hearing Eve voice her gratitude brought a smile to his lips. “You’re welcome.”

      The moment was quickly dissipated by the authoritative, stocky nurse who came up to him and hooked her arm through his. “You the husband?” the woman demanded.

      Eve spoke up before he had a chance to. “He’s the father.”

      Picking up on the difference, the nurse declared, “Good enough,” and thrust a clipboard with several sheets clipped to it at him. “I need you to fill out some information.”

      Adam quickly scanned the top sheet. There was no way that he knew even half the information that was being asked. “Look, I can’t—”

      “I’m preregistered,” Eve called out as the paramedics, rattling off pertinent information regarding both mother and child, turned her over to an orderly and another nurse. The duo paused for a moment as the gurney changed hands.

      “Saved you some trouble,” the stocky nurse mumbled to Adam, taking back the clipboard. Then, as Adam turned to continue following Eve’s gurney, the woman placed her hand against his chest, stopping him in his tracks. “You can’t go with her just yet,” she informed him. And then she softened just a little. “They need to settle her in first, then they’ll call for you.”

      Adam was accustomed to making his own rules as he went along, to coming and going as he saw fit without waiting for someone else’s okay.

      But this wasn’t the kind of situation he ordinarily found himself in. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he had no recourse but to go along with procedure. “What floor is maternity on?”

      “Fifth.” She clamped her mouth shut, as if she’d just given away a state secret. “But you can wait here,” she went on, her eyes daring him to contradict the edict.

      “I’ll wait on the fifth floor,” he told the woman. There was no arguing with his tone.

      “All right, suit yourself. Just give the nurse at the desk your name when you get there.”

      He inclined his head, as if she had been the one to win and not him. “Yes, ma’am.”

      As he walked to the bank of elevators located to the side, he heard the nurse mutter under her breath, “If I was just twenty years younger …”

      A small, amused smile curved his mouth.

      “How do you feel?” he asked Eve, walking into her private room.

      It was more than thirty minutes later and he had begun to think that something had gone wrong. But then an intern had found him and gave him the all clear sign, telling him the number of Eve’s room. He lost no time in getting there.

      She’d just begun to doze off. The sound of Adam’s voice temporarily banished any thought of sleep. She’d started to think that he’d taken the opportunity to leave the hospital.

      That he hadn’t coaxed a smile from her.

      “Like I’ve been run over by a truck. Twice.” Eve took a deep breath and pushed herself up into a sitting position. “They said that Brooklyn’s fine.”

      Adam nodded. He’d been to the nursery before coming to her room. “I know. I asked.”

      She should have known he would. The man didn’t believe in leaving stones unturned. “You’re thorough.”

      Crossing to her, he stood at her bedside and struggled against the temptation to brush the hair away from her cheek. Instead, Adam shoved his hands into his pockets.

      “Keeps the mistakes at a minimum,” he told her.

      She raised her eyes to his. For a moment, she was silent. And then she said, “At least some of them.”

      Was she telling him that she thought of their having made love as a mistake? That would mean that she considered the baby a mistake, which wasn’t the impression he’d gotten. He’d seen love in her eyes when she looked down at Brooklyn.

      “Some of them,” he echoed.

      She ran her fingers along the top of her hospital gown. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask him and somehow resolve. But she was so very tired again. Far too tired to think clearly.

      As she fought off the drugging demands of fatigue, Eve tried to remember what it was that she’d asked him to do. And then it came to her.

      “Did you call Vera? I didn’t give you her number,” she realized out loud.

      “I found it,” he assured her. “And I called her. She wanted to know who I was.”

      She looked at him warily. “And what did you tell her?”

      “The truth,” he said simply. “That I was someone you used to know.”

      “That’s not the truth.” Although she fervently wished that it was. “I didn’t know you.” And still don’t, she added silently. “I thought I did, but I didn’t.”

      “We can talk about that some other time if you want to,” he told her, cutting her off. He glanced at his watch. It was almost two in the morning—as Vera had pointed out none too happily when he’d called her—until he’d explained why he was calling. “Right now, you need your rest.”

      It just wasn’t in her to argue with him. She knew he’d win. “I am tired,” she agreed.

      “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eve.”

      It was a perfunctory remark. Right now, he really didn’t know if he was coming back, at least not in such a way where she could see him. And he did have work to attend to, both his actual job and what he did in order to maintain a cover for the outside world. There were times when his double life really got to be confusing. The less she knew, the better for everyone. He couldn’t jeopardize the mission, not even for her.

      Besides, he was fairly sure the woman didn’t completely trust him. She would be better off if he stayed away as much as he could.

      Bending

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