Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (36 page)

“
So, who’s your coach
?”
He slid his hand
down
her
spine after pushing her
long braid
out of the way
.

“I
asked my mom
.
She turned me down
. S
he’s driving south to see my d
ad every day the class is held and she
say
s she needs to keep doing that
to convince him to
take me back
.  So, I’m thinking I’ll just
read
the
book
the instructor
gave me
, and I’ll do
the practice
things
on my own.”

Ben stopped rubbing.
“
No.
You can’t do that
.”

Danni
opened her eyes. “What do you mean?
And w
hy’d you stop
rubbing
?
I
t’s my decision, and I told you
: M
y mom can’t do it. I
’m perfectly capable of learning
the exercises on my own.”

“
You could
, but
i
t’s not the
sam
e. You need a coach. I’l
l do it.
I’m already a pro. And y
ou won’t have to worry about
me passing out
when they show
the films.
I’ve
seen the
m
before
and blood doesn’t bother me
.
Besides, the birth of a baby is really
cool.
”

“But, what if you see,
you know, things, my body, you know—”
Her face
and neck heated up
.
She was sure her cheeks were as pink as the
sweater
she was wearing.

“I’m not going to see any
thing
. You don’t get undressed. And, in labor, I’ll be up at your head, not down at the
business
end. That’s for
your doctor to take care of
.
I’ll be there for you, so I won’t see anything,
except your face
as you sweat and groan.” H
e helped her up off the
floor
, then sat down next to her
on the couch
.

“I
don’t intend to
sweat and
groan.
”

“Oh, yes, you
will. You’ll be working hard.
Why do you think they call it labor?”
He pulled her braid for emphasis before following her into the kitchen.

As they ate
dinner
, they continued their discussion of the childbirth class, what he had learned when he had helped his older sister, and what
Danni
had questions about.

He
was doing the dishes
when
she
finally
said,
“
Okay
.  But if I tell you to leave, will you?”

“If you don’t want me there
for the birth
, I’ll leave, but that’s unfair. Seeing
your baby born is a major high.
You’l
l want to see it and your coach,
who will have worked his tail off
keeping you comfortable and all,
deserve
s
to see it, too.” He
handed her the last dish
. “But
if you
insist
that I
leave, I will,
even though I’ll
be
cry
ing
my eyes out when
I
do.” 

She t
ossed
a dishtowel at him and giggled. “No, you won’t. You never cried when you
told me about
that cow
you helped
birth
her calf
and you had to
use
a
block and tackle
when it got stuck
.
Didn’t you say
the farmer called it
a blessed event?”

“That was different.
And
it was
money in his pocket when he sells the calf
,
plus
we saved his cow
.
I was just glad it was over and the cow didn’t try to gore me when
I touched the calf
.  Want me to tell Doctor
Wright to use a block and tackle on you?”

She grimaced.
“You are too funny.
Besides,
I won’t need i
t. I
plan to push this baby out
nice as you ple
ase.
See, like i
n th
is
picture.
”
S
he pointed to
a page in
the
instruction manual
.

“
Okay
, o
kay
. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go over some things before I see
Joe
l
tomorrow
.
High five time.” He leaned over, his hand at the ready.

She gave him a high five. “Congratulations. For what?”

“
I’m senior guy
to remove kidney s
tones from a big old d
almation tomorrow.
And, then I’m
excis
in
g the fibrosarcoma I diagnosed i
n Mr. Bowen
’s collie
.
Mind if I do my
review
?”

“Go ahead.”  She
listened to music while he studied and
,
when she heard an owl
hooting among the trees
, donned a coat and scarf and told him, “I’m going
for a
walk. The moon is gorgeous tonight.”

He waved at her as
s
he left. She moved slowly down the little
pat
h through the trees
, humming
to herself as she walked up the beach.
Ben
wanted to be her
coach.
He almost acted like the baby was his.
W
ould
he
really help her
after the baby
was
born?
If truth be told, she
could barely
imagine life without Ben. But he’d never said how he felt about her
, and she knew he’d be leaving at the end of his externship
. Except for
that one kiss at Thanksgiving,
a kiss that
had
sent her whirling
and wanting to repeat it
, he’d never
really acted like a boyfriend. She didn’t think p
ecks on the cheek and hugs that ended wi
th rubbing The Bump or her back
really count
ed as boyfriend behavior
.

So much had happened since she’d
started college
, since she’d met Steve, since she’d found out she was pregnant.
Best of all was meeting Ben.
If only
…
She allowed her mind to fantasize as she trailed along the edge of the woods, the sound of the waves soothing away the unanswered questions about her father that continued to plague her.
After several minutes, she
turned and followed
the trail back to
the cottage.

Three days later
,
Ben and
Danni
returned from the first
childbirth
class.
“I’m glad you were
there
tonight—except it was a little embarrass
ing when I had to introduce you.
”
She
walked toward the
house
, her hand in Ben’s.

“That’s why I interrupted and said I was standing in for your mom.
Just like those
other stand-ins.”

“I know, but it still felt kind of funny.”

“
You
were
probably
the only one who thought so.
You’re
going to a class to get ready for the birth of
Mister
or Miss Bump
. That makes you just like all the other people who were there. You weren’t even the youngest. Did you see that kid
with the
green
streaks in her
hair
and the nose ring
?
I’ll bet she’s barely
sixte
e
n
!  What is she doing being ‘great with child,’ as they say?”

“Don’t get started or you’ll
sound like my dad.” S
he p
ok
ed him while he was hanging up their coats. “My mom called
. She wants
to know if we’
re
attending the c
andleli
ght s
ervice on Christmas Eve. I
really
want
to do that
. Will
you come
?”

“
Sure
.
What about your dad? Wo
n’t
he
be
home for Christmas?”

“Mom said she thought so and it would be best if we didn’t come over
to the house
. So I thought I could give her my gifts when we go to the service. She c
an
take them home and put them under the tree.”
She looked away from him
and blinked hard to
prevent
unexpected
tears from slipping
down her cheeks
.
How hard is it goi
ng to be,
not celebrating
Christmas
at home?

“Sounds like a good plan,” Ben
murmur
ed.
“
Want
me to rub your back? You
look
like it
’s hurting
.”

She leaned against him and nodded. “I think I stood too much at the clinic when I was pinch-hitting for
Kate
. I hope she gets back soon.”

“Lean forward, Shortie.
There. How’s this feel?”
He
began to massage her back from
her
neck to the base of her spine.

She sighed.
“
That feels so good.
You could do
it
forever
and I wouldn’t ask you to stop
.”
But do you want to
stay
with me
forever
, Ben
?
You
have your own life and you may not want me holding you back.

She turned around, his hand sliding off her back
, determined to finally ask him
, hoping against hope he would tell her what she wanted to know
. “Why did you kiss me? That night we had Thanksgiving dinner?”

As if taken aback at her question, he hesitate
d
,
as if
he wasn’t sure how to answer. “Oh.
That.
Well, to thank you
, I guess
.
” B
ut he
didn’t
meet her eyes when he said it.

“That’s all?”
He hadn’t
felt anything for her
? He was just
thankful
for the food?

“Isn’t that enough?”

But his ears were red. What did that mean? Maybe he was sorry he’d kissed her, that she
was
th
inking
more of it than he’d intended.

“I guess so.” She resumed her previous position.

Ben
began
rubb
ing
her back
again
.
After several minutes of silence,
s
he sniff
ed once, twice and reached for a tissue
.