“Open your eyes, Brooke. Cole Miller isn’t going to fall for me. And I don’t even want him to. Not anymore.”
“It won’t happen if you don’t try,” Brooke said. “I’ve invited you to come visit, and every weekend you make an excuse.”
“If I really thought you guys were nothing but roommates, I’d give it a shot.”
“That’s all we are. We barely even touch each other.”
Harper shook her head as she swallowed the last of her sandwich. “Sometimes you’re so naïve, it’s hard to believe you were married for five years.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” With her stomach turning flips, Brooke lost her appetite, and tossed the rest of her lunch in the trash.
“It means you’re in love with Cole Miller, and I don’t know why you refuse to admit it.”
“But I’m not in love with him. Don’t you realize I would never go after a guy you were in love with? What kind of sister do you think I am?”
“Brooke, don’t be ridiculous. I had a crush on Cole when we’d never even met. But you… you’re really in love with him. And I think he feels the same way about you.”
“You’re wrong.” She has to be wrong. The room spun in a slow circle, and Brooke grabbed her desktop for balance.
“Not only that, but I think he’s falling for your baby, too. Everything you want is right in front of you, Brooke. You just need to open your eyes.”
The baby! He’s falling for the baby. Her pulse rocketed into the sky. She couldn’t lose the baby. It was all she had that belonged to her.
“I have to go,” she mumbled, disconnecting before Harper could add any more fuel to the fire that was melting her insides.
Cole chatted happily on the way to Dave’s office, but Brooke wasn’t listening. She was too busy trying to decide how to break the news. At last, she decided there wasn’t an easy way to do it. She had to be honest, and pray he wouldn’t get his feelings hurt. It was better for it to happen now than when he was even more attached.
She cleared her throat, waiting until she had his attention. “I think it might be best if you weren’t in the room when I get the ultrasound.”
Confusion clouded his hazel eyes. “I could stand in a different place, where I can’t see your stomach. All I need to see is the video screen.”
“No, it’s not like you stare at me, or anything. But…”
“What? What did I do wrong?” Pain replaced the confusion. She could always tell when she said something that hurt him. She could only hope she wasn’t damaging his trust of women.
“I think you’re getting too attached to the baby.”
“That’s not true,” he spat back, aggravation in his tone.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked. “Are you sure you want to go through all these visits and ultrasounds and be okay when the baby is born and then never get to see him or her?”
He fell silent. “If you want to know the truth, the answer is no, I don’t want that. But I’ve thought about it a lot. As long as I respect your boundaries, I don’t see why I can’t be a part of this child’s life. You said it yourself… I’m like a brother. So why can’t I be the baby’s uncle?”
She imagined how hard it would be, especially if Cole remarried and had kids of his own. Yet the alternative, a life completely devoid of Cole, seemed even worse.
“I guess you could be an uncle, if you’re sure you’d be satisfied with that.”
“Yes.” His relief was palpable. “I promise I won’t interfere. I’ll just do the uncle thing and buy him lots of noisy toy trucks to drive you crazy.”
She laughed. “What if it’s a girl?”
“Any niece of mine is going to like toy trucks as much as a boy. I’ll buy her boots and turn her into a cowgirl.”
“Cole, I’m not making any promises. If it gets—”
“I’ll back off, any time you ask me to. Haven’t I kept my promises so far?”
“Mostly.”
“Mostly?” He said the word like she’d accused him of murder. “When haven’t I kept a promise?”
“Well, two weeks ago, when you put me in your lap, that was clearly a broken promise.”
“Says the woman who let me do it without objecting.”
“I was in a vulnerable state.” She pursed her lips and lifted her chin high in the air.
“Hmph!” He reached to turn the radio on, mumbling under his breath. It almost sounded like he said, “So was I,” but that didn’t make any sense.
On the ultrasound screen, the image squirmed. Mostly, it looked like a blob, though occasionally Cole thought he could make out an arm or leg.
“There’s the spinal cord,” Dave said, pointing to a long row of white dots. “And there’s a kneecap,” he pointed to a blob.
“That’s not the parts we’re interested in,” Cole complained. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
