“I can drive, Tyler.” Amelia frowned at him as she stared down his new Audi with disdain. “You don’t even know where my doctor’s office is.”
“You can tell me,” he said as he opened the passenger door for her to get in. Why would she rather ride in her old SUV than his brand-new luxury vehicle? He had heated leather seats. Individualized climate controls. It was like floating on a cloud to their destination.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “How can I convince you that pregnancy is not a disability? I’m perfectly capable of driving my own car to the doctor’s office.”
Ah, it wasn’t the car. It was him driving it. Too bad. His willingness to do whatever made her happy went only so far. He was going to take care of her whether she liked it or not. “If I had truly thought that about you, the acrobatics in bed last night would’ve persuaded me to believe otherwise.”
Amelia’s eyes grew wide, then a smile chased away her irritation. “Quit it,” she scolded.
“I will, but how can I convince you that letting other people help you isn’t a crime?” He stood looking at her expectantly until she finally gave in and climbed into his car. “See?” he said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
She didn’t respond. Once he got in the car and they started out toward the doctor’s office, she turned to look at him again. “You make me crazy sometimes.”
He gave her a sly smile in return. “Ditto, sweetheart. You know, you gave me this big, looming deadline to steal your heart, but you fight me at every turn.”
Tyler’s thoughts drifted to her concerned question from Saturday night. She hadn’t broached the subject again since then, but he hadn’t been able to put it aside in his own mind. If she didn’t love him at the end of thirty days, it wouldn’t be for his lack of trying. But would their friendship survive it? He’d insisted everything would be fine and dismissed any concerns because he didn’t intend to lose, but could they be friends with a baby? Could they go back to where they came from, knowing what they knew about each other? “How am I supposed to woo you when you won’t let me do anything for you?”
“We must have different definitions of wooing. I don’t consider it very romantic to drive a woman around everywhere against her will and treat her like a fragile flower.”
“That’s your problem,” Tyler noted. “I don’t think you know what love is really about.”
“What?” She looked at him with wide eyes as she scoffed at his suggestion. “Love is my business.”
“Food is your business. Love is your obsessive ideal, but you don’t really understand it. You think love and romance is just about those big gestures—expensive gifts, fancy dinners and moonlit declarations of undying devotion.”
“What is wrong with all those things?”
Tyler sighed. “Nothing is wrong with them. It’s just that none of that lasts. Flowers die, food gets eaten, words are forgotten. Fifty years from now, when we’re sitting in our favorite chairs watching our grandkids play, that’s not what you’ll remember about our life together. You’ll remember the little things, the things you don’t give me credit for doing now because they don’t fit your ideal.”
“You get credit for everything you do,” she argued. “I just feel helpless when you drive me around and carry things.”
“That is your hang-up, not mine. I’m just being nice. But I could go bigger if you want me to. Would you like me to buy you a new car? That would be a big romantic gesture.”
“You are not buying me a car. No way. I don’t care how much money you have just lying around, it’s a ridiculous suggestion.”
“See?” he said, with a shake of his head. “I can’t win.”
At that, Amelia chuckled. “You’re married, Tyler. You’d better get used to that.”
That was certainly right. He wished Amelia didn’t question the motives of every little thing he did. Somehow being nice seemed to get him in trouble, although he didn’t really mind it. He didn’t do it on purpose, but he got a little thrill when Amelia got irritated with him. A becoming flush would rush to her cheeks and a flash of emotion would light up her dark eyes. She was a beautiful, passionate woman. He’d had the good fortune to share her bed the past two nights and had taken full advantage of that fire in her. That didn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy winding her up and watching her spin in the daytime.
He hadn’t wanted to push their physical relationship too hard. They’d come together suddenly that first night in the house, and he could tell she was apprehensive about it. Their night together in Vegas had been fueled by raw emotions and alcohol. The second by the delirium of sleep and fierce desires. Since then, he’d thought she’d want some space, but it had been the opposite. She seemed to have abandoned all her reservations about their physical connection. Which he didn’t mind at all. But somehow it didn’t feel as though they were making relationship progress. It just felt like sex.
What universe was he living in where just having sex with a beautiful woman was somehow less than fulfilling? He was turning into a teenage girl.
Speaking of girls, the doctor’s waiting room was crawling with women when they arrived. They checked in, then found a pair of seats among the sea of other ladies waiting. Tyler wasn’t certain he’d seen that many women together at once. Young ones, old ones, pregnant ones, ones with babies in carriers... At the moment, he was the only man and feeling very out of place.
“Maybe I should—” he began, but stopped when another man came in with a pregnant woman.
“Are you trying to punk out on me?” Amelia asked with a teasing smile.
“Well, I just wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what the protocol was for this kind of thing.”
Amelia patted his arm, reassuringly. “Daddies can come. Relax. You may just have to look the other way when there are lady parts involved.”
“Lady parts?” he asked with a frown.
“I know you’re familiar with them, but this is a whole new ball game. Just remember, if you’re uncomfortable seeing them, just think how uncomfortable I am putting them on display and subjecting them to various...things.”
Things? Tyler swallowed hard. There was a lot to this baby-having business he hadn’t considered before.
“Amelia Kennedy?” the nurse called from the doorway.
Amelia got up and slung her purse over her shoulder. Despite his trepidations, Tyler followed her to the doorway, pausing only when the nurse smiled at him and held up her hand to stop him.
“Sir, we’re going to take her back to change, get her health history and do a quick pelvic exam. If you’d prefer, I can come back for you when that’s done and the doctor is ready to do the ultrasound and chat with you both.”
“Absolutely,” he said, looking visibly relieved.
Amelia smiled and patted his shoulder. “Saved by the nurse. It shouldn’t be long. Read some parenting magazines.”
Tyler nodded blankly and returned to his seat. About a half hour later, the same nurse returned and waved him over. He followed her through a maze of corridors, finally stopping at an exam room with a closed door. She knocked softly and entered.
He paused just as he crossed over the threshold into the domain of the female. Amelia was lying back on the table with her feet up. She had a paper sheet draped over her, but his eyes still widened as he took it all in. “The nurse said we were going to do an ultrasound. I thought that meant rubbing gel on your stomach.”
“That’s for later trimesters,” the doctor explained, gesturing toward a stool where he could sit by Amelia’s side. “A transvaginal ultrasound gives us a better picture of what’s going on early in the pregnancy.”
Amelia took his hand and tugged until he sat down. “We’re watching the television screen. Stay north of the sheet and you’ll be fine.”
Tyler nodded and watched the screen intently as the blurry gray images swirled around. A black circle came into focus and inside it, a tiny gray blob that looked a little like a pinto or kidney bean.
“There’s your baby,” the doctor announced.
Tyler watched the screen with a touch of disbelief. It didn’t look anything like a baby. And yet, his focus narrowed in on the image as if everything else in the room ceased to exist. Up until this moment, the baby had still been a vague concept to him, a challenge he had to face head-on. He’d accepted its existence and had planned how he would care for it when it arrived, but it was still an idea. Suddenly seeing it on the screen made it a person—a tiny little person that he and Amelia had made.
“Wow,” Tyler said.
Amelia turned to him and smiled. “Look what we did.” Her cheeks were flushed pink and she had glassy tears in her eyes.
Truthfully, he was fighting the same reaction himself. Tyler gripped her hand tightly as the doctor took size measurements and put information into the system.
“What is that little flicker of movement there?” Tyler pointed at the screen. For the most part, the baby was still, but a small section seemed to be pulsing.
“That is the heart beating,” the doctor said. “It looks good, too. Nice and strong, considering how early it is.”
“Can we hear it?” Amelia asked.
“It’s too early to pick up with the Doppler, but it should certainly be audible when you come back in four weeks for your next checkup. That will give you two something to look forward to. Laura is going to print out a couple shots of the ultrasound images for you to take home and show the grandparents,” the doctor said. “It’s your baby’s first picture.”
A soft sigh slipped through Amelia’s lips as she watched the blurry image. The expression of awe on her face had faded to a faint sadness. Maybe Tyler only noticed it because he knew her so well. It was no surprise that the doctor’s words would distress her. A lot of these early milestones in the baby’s development would go uncelebrated by friends and family. The excitement, the hugs, the discussion of baby showers and nursery furniture... There would be none of that, at least for now. At some point they would make the happy announcement of her pregnancy to their parents, but would it be tempered by the news that they weren’t marrying or even in love?
Little Bean’s grandparents would have to wait awhile before they got to learn about his or her existence, much less see the ultrasound photos. Everything would stay under wraps for at least another twenty-two days while he and Amelia figured out what they were doing.
“Okay, we’re done here,” the doctor said. He helped Amelia sit up and scoot back on the table. “You can go ahead and get dressed, then Laura will bring you back to my office, where we can go over the new-pregnancy packet and you can ask any questions you might have.”
They thanked the doctor and Tyler waited outside while Amelia redressed. The meeting with the doctor was pretty short. All their questions seemed to vanish when they were put on the spot, but the doctor laughed and said that was common. That was why they sent parents away with all the paperwork that would answer the questions they remembered once they got home.
When they got back into the car to leave, Tyler noticed Amelia flipping through the massive package with a wide-eyed expression of panic. “There’s a lot of stuff in here to read.”
“We’ll go over it tonight. What do you say we go by the bookstore and pick up some of those baby books you wanted? Then we can get some Chinese takeout, and we can spread all of it across the bed and go through it together. How does that sound?”
“Better,” she said with a soft smile. Amelia might be worried about what they faced, but the idea of tackling this together seemed to soothe her concerns for the moment. “Thank you. There’s just a lot to think about.”
“Sure. But we can handle it. Humans have done it for thousands of years, and most of them without books or handouts to help them. It will be just fine.” Tyler tried to think of a distraction, and the weight of the box in his coat pocket reminded him he had a gift for her. He’d had it for a couple days but hadn’t found the right time to give it to her yet. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She set the paperwork aside and looked at him suspiciously. Amelia wasn’t big on surprises, good or bad. “Will I like this surprise?”
“I think so. I bought you something at the Travis auction the other day.”
Amelia’s nose wrinkled. “I have enough jewelry, Tyler. I know that’s your business, but I don’t know what to do with all the pieces you’ve already given me.”
“It’s not jewelry.” He pulled the long, narrow box from his lapel pocket.
“It looks like jewelry,” she argued as she took it from him.
Tyler watched her open the box, revealing the delicate silver spoon inside. It had a long, thin handle with a grip designed to look like a crescent-shaped man in the moon. A small diamond was embedded in the eye of the moon. “What do you think?”
Amelia’s brow knit together as she examined the box, but no words came. She lifted it, turning the spoon in her fingers and examining the excruciatingly detailed handle.
“It was a gift to Patty from Elvis Presley when she had her first son, Martin. I thought you might like it. You said I wasn’t allowed to get any furniture or things like that until after we make it out of the first trimester, but this is a little thing. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t mind. It’s beautiful.” She ran her fingertip over it and placed it back in the box. “Thank you.”
He noticed a hesitation in her. He’d noticed it a lot lately. She seemed to second-guess everything he did outside of the bedroom. “But?” he pressed.
“Well,” she said with a smile, “I just never dreamed I’d have a baby born with a silver spoon in its mouth.”
* * *
“These are super yum. I vote for Tasty Temptations.”
Amelia turned to look across the conference room table at Gretchen. Between them was an assortment of platters and dishes, food courtesy of the five catering companies they’d interviewed today. Each company had been asked to bring menus, customer references and a sample each of an appetizer and a main course. They were also each asked to replicate one of Amelia’s trademark dishes in case a customer requested something specific while she was gone.
“I don’t know,” Bree said. “We’ve used Bites of Nashville a couple times, like when Amelia went to Vegas. I feel like they should get priority.”
“The only thing I’m loyal to is this little cheeseburger.” Gretchen was enamored with a tiny Kobe beef slider by Tasty Temptations. It had tomato aioli and a tiny, fresh-baked yeast bun.
That was all nice, but Amelia didn’t feel charitable. None of the catering companies had really blown her away. “They were okay,” she said.
“Okay? Come on, Amelia.” Natalie groaned, putting her tablet down on the table beside a platter of Bellinis with assorted toppings. “I’m as big a stickler for perfection as anyone, but you’re unreasonably nitpicking. Every company we saw today was great. They were professional and the food was tasty and creative. Chef on Wheels replicated your gorgonzola-and-cracked-black-pepper tenderloin flawlessly. I couldn’t tell you hadn’t made it.”
Amelia frowned at her coworkers. Maybe the hormones were making her oversensitive, but she couldn’t help it. Flawlessly? Why should she be happy that someone had been able to copy one of her featured dishes so easily? “I’m sorry, but I’m not that enthusiastic about being supplanted. It’s hard to think about someone coming into this place and doing my job. Taking over my role. We’ll see how you guys like it when we interview your replacements.”
“You know we could never replace you,” Bree soothed. “You make the most amazing cream puffs on the planet. But remember, you’re the one that got pregnant. We wouldn’t be going through this if you weren’t going to be out for weeks at a time. And before that, you’re going to need help when you’re in your third trimester and can’t stay on your feet for sixteen hours straight.”
“That’s not going to be for months,” Amelia argued.
“We’ve got to start the process now, even though you’re still perfectly capable of doing the job.” Natalie put a hand on her shoulder. “Think about this with your businesswoman cap on, okay? If one of us was going to be away for weeks, we’d need to get a backup set up as soon as we could. Right?”
Amelia sighed. “Yes, I know. You’re right. It’s just hard.”
“Frankly,” Natalie continued, “we need to have a backup on standby for all our roles. With your pregnancy we have advance warning, but the blizzard snapped up Bree with no notice at all. Fortunately, we had Willie to fill in, but there’s nothing like that for the rest of us.”
“Maybe this will help with the vacation issue,” Bree said. “We’re all pretty burned out, but we’re booked solid until the end of next year. We need to be able to take time off. I’m going to want to go on a honeymoon after Ian and I get married. Gretchen has been dying to go to Italy for years. I’m sure there’s something you’d rather do than sit behind that desk and work every day, Natalie. Even if one of us just wants to lie on the couch for a week and binge on television, we can’t as things stand now.”
“How about this?” Amelia offered. “Instead of bringing in a catering company, why don’t we hire someone else to help in the kitchen? I didn’t realize how much help I could use until Tyler pitched in last weekend. We bring someone in, and then I can spend the next few months getting them trained and comfortable. Maybe we keep Bites of Nashville or one of the others on standby for big events, but there’s always someone from our team here.”
Natalie thought over her suggestion and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. That way we always have one of our people with eyes on the product. Any ideas on a candidate?”
“I was thinking about Stella.”
“From the serving team?” Natalie asked.
Amelia nodded. On wedding days, a restaurant agency provided them with a team of servers to work the front and back of the house with her. Stella was one of the employees who was consistently sent over. She preferred working in the kitchen and had told Amelia she was about to graduate from culinary school in the spring. “She’s finishing school in May. That will give us all summer to get her up to speed. By the time my due date comes, she’ll do fine with smaller projects and managing the outside caterer if we need one.”
“Okay, I’ll get her information from the agency and we’ll bring her in for a chat.” Natalie started tapping on her tablet, capturing the important information. “Now, in the meantime, we still need to pick a backup caterer. I want to have someone on standby.”
“Yeah,” Gretchen said with a sly grin on her face. “One of us might up and go to London on short notice or something.”
Amelia’s head snapped up in Gretchen’s direction. London? Why would she say London? She and Tyler had discussed that very possibility two weeks ago, but she hadn’t said anything to them. Not even in casual discussion. “Is someone going to London?”
Bree snorted into her hand. “You are, dummy.”
Amelia’s eyes widened in surprise. “I am? Since when?”
“Since Tyler came by last Friday,” Natalie informed her. “Before he went into the kitchen to help you, he stopped by my office and asked about the possibility of taking you on a business trip with him. I thought it was nice of him to check before he broached the subject.”
Amelia felt the heat of irritation rise to her cheeks. Tyler had the ability to coax an emotional response from her faster than anyone else, for good and bad reasons. She should’ve known he was up to something. Things had been going too well. It had been over a week since the doctor’s appointment, and it had been smooth sailing. They’d enjoyed their evenings together, read baby books together, argued about names and laughed together. “Well, it would’ve been nice if he’d said something to me about it! Anyone care to tell me when I’m going to London?”
“Sunday,” Natalie replied.
It was Thursday afternoon. “This Sunday? You’re kidding, right?”
“No, he told me the date.” Natalie looked down at her tablet. “Yep, March 8. That’s Sunday.”
Amelia gritted her teeth together. This was so like Tyler—doing whatever it took to get his way without considering what she wanted or how she felt about it. “I’m gonna kill him. We’ll need a backup caterer because I’m going to be in jail for fifteen to life.”
“Are you mad?” Gretchen asked. “Seriously? Your husband wants to take you on a spur-of-the-moment trip to London and you’re upset about it? I can’t get a guy to take me on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Burger King.”
“I’m not mad because he wants to take me to London. I’m mad because he went behind my back and set it all up without asking me first.”
“That’s because you would’ve said no,” Bree pointed out.
Amelia sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “So what? It’s irresponsible of me to leave on short notice. I just took off time for my reunion, and as we’ve discussed, I’ll be out again in the fall. I shouldn’t take off more time just for the hell of it.”
“Tyler said he’d have you back Thursday night,” Natalie reasoned. “Technically, you wouldn’t miss anything. We’re not doing the cake next week. They’re ordering a cupcake display from a local vendor. But I think you should take the rest of the weekend off anyway.”
“Why?”
“You’ll be jet-lagged, for one thing,” Natalie said. “You’re not going to feel like working when you get back.”
“You also need to spend some quality time with Tyler,” Bree added. “The clock is ticking down on this relationship trial run of yours. You guys have been so busy worrying about renting a house and dealing with baby stuff. Going someplace romantic might be nice. Go and try to enjoy yourself. Roam the streets of London and let yourself fall in love.”
In love? Things had been going well, but somehow the thought of that still seemed ridiculous. Amelia did love Tyler, but she was pretty certain being in love was not going to be an option. There were only two weeks left. They were comfortable together, yes. And the sex had been...noteworthy. But love? Amelia had never been in love, but she figured it would take a lot more than a stroll along the Thames to get them there.