Jenna Mindel - Falling for the Mom-to-Be

And alone.

She was used to Jack gone for months at a time out on the lakes, but knowing he’d never come back had set her adrift.

She spotted strips of torn shingles hanging from the Dumpster and littering the ground where the guys had missed. Too easily, she could picture her husband making jokes about their aim and her heart twisted.

“Thank you for lunch.” Matthew’s serious-sounding voice caught her attention.

She looked at him. His nose was sunburned. The yellow T-shirt he wore was damp and dirty in spots, but he smelled good, like fresh air and sunshine. She even sniffed a hint of spice when he moved.

Matthew was definitely a handsome man but she had no business noticing. So why’d she feel this pull toward him? Was it their shared grief or her crazy hormones kicking in? How could she find him attractive so soon after the husband she loved had died?

He looked at her, too, his gaze locked with hers.

He was never far from her thoughts these days. Could Matthew read them, too? She cleared her throat. “It’s the least I can do considering the work you guys are doing. How does it look up there?”

“Good,” Luke mumbled around a mouthful. “No damage underneath the old shingles.”

“I’ll leave the back door unlocked when I leave. There’s a bathroom off the kitchen. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, too.” She nibbled a cracker.

Luke stood with another piece of pizza in hand. “Thanks, Annie.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and nodded toward his brother. “I’m going back up.”

“I’ll be a sec.”

Luke nodded and left.

Annie stood, as well, uncomfortable sitting alone with Matthew. “I’ll get you my credit card.”

He touched her arm. “No need. I’ll have an invoice prepared with a detailed list of items purchased from the hardware store. We used our uncle’s account so you’ve got three weeks to pay on it.”

“Oh.” She slumped back into her chair, feeling a little nauseous and lost, but oddly comforted by his touch.

She looked at him.

He looked back.

Really, what could they talk about? They’d never had trouble with conversation before, but it was different now. They were different. She tipped her head back against her chair and closed her eyes, willing the upset in her belly to settle.

Matthew’s fingertips slid to her hand. “You okay?”

That gentle gesture zinged up her arm. “Fine. I just— Can you close that pizza box?”

Her skin cooled where his fingers had been as he secured the cardboard lid and pushed the offensive pizza away.

Annie finally opened her eyes. “I should get ready for my class.”

“Maybe you should skip today.” He sounded worried.

“Oh, no.” She popped out of her seat. “I’m fine. Really.”

Matthew didn’t look as if he believed her. In fact, he looked irritated.

Welcome to the club.

Irritation and worry were Annie’s daily companions, lined up behind the empty feeling of loss. Right now she couldn’t take the concern in Matthew’s eyes. Nor the desire to lean on him. He had broad shoulders that she’d cried against before. She didn’t want to do it again or she might not stop.

“So what did the doctor say about all this?”

“The usual stuff, I suppose.” Annie didn’t want to admit her fears or that high-risk label. It’d only make Matthew worry that much more. She didn’t want him hovering too close, either.

“When will it be born?” Matthew pressed.

“It?” She laughed when his cheeks reddened.

“He, she... I don’t know what to say.”

Annie patted his shoulder and felt his muscles tense beneath her touch. “Before Thanksgiving.”

“That’s before the close of the shipping season.” Matthew stood up and faced her.

Why’d he look so concerned? “Yeah, so?”

“So...I want to be there.”

Annie’s stomach flipped but she shook her head. What was he thinking offering up something like that? “I’ll be fine. Ginger can go with me.”

The curse of every single mother reduced to having their friends there for delivery instead of the baby’s father. She and Jack would have had all winter together with their child. And now?

Christmas was going to be horrible this year.

Matthew saw too much and stood too close. “Aww, Annie.”

Annie backed away before she did something stupid like pulling him into her arms. Those broad shoulders of his were calling out for another good cry.

One, two, three...

Her tongue felt dry and thick, but she managed to say, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

* * *

The following evening, Matthew stepped inside Annie’s dance studio. She’d taken over a space once used as an exercise gym. The storefront remained a wall of windows that Annie had covered with see-through fabric framed by maroon velvet curtains. The other walls were covered with mirrors. Classical music played softly over the sound system.

A few people that he assumed might be parents lingered while Annie worked with a group of young girls. They stood in a single line and gripped a waist-high bar.

“First, second, third...” Annie called out the numbers as she moved into different positions. Up on her toes, down, pointed leg out, back in.

Her students followed her lead.

Annie didn’t use a bar and she moved with fluid grace. Her hair had been twined into a knot at the back of her head making her neck look long like the rest of her. She wore a leotard over black leggings and a filmy skirt. Her stomach looked as trim as the rest of her.

Jack had met Annie at a coffee shop in Grand Rapids where she’d been a ballerina with a company there. She’d left performing behind when they moved north and set up this studio. If he remembered correctly, she taught both ballet and exercise—advanced stretching or something.

Annie caught him watching her and faltered.

He smiled. She must have been beautiful on stage.

Checking her watch, Annie announced. “Okay, ladies, that’s it for today. Nice job.”

A chorus of “aww” rang out.

While she talked to parents, he toured the wall of fame decorated with pictures of local dance productions Annie had been involved with and previous students that had gone beyond what this area had to offer.

He turned when he heard her approach.

“Sorry.” Her face flushed. No, her skin glowed. But that could be from the sheen of healthy perspiration along her forehead. She wiped it away with a towel and then looked up at him. “What are you doing here?”

Good question. “I thought I’d go over the invoice that lists out the roofing materials with you.”

She tipped her head. “You could have brought it over tomorrow.”

“I was on my way home and thought maybe you’d want to grab dinner.” Showing Annie what she paid for on the roof was reason enough to stop by. But then, maybe it was about spending time with her, too, making sure she was okay. Stopping by her house later wasn’t a good idea, and tomorrow, he’d be busy with the roof, hurried along by Luke.

“Dinner, huh?” She looked wary.

“Are you feeling up to it?”

Then annoyed. “You don’t have to worry about me, you know.”

“I know.” So why was he? He thought about her a lot. Maybe too much. “But we both have to eat.”

She smiled. “I am hungry and cooking doesn’t sound appealing tonight.”

“I’ll even let you pick the place.” He smiled back.

That earned him an evil look of mischief like the old Annie. “There’s a new restaurant down the street that’s good.”

Matthew got nervous considering what Annie thought was good food. “Do they serve real meat?”

“Yes.” She chuckled and sat down to unlace the ribbons of her ivory-colored ballet shoes with the square toes.