He made it halfway before she called out softly behind him, “Levon?”
Hearing his name on her lips again quivered inside him, shaking him to his core. Without thought, he headed back to the bedside to her, reaching down to tuck her hair behind her ear before he could stop himself. “What is it, sweetheart?”
She caught his wrist and heat and awareness sizzled through his skin, jolting his nerve endings. “Will you stay with me? Until I fall asleep.”
“Whatever you want,” he said, the words gruff to his own ears. His throat felt tight with a wave of emotions—need, want, wariness, joy. Levon sat on the edge of the bed again and watched while Olive snuggled under the covers, pulling the blanket up to her chin. Her eyelids gradually sank lower and lower until they closed.
Levon waited until her breath evened out into the patterns of sleep, then couldn’t resist resting his hand on her baby bump one more time, lost in thought, lost in the strange, alien sensation of cradling a life that had yet to be born.
My baby. Our baby. My world.
6
The ominous fog that had clung to the high school grounds all day Thursday had burned off without a trace by the time Olive and Levon arrived at her house early Friday morning.
“See, Olive? Everything looks more manageable in daylight,” she muttered under her breath as she climbed out of the truck and shut the door. He’d suggested waiting to come until after she was done teaching for the day, but she’d forgotten some test last night and besides, she just wanted to get this over with, since he was barely allowing her to breathe on her own, let alone drive to work by herself.
She straightened her black maternity dress and glanced at herself in the truck’s side mirror as she passed. She’d pulled her curly hair back into a ponytail this morning and put on a touch of makeup. Usually she liked to look perfect for her day, but perfect had fallen by the wayside now, along with everything else, in the wake of Levon’s arrival back in her life.
“Come on,” she said, gesturing impatiently to him to follow her. “I don’t want to be late for classes and I’ve got a lot of stuff to get. Besides, I don’t need the neighbors gossiping about me bringing strange men home after a night on the town.”
He got out of the truck and followed her up the sidewalk to her porch, scanning the area for anything suspicious. They’d been in and out so quickly last night that she’d barely had time to worry about the messy state of her place, but now he’d get an eyeful.
She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and unlocked the front door, clicking on the lights to reveal a melange of baby gear in various stages of being put together, everything from a crib, to a playpen, to a funny mobile she’d bought that had space ships and the solar system on it. There were toys she’d received as gifts from her students and her relatives, and stacks of clothes, some still in the packages, she’d gotten from the staff at the high school when they’d thrown her a shower last month. The chaos in the room perfectly reflected the chaos she felt inside. Getting ready for a baby was a lot more work than she’d ever imagined.
“Wow, this place is…” Levon stared at a pile of wooden parts that would someday, hopefully, be a high chair. “Looks like you’ve got a lot of stuff for the kid already.”
“You have no idea,” she said, shutting the door behind him, then heading down the hall to her home office to grab the tests and her briefcase. “Make yourself at home while I pack up some more things, then we can go. There’s stuff to make tea in the kitchen, if you want it.”
After packing up the stuff she needed from her office, she went across the hall of her little bungalow to grab more clothes and items she’d need for an extended stay at Levon’s place. She still wasn’t completely sold on the idea, but until she thought of something better, Olive didn’t have much choice but to go along with it. Truthfully, the note last night and the news he’d shared with her about the dangerous gang that was infiltrating her peaceful, safe little hometown had her more than a little unsettled. The same uncomfortable niggle of vulnerability she used to get in her stomach when the school bullies trapped her behind the building after classes had returned, burrowing deep into the tender area between her shoulder blades. Once she’d graduated high school, she’d sworn she’d never allow anyone to make her feel that way again. Yet here she was, right back where she’d never wanted to be—with the one man she’d never expected back in her life, at her side.
To find out she was carrying Levon’s baby after their one night together had been shocking enough. To have him show up again after seven months and swoop in like a superhero to her defence was…
Olive jammed more clean undies and socks and work clothes, plus bathroom essentials, into a wheeled suitcase. Well, she still hadn’t decided exactly how his reappearance made her feel, but thrilled wasn’t it. She was happy to see him, sure. Happy he was back stateside and safe after finishing his commitment to the Navy. But she hadn’t really given much thought to co-parenting with him. During their night together, he’d been clear he was leaving on another mission, then perhaps taking that job in Arlington, so
