Mina let out a gentle snort. “I’m not trying to avoid you.”
Worry stirred at the pit of his gut. “A specialist, then? Is everything okay?”
Mina reached across and patted his hand. Electric heat shot up his wrist. “This is just to make sure everything looks good before my reproductive endocrinologist turns me over to the local OB office. Everything should be fine, but I’ll know as soon as I go to the appointment.”
Liam’s throat felt tight with worry. “Been feeling okay?”
Mina groaned. “You remember how tired you used to get after basketball games?”
He’d bragged about it to her back in high school—the aching weariness that came after competition. “Yeah, I remember.”
“It’s way worse than that.” She yawned. “I’m bone-tired all the time. It’s not the worst thing, but it’s not the best, either. Makes it tough to work.”
“Awful, isn’t it? When you can’t do what you love.”
“Awful,” Mina agreed. “You’d know all about that.” She studied him from the passenger seat. “How are you doing, by the way? Are you riding again yet?”
“I’m working on it. Physical therapy most days. Should be back out on the circuit in a matter of weeks.”
“Oh, that’s good. That’s great, Liam.” Moment by moment, the stiffness between them faded. Liam’s hands relaxed on the wheel. “I’m glad to hear that. I know you didn’t want to stick around here forever.”
He noticed the edge of pain her voice but didn’t bring it up. Mina didn’t want to talk about it—that much was clear. If she had, she’d have said something. But the kindness in her voice made him wish she hadn’t been avoiding him. He wished he hadn’t been avoiding her. But saying it out loud could backfire. All of him hummed and sparked with simply having her in his truck, and being able to take her to this appointment? It was the first thing that had felt real in weeks. Liam asked her about work instead. He told her about his physical therapy. By the time he pulled into the parking ramp across from her doctor’s office, it felt like chatting to an old friend.
Mina paused with her hand on the door handle. “You could come in, if you wanted.”
He pretended to think about it, like he hadn’t been hoping for this all along. “All right. I can keep you company in the waiting room.” No pressure. No pressure at all. He sat next to Mina while she filled out a form, and silence descended between them as they waited. It was broken only by the easy listening radio station that played through overhead speakers.
The nurse came out and called Mina’s name. His muscles tensed, aching to follow her, but he stayed seated. Mina stopped at the door to the exam rooms and looked over her shoulder. One wave—that was all it took to get him on his feet.
Liam stuck close as the nurse led Mina back to a room, then kept his eyes on the floor while she changed into a gown. Paper wrinkled as she climbed up onto the table. He risked a glance. Mina folded her hands in her lap, biting her lip. A high pink color came to her cheeks. Liam wanted to hold her hand. “You okay?”
“Just nervous.” She gave him a smile that twisted at his heart. “I want everything to be all right.”
Dr. Humbacher came in a few minutes later, her red hair in an elegant twist at the back of her head. She introduced herself to Liam, then focused all her attention on Mina. “I know you’re anxious to check in on baby,” she said, lowering the lights. “I’ve got the ultrasound machine all ready to go.”
Liam’s heart pounded. He rubbed slick palms against his jeans. Dr. Humbacher pressed the wand to Mina’s belly. Liam held his breath. Mina’s face in the light of the ultrasound machine was so full of hope he could hardly look at her. But he did. He wasn’t going to miss a single moment of this.
Then the heartbeat crashed over the room, loud and strong, and Liam let out a whoop. “That’s your baby’s heartbeat,” said Dr. Humbacher. “It sounds good and steady.”
Mina beamed at him, wordless.
“We’re having a baby,” he blurted out, and the smile disappeared from Mina’s face and reappeared after a missing beat. Of course, he’d known this. There was no we. Mina was having a baby. “I mean—Mina is.”
“Are you the father?” Dr. Humbacher asked smoothly.
“Er—yeah.”
The doctor rolled away from the table, holding the ultrasound wand high. With her other hand, she grabbed a packet from a nearby desk, already attached to the clipboard. “That’s great news. Congratulations. Would you mind filling these out before you leave? It would help a lot.”
Liam squinted down at the forms while Dr. Humbacher continued with the ultrasound. It was a thick packet—twenty pages at least. Family history, going back generations. The top page had a list of suggested appointments, the dates all laid out in black and white. Halfway down the list, one caught his eye. Anatomy scan. He remembered from when Joey was born that the anatomy scan was when they could find out the sex. And the date was the same one as the biggest rodeo of the season. The championship.
His skin went cold.
They could reschedule one appointment, if Mina wanted him to be there. But that was just it. The big picture was that he would have to choose: rodeo, or Mina and the baby. He felt like he was falling through the floor, all the way through the concrete and dirt. Could he do this? Be there for all these things? Mina hadn’t asked him to, but she’d let him come here.
“I’ll be outside,” he said abruptly. The air in the room pressed in on him, hot and choking. He slipped the packet onto the table and went out, blinking in the bright hallway lights. Could he really be a family man? But—more importantly—could he really walk away?
14
Mina cradled the ultrasound printout in both palms,
