One Last Objection_A Small-Town Romance Read online

  She laid her hands over her flat belly. It wouldn’t be flat for much longer. Oh crap, she had to buy maternity clothes. She didn’t have time to go shopping for a new wardrobe. She barely had time to work, eat, and sleep, and sometimes eating didn’t happen. Had she hurt the baby by skipping meals already?

  She rushed to the refrigerator and yanked the door open. Three containers of yogurt, a half empty bottle of wine, a bottle of ketchup, and two leftover containers from J.J.’s. She grabbed a yogurt and a spoon from the drawer. Yogurt was good. Babies need calcium, right? She shoveled a spoonful in her mouth and sank onto one of the three chairs at the table she’d tucked in the nook against the bay window. Rascal hopped onto his chair beside hers and curled up on the cushion. She didn’t know why she had three chairs, even, because no one ever came over. Except Michael. She didn’t have many friends in Oak Grove. She didn’t have the time to make them.

  She ate another spoonful and had to choke that bite down.

  What in the hell was she going to do about her practice? She shouldn’t have agreed to take on the sheriff and fire departments last year. Adding their referrals tacked another fifteen hours a week onto her already full schedule, giving her an overflowing roster. But she just couldn’t say no when they inquired.

  She’d have to tell them she couldn’t take any more cases.

  No new patients in her practice, either. What about her current patients? Her mentor Barry might be willing to take some of them on, but others would skip counseling before they’d drive to Philly. That just wouldn’t do. She’d need to convince Barry to come here a few days a week and lighten her load for a little while. She’d worked too hard to build her practice, her reputation, to risk all of it just because she was pregnant. Other professional women handled pregnancy without losing a beat. She could too.

  Maggie brought the spoon to her mouth again and her stomach roiled. Dropping the yogurt and spoon, she hurried down the hall, barely reaching the bathroom before she threw up.

  After she emptied her stomach, she wet a washcloth, swiped at the sweat on her brow, and cleaned her teeth. That explained the stomach bug she thought she had last week. Two of her patients had mentioned their kids were sick, so Maggie figured that was what she’d had, too.

  A big ole nope to that.

  Someone knocked on the door. Oh, God. What if it was Michael? After all this time. No way was she ready to see him or to tell him about the baby. She snatched the one remaining test off the counter and shoved it in her pocket on the way to the door. A quick peek through the peephole and she sighed.

  She plastered a smile on her face as she swung the door open. “Mrs. Monroe. What can I do for you today?”

  “Oh, dear. I’m so glad you are home. We are organizing dinners for poor Mrs. Fleming. She fell and broke her hip, you know.”

  Maggie loved living in her condo building, with its low maintenance and easy access to work. She didn’t even mind Mrs. Monroe and Mrs. Fleming sticking their nose in her business from time to time. “Oh, no. I hadn’t heard. How is she?”

  “She’s home from the hospital now but not getting around so well. I hope you’ll sign up for a dinner.” Mrs. Monroe held out a clipboard.

  Maggie laughed. “I’m not sure she wants anything I make. I’m not a good cook. I’d better sign up to bring a meal from J.J.’s.” She pulled her hand out of her pocket to grab the pen, and the pregnancy test clattered onto the floor.

  Mrs. Monroe’s gaze followed the object’s fall.

  Maggie scrambled to block her nosy neighbor’s view and snatch the test up before Mrs. Monroe saw it. That was all Maggie needed, some meddling old lady sticking her nose in Maggie’s business. She could hear it now: In my day, honey, girls had babies a lot younger than you. When’s that man going to marry you?

  No way was she going to marry Michael. She’d been taking care of herself for all of her adult life. Adding a baby shouldn’t be so hard, right?

  Based on the expression on Mrs. Monroe’s face, Maggie hadn’t hidden the test in time. “I’m not sure the greasy food from J.J.’s would be good for her. And frankly, dear, in your condition, it’s not very good for you either.”

  Maggie glared at Mrs. Monroe and snatched the list from her hand. After scribbling beside a day next week, Maggie shoved the clipboard under Mrs. Monroe’s nose. “I’ll figure something out.”

  Mrs. Monroe patted her hand. “Thanks so much, dear. Make sure you take care of yourself… and that little one you’re carrying. Congratulations.”

  “Uh huh,” Maggie mumbled before she slammed the door.

  What was she thinking? How could she take care of a baby when she didn’t even have time to make Mrs. Fleming a meal, much less the know how to cook it. It wasn’t like she had a great role model in that department. Her mother spent her time jetting around Europe and Asia with her newest rich husband. She never cooked for herself or Maggie... dear old Mom had servants do that for her.

  Maggie shoved a pile of clothes aside and slumped onto the couch, the pregnancy test still in her hand. Shoot, she couldn’t take care of her apartment… how was she going to care for a baby? She needed advice, and she needed it now.

  She pressed a few buttons on her phone, and in no time, Cheryl, the one friend she’d managed to hold on to from her college days, was answering on the other end. “Hey, Maggie. Hold on a minute.”

  While Maggie kept the phone pressed to her ear, Cheryl yelled at one child to stop drawing on the walls and another to leave her little brother alone. Maggie chuckled. Yeah, Cheryl was the perfect person to call when Maggie’s life was falling apart. Cheryl was Maggie’s voice of reason. Ironic, really, considering Maggie was a counselor. She was supposed to be the one who talked others off the ledge.

  “Sorry about that. It’s been one of those days. What’s up?”

  “It sounds like it’s not a good time. I can call back when you’re not busy.” Or maybe when she was done denying her condition. Was this what Maggie’s life was going to be reduced to? Shoving kids away while she tried to talk on the phone to clients? How in the hell was she supposed to do her job with a kid? This was why she’d never planned to have children. A career, she could handle. Throw a kid in the mix, and she was out of her league. She couldn’t do this. No way. Shrinks weren’t supposed to have nervous breakdowns, but here she was on the verge of one.

  “No, really. This is a good time. I just shooed them off to the playroom. So what’s up?”

  Maggie opened her mouth but no words came out. What the hell? It shouldn’t be that hard to talk to her best friend. Then again, she’d never had such shocking news to share. She cleared her throat.

  “Maggie, what’s going on?”

  Maggie gritted her teeth and then just spit out the words. “I’m pregnant!”

  She sighed and collapsed.

  “Oh, Maggie, that’s wonderful.” Cheryl grew quiet for a moment. “I didn’t think you were dating anyone. Have you been holding out on me, girl?”

  “I’m not. I wasn’t. Wait, this isn’t coming out right… I’m not dating anyone. You know I would have told you.”

  After a dramatic silence, Cheryl gasped. “Oh…”

  Yeah, oh. Cheryl knew about Michael. She hadn’t approved of Maggie’s friends-with-benefits arrangement and had wanted Maggie to push for a real relationship. But Cheryl came from a home where her parents had been married thirty-five years and raised their two-point-five kids in a house with a picket fence. She was well on her way to duplicating their achievement with her own family.

  Not Maggie.

  Being raised in the city, cared for by nannies, while her parents ran around the world, and on each other, hadn’t provided Maggie with a great example of a productive family. Hell, her own father had another family somewhere. Siblings she’d never met. Neither of her parents could be held up as model parents. Being a counselor and often playing mediator between spouses didn’t exactly make it appear that great marriages were the norm, either. If her ob
servations showed her the reality of what marriage was about, they could keep it.

  “Yeah, it’s Michael’s. There’s no one else.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”

  “How far along are you?”

  “I’m not sure. Eight or nine weeks.” That sounded about right. Labor Day. How ironic.

  “Eight or nine weeks! And you’re just now telling me?”

  “I just found out. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Don’t you think the first thing you should do is tell Michael?”

  “No way. He’s never talked about kids and his job keeps him crazy busy.” What was she saying? Her job kept her crazy busy, too. And she’d never planned to have kids either. But here she was.

  Cheryl was right, though. Michael deserved to know. But when? He hadn’t contacted her since he last stopped by. It wasn’t like she could call him and say hey, remember when you came by a couple of months ago, well…. “Besides, you know I didn’t think I could have kids, so it’s not like babies ever came up. And we were careful. Always.”

  “Just because he hasn’t talked about kids doesn’t mean he doesn’t want them. Maybe he just hadn’t found the right person… yet.”

  “But what if he doesn’t… what if he…” All of a sudden, Michael wanting this baby became very important to her. Her baby would not be rejected by its parents, like she had been.

  “Don’t even talk like that. You know him. You know his family. He’ll do the right thing.”

  Yeah, he would. She shouldn’t have doubted for even one minute. But what did the right thing mean to Michael? Would he be expecting a long white gown and vows?

  What about his family? None of his siblings knew about the two of them. There had never been a reason. Michael knew she’d counseled Lucas and Rachel. But as far as Maggie knew, Michael hadn’t told his family about their… arrangement. What would she tell Rachel and Lucas? Would they want another therapist because she was about to be the mother to their niece or nephew? She placed her hand over her belly. A boy or a girl. A baby.

  “Hello, Maggie... Are you still there?”

  “Huh, yeah. I’m still here. Just got distracted for a minute. I’m not going to marry Michael just because I’m pregnant.”

  “So when are you going to tell him?”

  “I don’t know. I have to think about the best time.” And figure out how to keep Michael from dragging her kicking and screaming to the altar.

  “Hey, why don’t you come into the city this weekend and we can have a girls day? We can shop for some maternity clothes for you and check out a couple of baby stores. I love shopping for babies.”

  Maggie chuckled. Typical Cheryl, always finding a way to distract Maggie. “What, you didn’t get enough of that with the three you already have?”

  “It’s more fun when it’s for somebody else. Besides, it sounds like you need a break.”

  She could say that again. Tonight was the first night in weeks Maggie’d gotten home at a decent hour thanks to a last minute cancellation.

  Her stomach growled and bile rose in her throat. “Listen, Cheryl, I gotta call you back. I’ll let you know about this weekend. Okay?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I will be.” Maggie clicked off and ran down the hall.

  Chapter Two

  “THANKS, MR. TAYLOR, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” Michael extended his hand to the man who’d just helped secure his future in Oak Grove. A year ago, if you had asked him whether he’d leave the practice in Philly and return to his hometown, he would have laughed. Well, he wasn’t laughing now. Two months ago, he’d been planning on making partner at Newland, Pearce, and Locke, and now everything had upended his quiet life in Philly.

  He tucked the papers transferring Jeff’s practice to Michael into his briefcase. Michael’s initial client base would be small, but expanding into general practice instead of specializing opened up opportunities in Oak Grove and the neighboring towns. And he would finally get the break he’d needed for the last eighteen months.

  “Son, you coming home happened at just the right time. I really wanted my Owen to take over the practice, but he had other plans.”

  “I heard him playing at J.J.’s a few months back. He’s really good.”

  “Yeah, he is. I’m so proud of him, even if he didn’t want to follow in his old man’s footsteps. But that left me without someone to hand the practice to. A Taylor has hung a shingle in Oak Grove for five generations.” Jeff sighed.

  “I know it can’t be easy retiring after all these years. I’ll make you proud, sir.”

  “I know you will.” Jeff tucked his copy of the papers in his drawer. “I’m sure your Mama’s thrilled to have you moving home.”

  Oak Grove hadn’t been Michael’s home for a long time. As soon as he’d graduated college, he’d packed up and headed to Philly. He’d attended law school at UPenn and then made a life for himself in the city. Sure, he visited Oak Grove, but he never expected to find himself moving back.

  Ma was thrilled. Lucas was engaged, Joey had a serious girlfriend, and Rachel had finally left that bastard Shane and started dating Sawyer. Michael relocating was just the icing on the cake for his parents.

  He hadn’t seen either of them since he’d found out Rachel’s secret. His gut had dropped to his shoes when she revealed that his parents had separated when he was a child and that Rachel’s father was another man. The news had driven him to Maggie’s condo on his last trip.

  At the same time, Rachel had asked Michael to look for her biological father. She shouldn’t be looking for him after all this time. She’d be better off letting sleeping dogs lie. But she’d asked Michael to look into him. And he’d never been able to refuse his baby sister anything.

  The private investigator on retainer with his old firm had run into several dead ends but he’d finally found some information. He’d handed off his notes to Michael before he left, and what Michael had read was like a stab to the heart.

  He checked his watch. Eight-thirty. He still hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and the movers were arriving tomorrow to pack his condo in Philly.

  As much as he could use the break, he didn’t have time to stop by Maggie’s. He hadn’t seen her in way too long. Now that they would finally be living in the same town, maybe they could have more than hit-and-run hookups. A real relationship even. She was the first woman who’d intrigued him in a long time.

  When they’d first met, they’d agreed to keep it casual, to meet up when they were both free. That worked for him at the time, with his over-the-top hours at the firm and zero desire for a clingy girlfriend. But emotionless hook-ups with Maggie followed by long periods of silence had grown unsatisfying. And he regretted his radio silence over the past few weeks, but his job had been running him ragged.

  Seeing his siblings paired off had ignited feelings deep inside him he hadn’t realized he had.

  He couldn’t worry about the status of his relationship with Maggie now. He barely had time to grab a quick bite and head back to Philly. So he dashed off a quick text to Maggie, just to check in, and hopped in his car.

  “MICHAEL.” JOEY MOTIONED from behind the bar. Michael waved, and by the time he climbed onto a barstool, a cold beer was sliding toward him across the dark wood. He didn’t waste any time drawing a huge swallow.

  “You okay, man?” Joey flung a bar towel over his shoulder and leaned on the bar. Did they teach that at bartender school because every barkeep Michael knew did the same thing.

  “Yeah, just got a lot on my mind.” None of which he could tell Joey. He shouldn’t have agreed when Rachel had asked him not to share her secret. He didn’t like hiding things from his brothers. But wasn’t that exactly what his parents had done for years?

  Rachel shouldn’t be afraid of how Lucas and Joey would react. They all loved their sister and would do anything for her. Knowing about her biological father
wouldn’t change that. The fact that she didn’t trust them deep in her gut troubled Michael. Sure, Rachel had been the only girl in a family of boys, but she was clawing her way back from her relationship with Shane and processing what she’d learned, with Maggie’s help. Ultimately, whether he liked it or not, Michael had to respect Rachel’s timeline, so he shoved the words down every time he talked to his brothers.

  Carla danced through the swinging door behind the bar. Her face brightened. “Hey, Mikey. How ya’ doin’? Joey looking out for you, because if he isn’t, you just tell me and I’ll take care of him.”

  “Like you could,” Joey quipped, never even turning around.

  She bounced on her toes and punched her fists in the air like a prize fighter. A five-foot-five prize fighter with blonde curls… definitely a lightweight.

  Michael chuckled “Actually, I’d love to get a burger and fries.”

  One of Carla’s punches landed on Joey’s shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Joey raised his hands and stepped back. “Hey, I didn’t know. He just walked in the door.”

  “I’ll get Diego going on that.” Carla laughed her way back into the kitchen.

  “She’s great. You’re lucky to have her.” Michael drank more of his beer. The liquid was cold going down but did nothing to cool his nerves. Between his change in career, Rachel’s secret, and the fact he hadn’t seen Maggie in way too long, it might be time to reevaluate his aversion to Maggie’s couch. Her counseling couch, that is.

  He had no issues with her living room couch, or her bed, or the kitchen table, for that matter…

  A hand landed on Michael’s back as Rachel slid beside him, her arm snaking around his waist. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I just signed the final papers to take over Mr. Taylor’s practice.”

  A huge smile broke across Rachel’s face and his gut tightened. She knew he had information on her biological father, and every time he saw her, he held his breath. Eventually she’d be ready to hear what he’d found out. No matter how much he thought she should leave it alone, when Rachel was ready, nothing would deter her. And Michael refused to lie about what he’d uncovered.