Burned (26 page)

“I see your point. Anyhow, do you want me to be with you for moral support when you take the test?”

Lincoln nodded. “That will work since Nick is on shift. I won’t see him until the day after tomorrow.”

Chapter Twenty Seven

Nick looked over at Lincoln who sat quietly and stared out the window as they drove along the highway. He decided to do something different and booked a weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast in the country. There was no television, internet service or cell phone towers to connect them to the outside world for two glorious days. If needed, there was a landline telephone available.

Although the place was secluded and highly recommended, Nick prepared for an emergency on a larger scale. He’d packed the essential elements necessary in case they were somehow stranded for more than two days. He was not a camper or fond of being in a place that didn’t have a specially trained emergency response team, but relied on volunteers to handle such emergencies.

“Hey, a penny for your thoughts,” he said breaking the silence. “Why are you so quiet?”

She turned her head to look at him. His heart did a sudden leap. Lincoln’s deep brown eyes showed worry even though she was smiling. The B&B wasn’t a surprise, he had told Lincoln about it and she seemed eager to get away from the bustle of the city and to take a break from Regan’s wedding.

“No thoughts, just enjoying the ride and the beautiful countryside view.”

“I’m a city boy and this is a little too country for me, but I can handle it for a weekend,” he said with a deep chuckle.

“Ah shucks, I guess you won’t wear a pair of dungarees and chaps to tame a wild horse.”

“We’re going to a bed and breakfast, baby, not a rodeo camp. But I don’t have a problem putting on a pair of ass-out chaps for you if you want me too.”

She sighed. “I’m glad to be away from everyone. I love my family, but it’s been too much of them lately. I’ll be glad when this wedding is over and our lives go back to normal.”

“Yeah, this has been a wild ride for you. Are you sure your family has you on the edge and not the news about Ant and Melanie?”

She shook her head. “They have concluded their terror reign in my life. They are married and as far as I am concerned no longer an issue. I have no reason to speak to Anthony other than in passing when I’m at an event with you.”

“We have to make it through the wedding with Ant being there. He’ll probably bring Melanie along.”

“Do you think he would be that stupid?”

He shrugged his shoulder. “Yeah. The way he’s been acting, I don’t put anything past him. Speaking of the wedding, I thought that we should have your mom and sister over for dinner before they return to Chicago. I’ll do the cooking. You just have to make the table pretty.”

“Oh, boy. That should be an entertaining evening.”

He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. Granted he hadn’t had the pleasure of entertaining the parents of the women he’d dated in the past. Only Linda tried to make more out of the one night stand than he wanted. “Have they said something about me, Lincoln?”

“Regan adores you. Carter and my mom don’t know you.”

“So what’s the problem? I got one foot in the door with Regan and you on my side. I’m telling you, I’m a charmer. I’ll win them over.”  He took a deep breath feeling confident and concentrating on the long isolated stretch of road. They should arrive at their destination in about an hour tops.

“Nick, pull over to the side of the road.”

“Why? Are you okay?”

“I have to tell you something and I don’t want you driving when I tell you.”

“What the hell is wrong, Lincoln?”

She twisted the water bottle in her hand. “Just pull over, please.”

Nick pulled the truck over on the dusty shoulder and put it in park. “I knew there was something hiding in those baby brown eyes of yours. Whatever problem you have with me, I know I can fix. Just don’t tell me you want out.”

She dropped her head. “Nick, I don’t have a problem with you and I don’t want out because I love you.”

As much as Nick wanted to make all her problems go away, he knew he couldn’t banish them with a wish, but he would do whatever he had to do to make her happy. “Then what is it?  Who is bothering you now?”

She snorted before taking a sip of her lukewarm water. “You got me pregnant.”

Nick’s breath caught silently in his chest, and his heart began to race. He watched her face as he looked for her reaction to being pregnant by him. Was she happy about it or disgusted?  She showed no signs other than the hesitation to tell him about it. Her other emotions were well hidden.

“Will you say something and stop staring at me. If you’re wondering, I took a pregnancy test yesterday morning. Carter can confirm it if you don’t believe me.”

Suddenly, he broke into a grin. He jumped out of the truck and was at her side, lifting her into his arms. Her arms went around his neck as she clung to him. He could feel her body quivering as her form pressed against him.

“Dammit, baby, I’m fucking ecstatic! I’m gonna take care of you and our baby. I will take care of everything. All you’ll have to do is take it easy and not worry about a damn thing.”  He ran his hand down her silky black hair, knowing he meant every word. It wasn’t something he was saying just to calm her fears. He wanted to take care of the woman who had seen more than her share of heartache lately. The woman he loved and now the mother of his child.

She pulled away from him once her feet were on the ground again. “Really?  You’re happy about this?”

“Hell, yeah! I won’t be like I was with my step son. I’m going to be there for my kid. I will encourage him to do whatever he wants in life. Most of all, I’m going to love and respect the woman who carried him for nine months.” He cupped Lincoln’s face. Her eyes were sparkling under the sunlight. “I love you, Lincoln. You are my heart, my soul and my world. You’d better believe I have never said those words to any woman. If I have lived in a lifetime before now, I’ve probably never said them then.”

“Stop before you make me start crying. This is going to be a test for us. Oh my God, we are just getting to where we’re comfortable with each other and soon there will be a crying, demanding baby on our hands.”

He held her by the shoulders. “Marry me, Lincoln. I know its sudden and nothing how you expected a proposal to be.”

“Nick, I don’t expect you to marry me because I’m pregnant. We can share the parenting duties.”

“Screw that! I want you and the baby under my roof and in my care. I know there has to be a justice of the peace in this backwoods county.”

“Baby, slow down,” she said calmly. If we rush into a marriage, it will fail. I’m practically a stranger to you. You don’t know my habits or my moody periods.”

“You have never been a stranger to me. I’ve always had a thing for you, but Anthony was your dude. I couldn’t make a move on you. Think about it, baby. Wouldn’t it be special to have a simple ceremony with just you, me, and our unborn child?  No headaches planning a big ass wedding or dealing with relatives in our business. We do it and it’s a done deal…fuck whatever they have to say about it later.”

She smiled. “We’re going to have to work on your swearing. We can’t have a baby growing up saying those words to people.”

Nick tilted her chin up to him. “Are you saying yes, Lincoln?”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. We are crazy to go out on a whim like this, Nick. But, yeah…what the hell, I’ll marry you.”

Nick kissed her passionately there on the side of the road with no one around to witness their happiness.

He helped her back in the truck. “Put your seatbelt on. I don’t want anything to happen to my family.”

“I’m not helpless and I don’t you to treat me that way. I’m going to work until my due date and then go back to work after my maternity leave. Will you be okay with that?”

“Whatever you want to do is fine with me. Until then, I’ll take on extra shifts to earn more money. We’re going to need to buy a house and stuff for the baby.”

Lincoln caressed his face. “Anthony is going to wonder if I did this to get back at him. I want you to know I didn’t do that, Nick. I wouldn’t put you or myself in that position and definitely not a baby. I did not plan on getting pregnant.”

He kept his emotions in check. He was a firefighter, not a crybaby. “I wanted it, Lincoln. The first time we made love I knew that you would get pregnant. I think I’ve been searching for a family to love for so long that I wished that upon you. I might not be the religious man that I’m supposed to be, but I prayed for you.”

The waterworks was on for Lincoln as she cried. “I can’t even talk. I need a minute.”

“Take all the time you need, baby. I’m not going anywhere, ever.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

Lincoln raised her glass pretending to drink the champagne as Sergio finished the after dinner toast to the bride and groom. The wedding was fabulous and went off without a hitch. Regan made a beautiful bride wearing an off-white elegant gown and Orlando was equally handsome in his white tuxedo.

She would have loved to have had a fairytale wedding like this, however working with Regan, a wedding coordinator, and dealing with vendors was a pain in the butt. Plus, she and Nick didn’t have the deep pockets her sister had. There was no way they would be able to afford a wedding of this caliber without advanced planning and saving every spare penny they had.

Lincoln eyed Nick sitting two seats over from her at the bridal party table. Since she was the maid of honor she didn’t have an escort. Nick escorted Carter down the aisle. He winked at her and raised his glass of champagne to take a sip. She bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling back. People would get suspicious on what private secret they were sharing.

She burned inside to tell her mom and sisters about her weekend wedding in the country three weeks ago. She pinched herself often to make sure it was real. She and Nick had been married three weeks and not a soul knew.

They returned from their weekend getaway to go on with life as normal. Nick returned to the firehouse and she returned to work and resumed her position as Regan’s slave for her wedding.

Only when they were alone together could they enjoy their status as newlyweds.

She stared at the mirrored ball swirling on the ceiling as she reminisced. What she thought would be impossible, Nick didn’t. He’d found a retired judge that agreed to marry them on short notice. He even arranged to get the paperwork since this wasn’t his first spontaneous wedding ceremony.

The owners of the B&B did a wonderful job of decorating the patio with beautiful flowers and streamers where the wedding was held. They even had a musician play the piano at no extra charge to them. Nick didn’t get the intimacy he wanted though. There were two other couples staying at the B&B that attended the nuptials and the special dinner the owners had prepared in their honor. It wasn’t a spectacular wedding like Regan’s but it was just as beautiful and Lincoln would not exchange it for anything.

She was snapped from her bliss by Carter whispering in her ear. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m a little tired but no nausea. That cracker trick you told me about works.”

“It will help for a while. As you get further along, it might not work anymore. Your doctor should be able to prescribe you something if the morning sickness gets worse. So, have you told Nick the good news yet?  I must say he looks yummy in that black tux with his hair all shiny and his body all buffed.”

Lincoln looked at her sister with a curious eye. “Um, are you hitting on my man,” she giggled.

“I just see what you see in him. I’ve had a chance to talk with him before I started drinking and I like the vibes I get from him.”

The reception was getting underway and they were no longer confined to the table. Lincoln took her sister by the elbow. “Come with me for a minute.”

“Lincoln, I have on a long dress, slow down.”

She ignored her sister as she dragged her down the row grabbing Nick in the process.

“Whoa,” he said balancing his drink so not to spill it.

Outside she took a deep breath. The night air was chilly for June but otherwise a beautiful night for a wedding reception. “Okay, I’m busting to tell somebody. Carter, I trust you to keep your big mouth shut! I know you are a reporter and that will be hard, but you have kind of forced this.”

“Oh, you want me to be here when you tell Nick the news?”

Nick took Lincoln aside. “Babe, are you sure you want to do this. Once you tell her, you can’t take it back.”

“I have to tell it, Nick. I cannot keep it to myself anymore.”

He smiled mischievously. “Alright, I’ve been ready to tell it, especially, to my asshole father.”

“Tell me what?” Carter asked holding up her dress so it wouldn’t drag on the ground.

Lincoln slipped her arm through Nick’s for support. “I told Nick about the baby, Carter. He wants the baby as much as I do.”

Carter’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s a load off my mind. With you both agreeing you want the baby, you will be able to work out a schedule to care for the baby.”

Lincoln shook her head. “We won’t need a schedule. Nick and I are married.”

She closed her eyes waiting for Carter to blow her top. When she heard nothing, she opened them slowly to see Carter’s mouth wide open. “I have not had enough to drink. What did you just say?  No, I heard what you said, when did this happen?”

Nick smoothed down his goatee. “Uh, three weeks ago. Hey sister-in-law,” he said easing the moment with a joke.

Carter leaned against the building. ”Your mother is going to flip! Lincoln, three weeks…really!  Girl, you didn’t think to invite me?  I would have kept your secret.”

“It was spur of the moment, Carter. Nick asked me to marry him on our weekend away together. The ceremony was beautiful. I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want to spoil Regan’s day.”

“I don’t know what to say. I want to be upset with the both of you but I can’t. Well, are there any pictures or a ring at least?”

Lincoln rolled her eyes. “We can’t wear our rings or that would be a dead giveaway.”