Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (41 page)

“Hi, Mom
.
”
Danni
hugged her
.

“I
stopped by earlier, but you weren’t here. I
didn’t want to disturb you, bu
t I have something else for you
in the trunk. Ben, could you help me?”

“Sure thing
.
”
He
followed
Danni
’s mother outside and returned,
carrying
a
cradle into the house.

“It’s beautiful!”
Danni
exclaimed.

“
I
hope
you don’t mind that I got it
without asking you first.”

“Oh, Mom, it’s
gorgeous
. I
love
it!”

“Where do you want it?”
Ben asked.

“In the big
bed
room—so
it will be close to me at night.
”

Anna
followed her daughter
into her bedroom
, noti
ci
ng Ben’s clothes in the little bedroom
nearby. Was that where he slept?
Her daughter seemed happy.
Anna
was glad of that.

“Wo
uld you like to stay for dinner
?
It’s my turn to co
ok
.
It’s nothing special, just
lasagna
and a fruit salad
,
but
you’re welcome,”
Ben
offered.

“That would be very nice
,
”
Anna replied.
I really like you, Ben.

While
he
prepared the
lasagna
,
Danni
pulled out the baby things
she
had been collecting in preparation for the baby’s birth.
She placed a tiny shirt over her round belly.

“See,
it fits!”
Her daughter
grinned.

Anna
laughed.
“I almost forgot.” She
handed
Danni
the bag that was sitting on the floor next to the
front
door
. “
I started
working on this
when
you said you were coming home. I hope you like it.”

Danni
opened the package, uncovering a baby blanket
in rainbow colors
.

“Oh, Mom, it’s beautiful.
Let’s put it in the cradle and see how it
look
s.” 

Anna
admired the effect and
imagined
her first grand
baby
nestled there
.

During dinner, the three of them talked of
thing
s
unrelated to
the questions
and fears
about her husband
Anna
was hesitant to share with
her daughter
and Ben
.

“It’s time I
went home
,”
she
said, after they had eaten. “I didn’
t mean to stay quite so long.
”

Ben walked
her
out to her car.
“Do you need help turning the car
around
?
It’s a tight squeeze in here
,
especially in the dark
.
”

“No need. One thing I know how to do i
s back out of a narrow driveway.
That’s how ours has been
for s
o many years.” She paused and
looked
up into Ben’s face. “You make my daughter very happy, B
enjamin.
I’m
so
grateful.” S
he squeezed his hand. “Please keep her safe.” 

“That’s wh
y I’m here.
” He waited
,
his expression questioning
why she hadn’t opened the car door.

“My husband has be
en
home
for a
while,
though he
doesn’t always come
to the house
straight away
.
He’
s still very angry. I’m afraid he’ll find out where
you and
Danni
are living
.
Out here in
this little cottage.
”

“He wouldn’
t
try to
hurt
her
, would he?”

“I don’t think so, but he might
try to
take his a
nger out on you. He
can’t seem to get past that
you’re the baby’s father
,
even though
I
’ve told him
you’re not sleeping with her.  You aren’t, are you?”

“No
.” He
seemed to be checking out the trees before he smiled at her
. “I sometimes hold
Danni
while she goes t
o sleep. S
he
asked me to do that. S
ays
it makes her feel safe
, but
we’re not sleeping together,
not
like
what people
think
…
”

“Well, if it makes
you
feel better, I’m glad you’re with her, and if she decides she
wants
to sleep with you,
I d
on’t object.
I believe
from the way she
look
s at you—”

“She thinks I’
m here for
the baby,” he
blur
ted.  “
I am—
and
her
, too
.”

“I know you’re taking good care of her, Ben. If you two need anything, please come to me. I’ll do what
ever
I can.” She
looked
toward the little trail that
wandered
through the trees. “
Just watch
out
for my husband. If you see anything that make
s you think he’s around,
call m
e.
I’m doing my best to
get him to
leave
the two of
you alone
.”
She stood on her tiptoes and
pat
ted the young man’s cheek
.
“You are tall, aren’t you?” S
he smiled.

“I’ll watch out for him.
” Ben
looked
around
again
. “I take it you don’t want
Dannilynn
to know about this?”

“I
don’t want to worry her. She’
s had enough to worry about
.
I want her
to
look
forward to
this
baby’s birth
without
frett
ing about her father and what he might do
.”

“
Then it’ll
just
be our
concern
.
Thanks for coming by.
Danni
is
so
glad
you’re in her corner
. I hope you know that.”

She nodded. “I do. I just wish she could—”

“Be home with you?”

She nodded.
“
But s
he seems to be
doing just fine
here
,
making decisions,
living
on her own these
days
.”
Especially with you.
“Take care, Benjamin.
”

She
hugged
him,
climbed
into the car and
backed
slowly out of the narrow driveway.
Yes, Ben w
as
al
l
right in her book.

“You’re giving me more
stuff
to read?”
Danni
sli
d off the examining table
, frowning. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the
parenting
information she was trying to absorb
.

“Just s
omething
to think about,
and
a name and phone number,”
Angela said
.

Dannie glanced at the
first page of the booklet.
“
Everybody I know
breastfe
e
d
s
. I really wasn’t thinki
ng there
was
any other way.
”

“
I’m glad to hear that. But
you may have questions after the baby gets here.
LeeAnn
can answer
them all
—more than I can, since she’s breastfed
.
She’s helped lots of my
pat
ients.
There are times when talking with someone
with personal experience
can
be very helpful.”

Danni
nodded.

The doctor
glanced
up from the chart. “Any
more
questions?”

“Not really. I put your number next to the
landline in the kitchen
so I’ll know where
it is when I need to call you. Our
cells don’t work very well in the woods.
And
my mom says she’ll come with
me
to the hospital
,
along with Ben
.”

“
Good. Who
’
s your coach?”

“Ben
.
H
e said I couldn’t do it by myself.
But
I made him promise
he would
leave at the end if I do
n’t want him there.”

Angela chuckled. “W
hen the time comes, I don’t thi
nk you’ll be worried about who’
s there and what they’
re doing or seeing.” She paused. “
Dannilynn
, he’s such a nice young man
.
Don’t sell him short.
He
has feelings
about all this
, too
, you know
.”

Feelings, about me? Or just about the baby?
But she was afraid to ask and find out
that
all he cared about was the baby.

The doctor sat down on the nearby stool.
“He’s not some old shoe you can just toss away when you don’t want him around anymore.”

Danni
looked away, her heart thudding in her chest.
“
I wouldn’t do that.” She finally met the doctor’s eyes. “
But we’re not
married or anything or even boyfriend-girlfriend. I
t’s not like
the other couples in our class.
Ben and
I—we’re—
he’s just a friend who’s
helping me out right now.
”
Maybe he won’t want to after…

“If you say so, but
if I were you, I wouldn’t be
so quick to judge him
, to think that’s all he is
.”

Two days later,
Dann
i
slammed
her car
door before
stomp
ing
into the cottage.
“
You heard what I said.
I’m going home after the baby is born. My dad won’t be there.”
She
shrugged out of
her coat
, not bothering to hang it up
.

Ben hung it on a peg next to the door.
“But what if he is?”
He leaned against the door jamb.