Free Embattled Christmas by J.M. Madden Page B

it.
    Frustrated, he shoved the truck into drive and pulled out of the lot. He’d have to ask Lora what was going on.
    *
    Shannon began to plan.
    If John was going to be so thick-headed she would just have to start leaving him more obvious hints. Pretty sad considering he was an investigator.
    She bought a wedding magazine at the grocery store that night on their way home. When he unloaded the bags and put the food away he paused at the magazine, then set it on the end of the counter. Shannon caught the movement out of the corner of her eye but refused to say anything. Unfortunately, John didn’t say anything either.
    Shannon wondered later if she should have said something because the anxiety was really starting to weigh on her. John knew what she wanted. But he didn’t think a marriage between them would work out. As she stuffed laundry in the washer she muttered to herself about ignorant men.
    John rolled into the doorway behind her. “Are you okay? You seem tense.”
    “I’m fine,” she snapped. “Just tired.”
    For the briefest second she debated blurting out that she was going to have a baby, but her better sense slowed her down. If she told him she was pregnant, he would immediately offer to marry her. Yes, she wanted marriage. Desperately. But not because of a baby.
    The thoughts chased around in her head and she sighed. She really was tired. So far she hadn’t had any of the nausea she had expected being pregnant, but she’d been nodding off almost constantly. The bed called to her but it was only a little after six.
    John rolled farther into the laundry room. “Why don’t you go lie down? I can do this. I hope you’re not coming down with something.”
    Shannon looked at him, surprised. He never did the laundry if he could avoid it. Unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth, she softened enough to smile at him a little. “I would really appreciate that, John.”
    As she walked past him she paused long enough to press a kiss to his close-cropped black hair. He grabbed her hand and tugged. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips. Worry had narrowed his dark eyes. “I’m okay, John.”
    I’m just pregnant and unmarried . And you’re oblivious.
    She escaped to the bedroom and curled up on the bed. Gray Cat had already claimed her side so Shannon curled around her. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow she was gone.
    *
    John watched Shannon’s narrow back disappear through the doorway. She was freaking him out.
    Women were intriguing, befuddling, confounding creatures. Things had been going good for them for a long time but suddenly he was floundering in heavy currents and didn’t know which way was up. The sensation was familiar. He’d been deployed overseas several times. More than once they’d ended up in the ocean, either for training or rescues. Marines weren’t trained as heavily as the SEALs in water rescue, but they needed to know the basics when they were deployed on the heavy carriers.
    Right now his lungs were demanding oxygen and his equilibrium was fucked.
    For the better part of a year he’d been basking in Shannon’s loveliness, her good-hearted acceptance. He’d blindly thought they were settling into a life together, but maybe he’d been deluding himself. The doubts had begun to move in over the past couple of weeks. Maybe he wasn’t enough for her in bed. Maybe putting up with the wheelchair and all of his restrictions were more than she wanted to deal with. Fuck. Maybe he wasn’t doing enough housework…
    As he thought about the past year he had to admit that contentment had made him a little lazy. But Shannon didn’t seem like she would be upset over housework. It had to be something deeper.
    Once he folded everything from the dryer he slipped into the bedroom with the basket. Gray Cat blinked at him from the shelter of Shannon’s arms but she didn’t move. And neither did Shannon. He set the basket at the end of the bed and left the room.
    She slept all