Free How Do I Love Thee? by Valerie Parv (ed) Page B

his wine. ‘Bit late now. I took some flowers, said my goodbyes, there isn’t much else to do.’
    She didn’t miss the gruffness in his tone. ‘There is one thing. I could introduce you to a patient at the hospice,Alice Grollier, who was Noreen’s roommate for the last few months. If there’s anything you want to know …’
    ‘We’ll see,’ he said shortly. ‘It’s your turn now. What have you done with yourself?’
    ‘Worked, saved, bought this place, wrote articles for psychology journals, travelled a lot.’
    ‘No love life?’ he asked, his gaze darkening.
    She took a deep breath. ‘I had a holiday romance, got a tummy bug and didn’t know my contraception had failed, came home pregnant.’ His expression of shock told her it was the last thing he’d expected from her.
    ‘I am human, you know,’ she added quietly.
    His gaze turned soft. ‘I never doubted it. Does your family know?’
    ‘We parted ways after my mother died and my step-father made it clear I wasn’t welcome back. He’d sworn to Mum he’d take care of me, so she left everything to him. Once he had his hands on her house and bank account, I was expendable.’
    ‘You can’t do this alone,’ Cade said.
    Laura shook her head. ‘I don’t plan to. A couple I’ve known for years are keen to adopt the baby. They’ll make far better parents than I would.’
    So he was right, she hadn’t changed. Family was still lowon her priorities. He was disappointed to find out how far down. ‘What about the baby’s father?’ he asked.
    ‘I found out too late that he was already married. That’s twice I’ve let myself be used. It won’t happen a third time.’
    ‘But adoption …’ His voice trailed off.
    She gentled her tone. ‘Sometimes it’s for the best. I won’t put my baby through what I experienced, with a stepfather who only pretended to care about me until he got what he was really after. I’m surprised I have to explain it to you, of all people.’
    ‘It’s because of how I grew up that your decision doesn’t make sense. Raising your child alone makes better sense. At least he’d have one parent who cared—if it’s a he.’
    ‘It is a boy, as it happens. When I had the ultrasound I wasn’t going to let them tell me, but I turned my head at the wrong moment and it was all too obvious.’
    ‘Does he have a name yet?’
    ‘Only Beanie. His name will be up to his new parents.’
    Cade braced his forearms on the table. ‘If it’s a question of money, I can help.’
    ‘If I wasn’t sure you mean that sincerely, I’d be offended. I’m not rolling in money, but I earn an okay living and there are social security options. We wouldn’t starve. My mother’s experience showed me there’s more to raising a child than food and a roof over our heads. Look how things workedout for you when your mother tried to give you a male role model. What if I made the same mistake with my son?’
    His sense of outrage overwhelmed his common sense and he leaned closer. ‘Then marry me.’
    For a moment Laura wished the water in her glass
was
wine, for its steadying effect. ‘What?’
    ‘You heard me. Marry me. I’ve just made an offer on the land next to Diamond Downs. We could live there, you could work in town if you wanted to, and the boy could grow up with his own mother in a proper family. I could do most of the parenting so you wouldn’t be inconvenienced too much.’
    Anger stirred deep within her. Cade hadn’t said one word about being attracted to her for herself. When they were at uni, he’d never asked her out on a real date. Study sessions in the park or the library, and later dinner parties with mutual friends hardly counted, much as she’d enjoyed his company. The depth of attraction she felt for him now made her even angrier, and she recognised the reason. Cade was her stepfather all over again, wanting her only for what she could give him, seeing this as a chance to do his own life over and make things come out