Page 30 of Taming a Heartbreaker

She nodded. “They only wanted one child?”

“Nope. I understand they wanted a house full but didn’t get that. It wasn’t for lack of trying. However, pregnancy doesn’t always come easy. They’d been married close to eight years when Mom finally got pregnant with me. They declared if she got pregnant again that would be great. If not, then I would be their only little blessing. Their words, not mine.”

He hadn’t told that to anyone else before. But then no one had ever asked him about his early childhood. “Any reason you wanted to know?”

She stopped eating and looked at him. “I was just wondering what I’d be in for...if my child’s temperament mirrors yours.”

Did that mean she was no longer considering their child as just hers? “What kind of child were you growing up?” he decided to ask.

A smile touched her lips. “I’m told I let it be known very early on that since I was the baby in the family, I wanted all the attention. And they all gave it to me. My sister Chandra was just as bad as my parents. There is a five-year difference in our ages, and she claims the only reason she helped them spoil me rotten was because she was tired of playing with her dolls alone. She had warned my parents that if they had a boy, she would order that he be sent back.”

Redford couldn’t help but find that amusing. “I don’t think that’s the way it works.”

“You couldn’t convince Chandra of that, so I’m glad I was born a girl. Mom and Dad tried having another child. She got pregnant but lost it. It was a boy.” She stopped eating again and met his gaze. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. Comparing my pregnancy with hers. But she lost the baby due to a car accident that almost killed her. A man ran the traffic light.”

“Wow, that’s sad. How far along was she?”

“Six months. I remember Dad sneaking me and Chandra into the hospital to see her. I was five at the time and didn’t fully know what was going on. All I knew was that my mom was inside that big building in a little bed with all those big machines connected to her, instead of being home with us and sleeping in her own bed. She stayed in the hospital for almost a month.”

She paused. “Dad took care of Mom, refusing to accept assistance from his mother or Mom’s. He said he wanted to be the one to take care of her, and that they needed that time together to heal after losing their child.”

He nodded and wondered if she saw the similarities. In case she didn’t, he said, “I understand your father’s position. I want to be the one to take care of you. Although we might not love each other, I honestly believe we need time together to bond, Carmen.”

“To bond?” she asked, looking at him curiously. He also noted the cautious look in her eyes.

“Yes, for the sake of our child. You, as the baby’s mother and me, as their father. We’ll need that bond for the rest of our child’s life. It will be unbreakable. Regardless of the fact that we won’t be getting married, we need our child to know that above all else, we put them first and always will.”

An unbreakable bond...

Could such a thing exist between them? Carmen wondered, shifting in bed. She had been thinking about Redford’s words most of the night when she should have been sleeping. It didn’t help matters that when Leslie returned and came in to check on her last night, she had forgotten to ask her to close the blinds. That meant whenever Carmen woke during the night, she saw the stars, forcing her to remember a night when she and Redford had gazed up at them together.

Carmen had told Leslie just how good Redford’s soup had been and that she hadn’t thrown up after eating it. She had taken a nap and had slept until Leslie returned to check on her. She hadn’t seen Redford anymore that night.

“Good morning.”

She glanced over at Leslie and raised up in bed. “Good morning.”

She should be glad it wasn’t Redford greeting her, but for some reason she wasn’t. Had he changed his mind about the bonding thing because he thought she was being too difficult, too wishy-washy? Or had he thought about it overnight, and after seeing her empty her stomach yesterday, decided taking care of her was too much?

“Did Sloan get off okay, Leslie?”

“Yes. Since he flew here in Redford’s jet, Maverick volunteered to fly in and pick him up.”

Maverick was Sloan’s youngest brother. Leslie had once told her that due to Alaska’s very limited road system, one of the most common ways of getting around was by aircraft. It seemed that more Alaskans owned personal planes than cars. “That was nice of him.”

Leslie smiled. “The one thing I discovered upon meeting Sloan’s siblings years ago was that they were close. Although they give each other a hard time once in a while, they look out for each other.” A concerned look etched into her features. “Did you sleep well, Carmen?”

“Not really.” There was no need to say more.

Leslie gave her one of those looks. “What bothered you enough to interfere with your rest? Rest that you need?”

She didn’t say anything for a minute and then she said, “Redford and I had a deep discussion yesterday. He told me why he’d never wanted kids.”

“And how do you feel about that?”

“After what that girl did, I can only imagine his pain and heartbreak at seventeen.”

“Yes, but he’s thirty-six now. Shouldn’t he have moved on?”

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