Page 44 of Beyond Reach

He whooped with joy.

“Stop, Garner. I’m not sure yet. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. Wanna come?”

“Definitely!” He closed an imaginary zipper over his lips. “I won’t breathe a word until we know. But they’ll see my excitement.”

“They’ll assume you’ve become delirious because I said yes and the tension of planning all this has worn off.”

He snorted. “You’re probably right. Okay, let’s get back in there. I have so many reasons to celebrate because I’m marrying the woman I’ve loved from the beginning, and she’s making me a father.”

“Garner.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I’ll say no more. Shall we go in, Future Mrs. Driscoll.”

She hooked her arm through his. “Yes, we shall, Mr. Driscoll.”

The world dropped, and Chanda grabbed onto Garner’s arm. Immediately after, she drew away from him. Tears fell down her face. “What did you say?”

Garner hadn’t moved after the doctor’s announcement. He didn’t speak or respond. Chanda dared not look at him. Whenever she previously reached for his hand, he reached back for hers. He was always eager to touch, to comfort, or to show affection. When the doctor said what he did, the man who had just asked her to marry him didn’t even look at her.

“I’m sorry, Chanda.” Her doctor, a woman she was seeing for the second time since she moved to Arlington, sounded more wooden than concerned. Maybe it was all in Chanda’s mind. “I don’t want to discourage you because of course there’s always a chance. But it’s unlikely you will ever get pregnant.”

“But I missed my period. I never miss my period.”

The doctor nodded and droned on. Chanda scarcely heard her. “The fact is your uterus is inhospitable for pregnancy. You may never be able to get pregnant. Even if you do, it’s likely your uterus will not sustain the life.”

Chanda had had enough. She jumped to her feet and ran out of the office. By the time she came to herself she sat in the car and stared through the windshield. Too late, she realized she’d have to face Garner again because he drove her to the doctor’s appointment.

Some time passed before he appeared, and by then she hadn’t calmed down. Her chest closed, and getting air to pass through her lungs seemed like a chore. When she saw Garner, her body wanted to break down completely.

Don’t look in his eyes, Chanda. Then you won’t see how much you hurt him.

As he approached the car, her gaze wandered up to his face anyway. Just as her mind registered his agony, he pulled the car door open. She twisted away from him, not knowing where she was going. The ridiculous thought entered her head to climb over the divider between the seats and head straight out through the driver side. Then she’d keep running.

Garner caught her before she could get far. He drew her backward. She let a tiny scream escape before Garner whipped her around to face him and then flattened her against his chest.

His arms holding her tight undid her. They wept together. Garner sat in the passenger side seat and drew her onto his lap. Together they wallowed for a long while in misery. When the tears eased, Chanda breathed a little better.

“We can adopt,” Garner half suggested.

“I’m sorry, Garn—”

“No,” he ground out. “We’re not going there.”

“But if you had—”

“I said no.”

She eyed him, and he forced a grin, stroking her face.

“We’ll get through this,” he promised. “Together. Promise me, Chanda. We’ll do it together. Agreed?”

“You’re worried I’m going to run away.”

“Weren’t you about to just now?”

“I don’t need to be accused of attempting to run every time something comes down the pike.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

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