Page 60 of One Unexpected Gift

Her one word, one syllable response wasn’t enough for him to determine if she was upset, excited, or indifferent.

“What color are Gabriella’s?” His daughter’s name rolled off his tongue. He didn’t mean to add the Latina accent, but he’d imagined his mother learning about her granddaughter and could hear her gush the name over and over again.

Skylar glanced at him before returning her attention on the empty rural road ahead of them.

“Blue.”

“Did your parents or brother have blue eyes?”

“No.”

Still the one-word, one-syllable responses. It would have bothered him more if he hadn’t thought about the response. Blue. That meant his daughter got her eye color from him. A slow smile curved his lips.

“She looks like me,” he said with pride. “And my sister. My mother is going to flip when she finds out she has a granddaughter.”

Skylar stopped dead in her tracks and spun to face him. “I will not let my daughter be exposed to anyone who does not want or love her. I don’t know what you’re doing here, Nick, or what you want from me. If you’re here because of guilt, you can turn back to the house and leave. I don’t want you here because you think I want you here. I told you the other day, I don’t hold you responsible for any of this. I want nothing from you. My daughter doesn’t need anything from you.”

“That’s not fair.” He crossed his arms and scowled at her. “You don’t get to decide what I’m thinking or feeling. Just because I needed a few days to clear my head doesn’t mean I’m here out of guilt.”

Skylar’s entire demeanor changed. “Your head.” She reached out as if to touch him and then dropped her hand. “What did your neurologist say?”

Nick wasn’t sure if he should be insulated by Nurse Skylar’s interest in him when Mother-of-his- Child-Skylar wanted nothing to do with him.

“The headaches are better, thank you.”

“You don’t need to put on a brave face for me, Nick. Oh.” She closed her eyes and touched her throat. “These past few days...” She opened her eyes again, and he nearly dropped to the pavement at the intensity on her face. “Have you been...”

Nick rubbed his hands across his face. Part of him wanted to be insulted that she only cared about him from a medical standpoint. But right now, he’d take what he could get.

“I’m still getting headaches but they’re a lot better.”

“Are you still getting sick from them?”

“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?” He chuckled, this time not with sarcasm. “It was a one-time thing. We’ve already talked about insulting my man card. Can we keep that secret between us?”

“I’ve always been one for straight up honesty and not keeping secrets.”

Nick instantly regretted the lift in his eyebrow and his quick glance at Gabriella.

“This was different. My daughter isn’t a secret. I didn’t intentionally keep her from you. You have to see things from my viewpoint. I’d gotten pregnant from a man I hardly knew while having sex at his place of business. The stigma of an unwed pregnant soldier is something I have to live with for the rest of my life. The looks, the whispers...”

Sky blinked and looked away. She set her hands on the stroller and continued walking.

Nick hadn’t thought about the repercussions of her being pregnant in the Army. She was a woman who wore her career and motherhood like a badge of honor. To be ridiculed must have torn her apart.

“I’m sorry you had to endure that all alone. If you’d have told me when you found out you were pregnant I would have—”

“What?” She stopped again, flicking her gaze over her shoulder. “Dropped everything, moved to Virginia, married me, and put on the farce of a happy little family?”

“I would have been there in some capacity.”

“Thanks.” She pushed the stroller and he followed. “It wouldn’t have mattered though. I wasn’t married before I got pregnant. I didn’t even have a boyfriend. Rumors fly fast when you live on base.”

“Meanwhile, I was living my life out here, hopping from one adventure to the next. No wonder you resent me.” Which wasn’t entirely true. Since he had his CAD, there hadn’t been any more adventures.

“I don’t resent you, Nick.”

“The guy always has it easier. Every woman must resent the man in some capacity. I don’t blame you. You did what you thought best. You were the one doing all the work, growing our baby, trying to hold down your job, dealing with pricks who can’t mind their own business.”

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