The Bachelor's Baby

Amusement twinkled in her eyes, and at last she smiled. “Good. And you?”

“Questioning my sanity ever since I came up with the idea of rehabbing this place and getting into the iron decor business.”

“How’s it going?”

“Nowhere,” he admitted grimly. “I’ve got a few contracts, but the problem with specialty work is that once you’ve filled an order, there’s no more coming in behind it. My cousin Jordan’s planning to come help out once his summer season is over, which will make a huge difference in the range of products I can offer. The problem is, I’m nowhere near the artist he is, so I have to figure out how to keep from going bankrupt before then.”

“Jordan, your cousin who does metalwork for the art fairs?” When he nodded, she said, “I remember him being really talented.”

“He is, but his head for business is worse than mine. Which is why I need someone who’s organized and good with computers.”

Lindsay glanced around, angling to look behind filing cabinets that dated back to the turn of the twentieth century. Then she came back to him and grinned. “I don’t see a computer.”

“I don’t even know what to buy,” he confided with a deep sigh. “I’m a hands-on kinda guy. I can build or fix just about anything, but when it comes to technology...”

“You’re clueless,” she filled in, laughing lightly. “It takes a big man to admit he’s got a weakness.”

“You make that sound like a good thing.”

All traces of humor left her features, and she said, “Being honest is. That’s a very good thing.”

Brian wanted to kick himself for making her sad, and then logic reminded him that he had nothing to do with the decisions she’d made that had landed her in her current situation. As she’d so readily admitted, it was her own fault.

But there was a tiny part of him, way back in the corner of his guarded heart, that still loved the girl she’d once been. The one who’d looked up at him like he was her hero because he’d stepped in to defend her when no one else would. Before she’d cast him aside for the hazy prospect of adventure, without an explanation or even a goodbye. “Lindsay, what happened?”

Instantly, she stiffened and glowered at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you hated it here when we were in high school. When you left, I figured you’d never come back.”

She hesitated, as if she was trying to decide whether to confide in him or not. Strangely enough, that was how he knew that whatever she finally told him would be the deep-down truth.

“Believe it or not, much as I detested this Podunk town, it’s the only place I’ve ever lived where I felt like there were some people who actually cared about what happened to me. That’s really important to me right now,” she added, smoothing a hand over her stomach in a maternal gesture that struck a deep chord in him.

“I get you not wanting to be alone because of the baby, but why didn’t you go to your mom?”

“We had a nasty falling-out, and I haven’t seen or talked to her in years. I don’t even know where she is, and if I did I wouldn’t degrade myself by asking her for anything.”

Brian vaguely remembered Vera Holland, a flirtatious single mother whose behavior had made life miserable for her daughter. Through no fault of her own, Lindsay’s reputation had suffered, and more than once he’d spoken out in her defense when some classmate or another had assumed the worst of her.

Taking a deep breath, she went on in a calmer tone. “I’ve been living in Cleveland, and when it occurred to me to come back to New Hampshire, I found out that the newspaper over in Waterford has a website. In their real estate section I found a room to rent here in town. I sent the landlord first and last month’s rent to hold the spot for me and then took the last of my cash to the bus depot.”

“Let me guess. Jeff has the car.”

“Took it,” she clarified bitterly. “Along with all the money in our joint account. A few weeks ago, a collection agency called and, after some serious legwork, I found out that he’s been running up the balances on the credit cards that were in both our names. The lawyer I used to work for helped me separate my finances from Jeff’s, but my credit’s shot, and the money’s gone forever.”

“But you must’ve been making decent money as an office manager. I don’t understand how things got so bad.”

“I was okay at first,” she confirmed quietly. “Then I found out I was pregnant, and the stress I was under gave me some pretty serious health problems. Because of that, I couldn’t work consistently, and even the temp agency stopped calling. The lease on the apartment was up, and there was no way I could make the payments, so I had to move out. When I left Cleveland, I had just enough in my wallet for the fare to Liberty Creek and a couple of sandwiches.”

Trusting the wrong guy had all but ruined her life, Brian mused sadly. And now, her flair for poor choices and running away when things got tough had left her well and truly alone. Part of him still had a soft spot for the troubled girl he remembered all too vividly and was inclined to help her.

The other part—the smarter one—recognized that once again she’d fled from her problems without much thought about what she’d do when she reached her new destination. That had always been her MO, and apparently her tendency to dodge the hard stuff hadn’t changed.

For all his wild ways, Brian knew he’d been blessed with a large, loving family that supported him no matter what he did. They’d even warmed up to his crazy idea of reopening the archaic blacksmith shop that had lain dormant for so long the equipment was caked with rust and bat droppings. Knowing that Lindsay was slogging through such a difficult time completely on her own made him sadder than anything ever had.

But he wasn’t about to trust his fledgling business to someone who’d shown such poor judgment and was a proven flight risk. He had a large payment due on his business loan in just nine weeks. If the forge didn’t start turning a profit soon, he’d have to stop his improvements halfway through and find another way to keep the place going. He knew that his family would contribute to the cause, but he didn’t want to do it that way. Quite honestly, he’d rather sell everything he owned to pay the bank rather than beg for cash from anyone.

Thoughts of being strapped for funds prompted a sobering thought. “When did you last see a doctor?”

“About a month ago, when I was six months along. I’m not due until mid-March, and he said everything was fine.”

But it wasn’t fine now, Brian thought grimly. Anyone could see that. She was pale, and now that they weren’t sparring with each other, he noticed the tired circles shadowing her eyes. Hopeful and hopeless at the same time, her cautious demeanor got to him in a way that he’d never experienced before. He barely resisted the urge to take her in his arms and reassure her, but he knew better than to let his guard down around her again.

Standing to put some distance between them, he picked up her coat and held it for her. “It’s not a good day for walking anywhere. I’ll give you a ride to that house you mentioned.”

The hopelessness he’d picked up on finally won out, and she frowned. “You’re not going to hire me, are you?”

He felt like a complete heel, but every alarm in his head was going off, and he couldn’t ignore his instincts. “I really think it’d be better if I find someone else.”

“Of course,” she replied as if that was the result she’d been expecting all along. “I understand.”

There was the professionalism she’d promised him, he mused as she slipped her well-worn coat back on. Calm and competent, it was the kind of temperament that he was looking for in the person he would be trusting to run his front office.

Crazy as it seemed, Lindsay would have been perfect for the job. The problem was, he just couldn’t convince himself to trust her.

Chapter Two

Brian refused to let her carry her bag.

Lindsay couldn’t remember the last time someone had helped her with anything, so seeing him with her oversize duffel slung over his shoulder did something funky to her stomach. Or maybe she was just hungry, she thought wryly. The effects of that stale candy bar she’d bought in Cleveland had worn off long before she reached Liberty Creek.

The town she’d vowed to leave in her rearview mirror, she recalled as they got into his big black four-by-four and headed to the address her new landlord had given her. Well, there was no help for that now. It was the dead of winter, and since she had no car, she was stuck here until the baby was born. After that, she could make some plans to move away, for good this time. Until then, she’d just have to figure out a way to make do.

The house wasn’t far from the forge, in a nice, quiet neighborhood with a clear view of Liberty Creek’s iconic covered bridge. She knocked on the front door of a small Colonial that was typical of the homes in this town that had come into existence shortly after the American Revolution. Tucked in for the winter behind wrought iron fences that were almost invisible beneath the snow, many of the chimneys had smoke drifting lazily up from fireplaces that must keep things warm and cozy inside.

Family places, she thought with a pang of envy. Kitchens filled with home-baked cookies and pot roasts, the kinds of food that her own mother had never made because two waitressing jobs had left her with no energy by dinnertime. Lindsay remembered how her friends’ moms had been—warm and kind, taking care of their husbands and kids every single day. She’d never met her own father, who’d bolted long before she came into the world.

Like Jeff.

More than once, she’d wondered if she was cursed to continue her mother’s path of destruction in her own life. Pushing the gloomy thought aside, she plastered a smile on her face as footsteps sounded on the other side of the heavy door.

A petite woman slowly pulled it open and squinted out at Lindsay. “May I help you?”

“Hello, Mrs. Farrington. I’m Lindsay Holland,” she explained, offering her hand and her friendliest smile. “We talked last week about your spare room, and I sent you a money order for the deposit. When I asked about moving in on Monday, you said that would be fine.”

“And that’s today?” the woman asked, seeming confused. When Lindsay nodded, she shook her head with a slight grimace. “I lose track sometimes. Please come in.”

“Thank you.”

The elderly woman gave Brian a quick once-over that settled on his boots. Grinning, he set Lindsay’s bag down and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll stay on the mat.”

“I’d appreciate that. All this ice and snow makes a mess of the wood floors.”

“When I spoke to you on the phone, you said that you and your husband are from Georgia,” Lindsay commented. “How are you liking New Hampshire?”

“It’s cold and wet,” a man’s voice replied from an open archway that led into a living room that still sported its original wood paneling. He did the assessing thing, too, but while he instantly dismissed Brian, his gaze swept over Lindsay twice, and his jaw tightened. “May I take your coat, Miss Holland?”

The stiff tone seemed to contradict his polite request, and she couldn’t put her finger on what was going on as she slipped out of her coat. When she held it out for him to take, he pinned her with a scowl that was colder than the air outside.

“You’re pregnant.”

“Yes, I am.” Glancing at his wife, she got no help whatsoever, so she focused back on him. “Is that a problem?”

“You didn’t mention that when we spoke,” he reminded her in an accusing tone.

“I didn’t think to. Does it matter?”

“Will your husband be joining you?”

“I’m not married,” she answered, bewildered by the sudden hostility. And again, she asked, “Is that a problem?”

Mr. Farrington’s lips pressed into a flat, disapproving line, and he all but spat, “We don’t rent to tramps like you.”

Lindsay felt Brian step up behind her in the protective gesture she remembered so fondly from her difficult high school years. She could feel the fury pouring off him, and she silently begged him not to do anything that would cause the elderly couple to call the sheriff.

“I guess you’ve got the right to renege on your deal,” Brian began in a tone that made it clear what he thought of that, “but the lady sent you a deposit, trusting that there’d be a room waiting for her. She’ll be needing that back.”

“Didn’t sign nothin’,” the man argued half-heartedly, probably because he knew Brian was right.

The two glowered at each other, the older one defensive while the younger one simply stared back as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After nearly a minute of that, Brian folded his arms in an obstinate way that announced he wasn’t leaving until the man refunded Lindsay’s down payment to her.

“Ed, just give her the money,” his wife pleaded, obviously anxious to have the whole nasty business over with. “I’m sure we can get by without it for a while longer.”

He didn’t respond but dug a battered wallet from his back pocket and leafed through the contents. Lindsay was fairly certain that he was selecting the most worn bills to give her, and it was all she could do to keep her mouth shut. The whole incident echoed the snobbish way she’d been treated by some of her holier-than-thou classmates, and it was tough not to lash out at the man who’d mashed one of her buttons.

When he finally had the right amount, he pointedly set it on the hallway table before turning and stalking back the way he’d come. It was as if he didn’t want to risk catching anything by handing the cash to her, and Lindsay summoned the tattered remnants of her dignity, fighting to keep her temper in check.

“I really am sorry about this, Miss Holland,” Mrs. Farrington said quietly as she opened the door for them. “We’re in a bad way, and renting that room to you would’ve made a big difference to all of us. I wish we could have helped each other.”

The woman sounded sincere, and Lindsay put aside her own predicament to show some compassion as she retrieved the money that Ed had left. “I do, too. What will you do now?”

“Find another renter, I suppose. It’s not easy in the wintertime because folks are pretty well dug in where they are until spring. When you called about our ad, I thought it was the answer to my prayers.”

Understandably distraught, she waited for them to leave and eased the door closed behind them. The sound of three different locks engaging ended the uncomfortable confrontation with a finality that sent Lindsay’s heart plunging to the snow-covered walkway beneath her feet. Thoroughly soaked from tramping around in her thin flat shoes, they were taking on a decided chill that only made her more miserable. As they headed back to Brian’s truck, she felt her heart sinking a little lower with each step.

“Now what?” she asked, glancing back at the house that had seemed so welcoming but had proven to be the exact opposite.

“Lunch. I’m starving.”

Her hero, she thought with a fondness that startled her. Over the years, she’d often thought of the rakish boy who’d fought so many battles for her, even before they’d become serious about each other. While he’d been—and still was—one of the best-looking guys she’d ever met, his unswerving willingness to defend her had been the quality she’d admired most about him.

“Okay, but it’s on me,” she replied, waving the fistful of cash she now held, thanks to him.

“Not a chance. I’m a Calhoun, and we never let a lady pay.”

“But—”

“Save your money,” he interrupted her as he tossed her bag into the well behind the seat and helped her up into the cab. “You’ve got a baby on the way, so you’re gonna need it.”

Baby on the way and no place to live, she added mentally. Technically, she was in the same predicament as yesterday, although the details had changed slightly. The weather hadn’t, though, and she shivered despite the warmth of the cab.

“What’m I gonna do?” Hearing the whine in her voice, she cringed and closed her eyes before resting her head on the foggy window.

Brian shifted in his seat, a sure sign that she was making him uncomfortable. Considering how she’d treated him in the past, she felt awful for putting him in the awkward position of being her rescuer. That had been okay when they were younger, but she was a grown woman now, and a mother-to-be besides. No matter how many curve balls life threw at her, she’d have to maneuver her way through them.

Alone.

Forcing herself to look over at him, she gathered up her courage. “I’m sorry, Brian. This is my problem, not yours. I’ll figure it out.”

Being let off the hook seemed to ease his tension, and he visibly relaxed. “For now, we’re gonna get you something to eat. I’m sure Gran has something over at the bakery that’ll warm you up.”

Ellie Calhoun was one of Lindsay’s few fond memories of this place, and just hearing the woman’s name made her smile. “That sounds great.”

Brian nodded and headed down Main Street toward the tiny business district. She suspected that it had been pretty much the same since the day the founding Calhoun brothers opened their blacksmith shop next to the winding creek that gave the town its name. The stores were small, but each had a large front window that displayed what was sold inside. There was an old-fashioned confectionary, a bookstore that advertised gourmet coffee and a high-speed internet connection, even a small-town barbershop whose striped pole spun in the wind.

Everything was still the way she remembered it, she mused as Brian parked beside Ellie’s Bakery and Bike Rentals. That might be a good thing. But considering the way her day had gone so far, she doubted it.

* * *

“Lindsay!” When Brian walked her through the glass-front door, his grandmother hurried out from behind the counter to embrace her. Artfully dodging the obvious change in their visitor, she beamed at Lindsay as if she’d been waiting for her all day instead of being surprised to find her there. “It’s wonderful to see you. How have you been?”

“Good, and you?”

Gran laughed. “Oh, you know how it is around here. There’s always something interesting going on, and I just try to keep up.” She turned to Brian with an accusing look. “Why didn’t you tell me Lindsay was coming into town?”

“It was a surprise to me, too,” he answered, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “I know it’s a little early for customers, but what’s the chance of us getting some lunch?”

“For my boy? A hundred percent. Since it’s so cold, I’ve got a batch of stew simmering, and I’m just pulling fresh bread out of the oven. You two sit down and I’ll bring you some.”

“I knew I smelled something amazing,” Lindsay commented while she shed her coat.

Suddenly recalling his manners, Brian took it from her and hung it on the rack near the door. Adding his own, he joined her at the table she’d chosen. As far from the front windows as she could get, he noticed. She was either keeping away from the chill near the door or trying to avoid being seen. Considering her condition, he guessed that it was probably some of both.

“I forgot how cold it gets here in the winter,” she said, rubbing her bare hands together to warm them. “Once I find myself a job, I’ll have to buy a pair of gloves.”

“You’ve got some money now,” he reminded her.

“I’ll need that to pay for a room. Assuming I can find one.”

Brian waited for the cheeky grin he remembered to tell him that she was exaggerating. When it didn’t appear, he felt a pang of sorrow for this beautiful, lost woman who’d found herself at the end of her rope and somehow landed on his doorstep. He still wasn’t sure how that had happened, but in view of their rocky history he was grateful that despite the obstacles she’d had to overcome, she’d come back to where there were people who genuinely cared about her.

And her baby, he reminded himself, still trying to adjust to the idea. He’d been on his own for years, so he was pretty good at taking care of himself. Someday he’d love to have a family, but right now the idea of assuming responsibility for anyone else scared him to death. Maybe once his business was solidly in the black, he could think about settling down. But these days, struggling to relaunch the ironworks was giving him all he could manage and more.

“How are things going up at your end of town today?” Ellie asked, ruffling his hair.

“Busy. How ’bout here?”

“Oh, you know how it is when the weather’s so nasty. Folks just want to tuck in at home and stay warm until the snow stops. They’ll be out tomorrow, I’m sure.” Her optimism lifted his own spirits, and then she turned her attention to Lindsay. “I’m so proud of this one. He’s got so many orders, he won’t have time for much else once the forge is up and running.”

She hurried back into the kitchen, and Lindsay gave him an accusing look. “I had no idea you had customers waiting for your stuff.”

If only the contracts were for more than garden gates and fireplace screens, he thought morosely. But his corporate policy was to be positive around the family to avoid worrying them, so he shrugged. “Yeah, well, I hate to brag.”

For the first time since she’d arrived, Lindsay let out an honest laugh. “Since when?”

Since he’d lost three jobs in two years through no fault of his own. He was a skilled machinist, but the shops he’d worked for had been poorly managed, and when they needed to balance the books, he was always the new guy. It had been tough on his ego, and last summer he’d finally had enough of it. Reopening a nineteenth-century business might seem far-fetched to most people, but the effort to resurrect the historic Liberty Creek Forge hadn’t just given him something to do. It had gone a long way toward restoring his battered pride.

Because teasing him had brightened her mood, he opted not to share his sob story and instead dredged up a grin. “Good point.”

After staring at each other for what felt like a little too long, they fell into an uneasy silence. Then she said, “I see Ellie’s still in town. How about the rest of your family?”

“Sam got married just before Christmas,” he replied, grateful for something else to talk about. “He and Holly live on the edge of town with her son, Chase, who’s just about the greatest kid ever. Emma teaches art at the elementary school and lives in our old house. Mom and Dad both work over in Waterford now, so they moved there a few years ago.”

“Have you been here all this time?”

“I moved around a bit, then settled in Portsmouth for a while before coming back. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it’s really nice to be home.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” she commented as Gran approached their table carrying a loaded tray. “You never struck me as the nomad type.”

Unlike her, Brian added silently. He wondered if that would change now that she had a child to consider.

“Here you go, kids,” Gran announced, setting their lunch out for them.

He’d skipped breakfast that morning, and the aroma of her blue-ribbon cooking actually made his mouth water. He tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into the steaming crock of stew before popping it in his mouth. Registering his grandmother’s questioning look, he chuckled. “You’ve been experimenting again, haven’t you?”

“Maybe. Can you tell what’s different?”

“Delicious as usual,” he replied because quite honestly, he couldn’t detect anything beyond that.

She gave him a chiding look before turning to Lindsay, who smiled. “There’s a hint of cayenne pepper in here, right?”

Gran pressed her hands together in delight. “That’s right! I’ve had a dozen people taste this, and you’re the first one to guess my secret ingredient.”

“I didn’t think you liked spicy food,” Brian said, more than a little confused. Apparently, her pregnancy wasn’t the only thing about Lindsay Holland that was different. It made him wonder what else someone might discover if he tried hard enough to peel back some of those self-protective layers she’d wrapped herself in. Of course, it wouldn’t be him, he amended quickly. She’d burned him once, and he wasn’t about to step into range and give her the chance to do it again.