Along Came Trouble(64)



Carly stared down at her lap, clearly uncomfortable.

“Of course,” he said. “We’re watching for bad headaches, blurry vision, and abdominal pain, right?” His sister Amber had been on bed rest with high blood pressure the first time she was pregnant. He remembered the drill.

“Yes. Also nausea or vomiting, dizziness, or sudden weight gain. I’d like to see her back here on Monday, and you should call the office if she experiences any of the symptoms, alone or in combination, before then.”

“Got it.”

They covered a few other details, the doctor gave Carly a quick pep talk, and she left. Caleb turned to Carly. She was biting her knuckle, a bad habit he’d thought she’d kicked in middle school.

“Sorry about that,” Carly said. “She asked if I had anybody who can help me, and I . . . I said I had you.” Her eyes filled with tears, which she swiped at viciously. “But you don’t need to put yourself out. Just give me a ride home, and I’ll call Nana. We’ll be fine.”

He wondered how many appointments she’d had to come to all by herself. Her husband had walked out on her when she finally got pregnant after years of trying, Nana was too frail to take care of her anymore, and Jamie Callahan had high-tailed it out of town the second their relationship started getting difficult. Carly was effectively alone, and Caleb had been too self-centered to think about how she must feel, stuck by herself in the house she’d grown up in, trying to cope with her losses and plan for the future.

Some friend he’d turned out to be.

He put his arm around her and rested his chin on top of her head. “You’re going to be fine. Both of you. We’ll get you sorted out. This is just a precaution. The doctor said so herself.”

Carly put her face against his shoulder, the closest thing to a surrender he’d ever known from her. He let her rest there, already thinking ahead about how to make this work. Thinking about this new wrinkle to his mission, now that protecting Carly meant a lot more than keeping her out of view of the press.

Nana would want to help, but someone would have to help Nana. He and Katie would need to put together a list of Carly’s friends who’d be willing to take shifts with her and bring food over.

Should he call Mitchell? Did the not-quite-ex-husband have a right to know, given that he was in Baja drinking too much and chasing after board bunnies?

Probably not.

Did Jamie Callahan?

Sorting through the possibilities gave him a nice hit of energy. For the most part, he enjoyed the slower pace of civilian life, but every now and then the shit hit the fan and he recognized how much more alive he felt, more himself, when there was almost too much to deal with. Surround him with cranky people and logistical difficulties, and it was like, Damn, this is what I was trained to do. Bring it on.

Carly wiped her face on his sleeve and straightened up.

“I think I got snot on your shirt,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it. The shirt was already having a rough day.”

He waited while she got dressed, then walked her to his car, which Sean had left in the lot like he was supposed to. She wouldn’t let Caleb carry her bag without a fight, which didn’t surprise him in the least. He hadn’t expected Carly to be a compliant patient.

There weren’t any photographers staking out the car, at least. He went through a drive-thru to buy her a sympathy milk shake and took her home, settling her down on her couch with a glass of water, her phone, her laptop, and strict instructions not to move until somebody showed up to help.

Then on to the next item on his list—Mom. On the drive over to the apartments, he brought Katie up to speed. She promised to find someone who could sit with Carly this afternoon and to start working on a schedule for the coming days.

From the lot in front of his parents’ place, he called Ellen. She didn’t pick up, so he left her a message filling her in on what was happening with Carly and suggesting she might want to think about telling her brother.

He didn’t know if she’d welcome the idea. He didn’t have the first clue what was going on in Jamie Callahan’s head. But if the guy felt anything for Carly, he’d get his ass back to Camelot. And that would create its own set of headaches.

His parents’ place was a converted apartment that took up the entire floor above the rental office. Caleb found his mother sitting at the table eating lunch. “What are we having?” he asked, wandering into the kitchen.

“It’s just leftover manicotti. If I’d known you were coming over, I would’ve gone to the grocery store.”

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