Читать книгу The Rancher's Christmas Baby (incl. Bonus Book) - Cathy Gillen Thacker - Страница 8

Chapter Three

“Too bad about last night.”

Amy gazed quizzically at her sister, Susie. “What do you mean?”

“It was your first night as husband and wife, and one of Teddy’s horses went into labor. That couldn’t have been too great.”

Amy tried not to think about the irony of the situation. She’d only agreed to go home with Teddy to his ranch for appearances’ sake—because she didn’t want to let on to anyone how uncertain she already was about this bargain they’d made with each other.

Oh, she still wanted a baby—his baby.

But as for the rest of it…

A marriage based on friendship was going to be much more complicated than she had figured.

Still, figuring boundaries needed to be set, she had packed an overnight bag with her most unsexy flannel pajamas. Only to end up disappointed that she and Teddy hadn’t even ended up having dinner together.

Never mind how strange it had felt to sleep in his bed—without him—and leave for work this morning, with only a passing goodbye to him, since he was still busy with the new foal.

It wasn’t like this was a real marriage, in the traditional sense. She and Teddy were used to living their own lives, on their own schedules, and having much of their time taken up by the demands of their mutual businesses. More than likely, this was the way it was going to be until a baby came into the picture….

Amy and Susie walked out the back door of the landscape and garden center owned by Susie and headed toward the cargo van Amy used to transport plants.

“You must have felt very let down,” Susie continued. “First, you missed out on the big wedding you always wanted, by eloping.”

Not to mention the thrill of a life-altering romance, Amy thought.

“Then, as if all that wasn’t enough,” Susie said, “your first night as husband and wife was a complete bust.”

Amy opened up the back door of the dark-green truck, emblazoned with the logo for Laurel Valley Ranch.

Deciding changing the subject was a much safer path to take, Amy pointed out, “You were without a husband last night, too.”

The foal had been breech. Susie’s husband—and Teddy’s triplet brother—Tyler McCabe, was a large-animal vet. He had been called out to the Silverado Ranch to help Teddy with the delivery.

“True,” Susie conceded ruefully, watching as Amy set up the loading ramp.

Susie rubbed a hand across her expanding waistline, lovingly protecting the baby inside of her. “But since these days all I want to do is sleep…” Susie walked onto the truck to give a cursory inspection of the red-and-white poinsettia plants and potted baby evergreens Amy was delivering, then signed the clipboard Amy gave her.

“You, on the other hand,” Susie continued with another lift of her brow, “are on what should be your honeymoon.”

Amy tensed. The sounds of heavy machinery reverberated through the chilly late-November air. She knew the source. Several blocks over, a professional tree crew was removing the live oak that had been struck by lightning and crashed through the chapel roof.

The tree was going to be a loss, Amy knew, but the community chapel would be rebuilt. And in some small way, that knowledge filled her with hope.

Amy got out the wheeled flatbed dolly and began loading plants onto it.

Aware her older sister was waiting for an explanation of some sort, Amy shrugged and turned her glance away from Susie’s probing gaze. “My marriage to Teddy isn’t like yours and Rebecca’s.”

Both her sisters were madly in love with the men they had married.

Susie’s expression tightened. She tugged on a pair of leather work gloves and lifted the lightweight poinsettia plants, one by one, being careful not to stress her pregnant body. “So I heard.”

Amy knew the serious illness Susie had suffered as a teenager had left her more appreciative of life than most, and also more sensitive to others’ feelings. Hence, it was no surprise that Susie had picked up on Amy’s anxiety and uncertainty, where her own impulsive actions were concerned.

“And you, too, are worried,” Amy guessed.

“Everyone is—in both families.” Susie watched Amy take the loaded dolly down the ramp to the back door and return with an empty one. “We all know what close friends you and Teddy have been since you were in elementary school together. And we all know how much you both want to be married and have kids.”

Here it comes, Amy thought. “But…?”

Susie loaded plants as carefully and sensibly as she did everything else. Pity shone in her eyes. “I can’t help but think you’re cheating yourselves, not waiting for the love of a lifetime.”

Amy sensed an It’s-Not-Too-Late-To-Chalk-It-All-Up-To-Holiday-Craziness-And-Get-An-Annulment spiel coming on.

So it wasn’t perfect. In fact, far from it. Still, this arrangement she had with Teddy was the key to her getting the family she had always wanted, sooner rather than later.

She and Teddy would work out the details.

Eventually…

That was, if their families would leave them alone to do so!

Amy set her jaw. “If Teddy and I could be sure we’d experience ‘true love’ with others, don’t you think we’d be content to wait? Unfortunately, it would seem the odds are against us finding The One.”

Susie straightened. “So you’re going to settle for a life with each other instead.”

Amy didn’t like the way Susie said “settle.” She made it sound as if she were stealing crumbs off another’s plate, instead of sitting down to a full meal. “It’s going to be fine,” she reiterated with as much patience and faith as she could muster.

Susie stretched and rubbed her lower back. The shift in her posture made her blossoming pregnancy more apparent. Observing, Amy was filled with a mixture of shared joy—and envy. She didn’t like the latter. It made her feel ungrateful somehow. Small and petty.

“If this is so great, then why don’t you look happier?” Susie persisted, appearing as determined as their parents the day before to make Amy and Teddy come to their senses and undo what had been done.

Amy took the filled dolly down the ramp and returned with a third empty cart. Gaze averted, she kept her guard up, knowing it would be far too easy to pour out her heart. “I’m stressed out about the holidays.” Which was true, as far as it went.

Susie’s eyes narrowed skeptically. “You love the holidays.”

Amy grimaced and loaded the remaining greenery, slated for Susie’s store. “Not so far this year,” she said honestly.

“Why? What’s going on?” Susie led the way down the ramp, then held the door for Amy.

Amy pushed all three loaded carts into the storeroom, one after another, then followed Susie to her private office. Because the garden center would not be open to the public for another forty-five minutes, they had time to finish their conversation at leisure.

Amy sat down in the chair Susie indicated while her sister poured them each a mug of decaffeinated coffee. “Sheryl was put on bed rest yesterday for the rest of her pregnancy. Her mother can’t get in from Chicago to help out until next weekend. Until then, I’ve given Ed time off to care for her and make sure she doesn’t go into early labor again.”

“Which leaves you with no help whatsoever.”

“Right.” Amy stirred creamer in her coffee. This, she could talk at length about. “All my part-time college kids are already back on campus, gearing up for exams.”

“And you’ve got some sort of big delivery coming up, don’t you,” Susie recalled, easing into the chair behind her desk.

Amy nodded and rested her mug on her thigh. Warmth transmitted through her jeans. “Two hundred six-to eight-foot Christmas trees have to be delivered to the Wichita Falls Civic Association. The money they earn from the sale is going to provide the Christmas celebration for a local children’s home. I’m supposed to deliver them by noon on December 1—which, as it happens, is next Tuesday.”

Susie unlocked her desk and pulled out the landscape-design-business checkbook. “How many trees are ready to go so far?” she asked curiously, slipping into businesswoman mode.

Amy grimaced, just thinking about what lay ahead. “Sixty-two.” It wouldn’t have been a problem had her employees been there to help her. But they weren’t, and the task ahead was daunting to say the least.

Susie paused to sip her decaf and boot up her computer. “So you’ve got one hundred and thirty-eight trees—”

“To cut and bundle and load on the ranch cargo truck by Monday evening. Plus—” Amy tried hard not to feel overwhelmed as she sipped her coffee “—twelve dozen cookies to bake for the cookie swap tomorrow evening.”

Susie’s eyes widened. “That’s going to take you forever in that tiny oven of yours.”

“Tell me about it.” But again, it was for a good cause, since the majority of the cookies were going to the nursing homes in the area, to help kick off their holiday seasons.

One eye on her computer screen, Susie rocked back in her chair. “Although, I suppose you could use Teddy’s kitchen. He’s got double convection ovens.”

Amy waved off the offer. “I’ll just do it at my place tonight.”

Susie stopped typing on the keyboard long enough to ask, “Why?”

“Because we’re set to stay at my trailer tonight.”

Susie made a face and referred to the delivery numbers on the clipboard. “Why?”

“Because we’re alternating domiciles.”

Susie emitted a short, strangled laugh. “That’s weird.”

What was it about older sisters—especially older married sisters—that made them think they knew it all?

“No,” Amy countered, wishing Susie would hurry up with the process of paying her so she could go. “It’s not.”

Susie printed out the receipt and took it off the printer. She handed it over, giving Amy a knowing look. “You’re keeping one foot out the door. Aren’t you?”

“I am not!”

Susie’s skepticism only deepened. She sighed and opened her business checkbook. “Is Teddy going to help you with the trees?”

Amy hadn’t asked. “He has his own business to run,” she said stiffly.

Susie scrawled out figures. “Which can only mean you haven’t told him of your dilemma,” she chided.

Amy quaffed the rest of her coffee, slightly scalding her throat in the process, and stood. “He doesn’t need to help me. I’ll figure it out somehow.”

Finally, Susie passed the check to Amy. “Well, look, I can’t lend you any help today or tomorrow. But we don’t have any jobs on Monday morning. So how about I send my landscaping crew over to help you with whatever’s left?”

At last. Something was going her way. “That would be great.” Amy smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I’ll reimburse you for their time.”

Susie tapped her pen against her chin. “What about delivering the trees? What are you going to do about that?”

They both knew Ed usually handled any long hauls. With Sheryl so close to giving birth, that would not be possible, either.

“I’m going to drive the truck up early Tuesday morning,” Amy said.

Susie looked shocked. “By yourself?”

“Yes.” Amy stuck the check on the clipboard, on top of the receipt. “I’ll have plenty of help on the other end to unload.”

Susie stood to walk her out, lacing a sisterly arm about Amy’s waist. “I hope you don’t get stuck up there.”

Amy tucked the clipboard beneath her arm and rocked forward on her toes. “The bad weather is not supposed to hit until Wednesday morning.”

“You know how fast that can change.” Susie watched as Amy climbed back up into the cab. “Especially that close to the Oklahoma border.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Amy fit her keys into the ignition and fastened her seat belt. “But if it looks bad, I’ll stay in a hotel.”

Susie remained concerned. “Promise me you won’t try to beat a storm.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Have I ever gotten caught out in one yet?”

“No, by the grace of heaven, you haven’t,” Susie admitted with a reluctant twist of her lips. “But there’s always a first time.”

Amy wagged a finger at her. “You’re supposed to be worrying about that baby you’re carrying, Suze, not me.”

Susie held up her hands in surrender. “I can’t help it. I’m your big sister. Always will be.”

And family, Amy knew, took care of family. Which was exactly why she wasn’t telling Teddy of her dilemma. She didn’t want him thinking that as her husband he needed to interfere in her Laurel Valley Ranch business.

AMY DELIVERED MORE POINSETTIA plants and decorative cuttings of fresh holly and evergreen branches to area florists and stopped at the grocery store on the way home. As usual at that time of day, the lines were long. Made worse by the fact that everyone in town had heard about her marriage.

“That’s some husband you’ve lassoed yourself.” Maisy, the store manager, winked.

The clerk ringing up Amy’s groceries agreed. “You’ve got the envy of quite a few women in this town.”

Unfortunately, Amy didn’t feel lucky. She felt foolish. Naive. And less in-the-spirit-of-Christmas than ever as she walked out of the store and drove back to her ranch.

Hoping she’d have some time to pull herself together before facing her new husband again, she turned into the lane and stopped at what she saw. Teddy was already there. Once again, taking over in a way he never had during all the years they had been “just friends.”

Temper simmering at the assumptions he had obviously made, she parked her truck next to the barn, got out with the grocery bags in hand and crossed the gravel.

He’d had a shower since she’d seen him last, and the fragrance of soap and shaving cream clung to his skin. His layered reddish-brown hair curled up slightly where it brushed the nape of his neck.

Despite the chill in the air, he wore only a tan chamois shirt, long-sleeved undershirt and jeans. His sheepskin-lined suede jacket and hat lay next to the open toolbox on the ground beside the stoop.

Teddy stopped hammering long enough to give her a welcoming smile.

Ignoring the way her heart skittered in response, Amy stopped just short of him. She made no effort to keep the incredulity out of her voice. “What are you doing?”

He kept right on hammering, easy as you please. Every thwack stretched the fabric across his brawny shoulders and delineated the bunched muscles in his chest. His jeans were doing equally amazing things for his thighs and butt, and despite her earlier promise to keep their relationship strictly platonic for now, Amy felt her mouth go dry.

“Exactly what it looks like,” he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be undertaking. On her ranch, no less! “I’m installing a satellite dish.”

Amy drew a deep, bolstering breath. She dropped the grocery sacks in the grass and struggled to keep her emotions under control.

“I can see that,” she said with a great deal more patience than she actually felt. “Why?”

Teddy straightened slowly. As he faced her, his superior height seemed more pronounced than ever. “Because you only get two channels out here with a rabbit-ear antenna, and there’s no cable this far out in the country.” Ignoring her irritation, he picked up the instructions and scanned them briefly.

Amy stomped closer and glared at him. “I don’t need more channels.”

He put the paper down, laconic as ever, and picked up a wire. “There’s the rub, darlin’.” He paused to give her a long, telling look. “I do.”

Darlin’! When did he call her “darlin’”? Teddy called his girlfriends that. Never her.

Aware it was all she could do not to kick him in the shin, Amy doubled back and picked up her groceries. “For what?”

Teddy mugged comically, as if the answer to that were obvious. “Football play-offs. The Super Bowl. Not to mention the Dallas Stars or the Mavericks.”

Fortunately, he had satellite at his ranch. “I don’t watch hockey, Teddy. Or basketball, either.” And she detested football!

His teeth flashed white in an infuriating smile. She was pretty sure he knew he was irritating the heck out of her and was determined to keep right on doing it. “That’s the beauty of it,” he told her in a soft, sexy voice that did funny things to her insides. He tapped her on the chest. “You don’t have to.”

Now, that was debatable, Amy thought, given the tiny space in her travel-trailer.

“I’ll hear it,” she complained.

Teddy shrugged his broad shoulders. “If it bothers you,” he said, looking no closer to backing down than she was, “I’ll get headphones for the TV.”

“Or just watch at your place,” Amy suggested with a sweetness meant to set his teeth on edge.

His attention focused more on his task than on her, Teddy attached the wire to the dish. “I’d be glad to do that,” he responded amiably, “if you’d come to your senses and agree to let us live at the Silverado one hundred percent of the time.”

So that was what this was about!

Amy exhaled loudly. “I explained why it wouldn’t be good to do that.”

“Actually—” his expression mirrored her exasperation “—you didn’t. But I’ll let that one pass for now. In the meantime,” he said, looking around with male satisfaction, his lips twitching upward into a smile, “thanks to my work here, I’ve got many more channels for us both to watch. And,” he added, “another surprise inside, too.”

With the deeply inbred courtesy of a Texas gentleman, he walked ahead to hold the door.

Amy stubbornly stayed right where she was. She wasn’t sure she wanted any more “surprises,” if they were of the ilk that he was assuming the role of head of the household and taking over her life.

“What else did you do?” she demanded.

Teddy came back down the steps and removed the grocery sacks—which were getting heavier by the minute—from her hands.

“Why are you so wary all of a sudden?” he asked, beginning to look a little irked, too.

Amy huffed. “Why are you so…bossy…suddenly?”

A frown etched deep grooves on either side of his sensual lips. “I’m not bossy.”

Hah! She begged to differ. “It looks like you’re trying to take over here.”

He shook off her displeasure and nudged her toward the stoop. “You’ll feel better when you have a hot meal.”

Amy only wished she could sit down and eat dinner and watch some TV. Not sports. But maybe something else she didn’t get, like the Home and Garden or the Cooking channel.

Unfortunately, she had cookies to bake. “That’s going to have to wait,” she warned, getting weary just thinking about it.

“Not necessarily,” Teddy replied smugly.

Before she could formulate a response, a high-pitched beeping began inside her trailer.

“What the…?” Amy said, dread springing up inside her as she recognized the sound. “That’s my smoke alarm!”

Looking equally stunned and on edge, Teddy dropped her grocery sacks. Together, they raced for the door. Teddy got there first and swung it open. Choking swirls of dark gray smoke poured out.

“What in the world…?” Amy swore, waving the smoke away so she could see. She hadn’t left anything on that she knew of.

Only Teddy seemed to have a clue how this could be happening.

“Stay there…” He pushed her back and entered the trailer ahead of her.

He charged past the sofa and table, straight to the tiny galley kitchen. Muttering a string of words that weren’t fit for polite company, he jerked open the miniscule oven door. More smoke poured out, along with a noxious smell.

Grabbing a pair of mitts, he pulled a charred black pie pan from the oven and set it on top of the stove.

Amy grabbed a chair, climbed on top of it and yanked the smoke alarm from the wall. Blessed silence followed.

Teddy leaned across the kitchen sink to open a window. Then another. While Amy could only stare at the ruins in mounting disbelief.

OKAY. THIS WAS DEFINITELY NOT going the way he had planned, Teddy thought, staring into Amy’s brown eyes. But then, so far nothing about their hasty marriage was meeting expectations.

Which didn’t mean he couldn’t set things to right. Eventually.

He watched her pick up an aluminum cookie sheet and wave smoke toward the open window with big imperious motions that only seemed to underscore what a moron she thought he was.

Glad she wasn’t crying—crying would have made things worse—he explained calmly, “I wanted to surprise you.”

Her expression remaining unreadable, Amy frowned at the foot of countertop she had on either side of her two-burner stove. “You’ve done that, all right.”

Okay, she was mad. But she had a right to be. Figuring she might as well get it all out, he prodded her deliberately, “Now what’s wrong?”

Amy looked at him as if to say, You even have to ask? Then she pointed at the carcass of the rotisserie chicken on the cutting board, the empty containers of cream and chicken broth, and the sack of frozen vegetables, before turning to the place where he’d unrolled the refrigerated pie dough.

He shrugged off the messy countertop, not sure why that should be so grating. “I clean up after I eat,” he explained mildly, knowing it was the only time-efficient way to proceed. “That way I only have to do it once.”

“Clearly,” she said, as if to a four-year-old.

Wishing she didn’t look so hot and bothered and totally hypercritical, he grabbed the kitchen wastebasket and began piling things into the plastic sack inside of it. He hadn’t expected Amy to be the kind of wife who would be on his case about mundane things. Or really, anything. Not that she didn’t have a right to be ticked off over the ruined meal. He was disappointed about that, too…and hungry, to boot.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her run both her hands through her short blond hair, rumpling the wind-tossed strands even more. Her cute-as-a-pixie features were tinged an emotional pink. He had the oddest desire to take her in his arms and hold her till the tension in her slender body dissipated. Not that he imagined she would warm to such an action, either.

Teddy exhaled his frustration. “I don’t know what happened to the chicken pot pie.” He checked the oven’s temperature dial. It was right where it should be. “I’ve made it dozens of times. I’ve never burned it. Never.” Stymied, he looked inside the oven.

Worse than the charred black remains sitting on the stovetop was the mess it had left inside the stove. The pie had obviously boiled over and burned a horrendous black mess on the bottom of her oven.

“You should have asked me first,” Amy said dully, running her hands through her hair yet again. Abruptly, her anger faded and she looked like she was going to start crying.

Feeling worse than ever for the screwup, Teddy finished dumping things into the trash and looked around for a dishrag. “I was trying to make up for last night. I know that was an inauspicious start to our marriage, at best.”

“It’s nothing compared to this.” Two tears slid down Amy’s cheeks. Her body limp with the weariness that came from a long day at work, she sagged against the opposite wall.

The need to protect her pouring through him, Teddy held up a reassuring hand. “I’ll clean this up. Though I still don’t know why our dinner burned.”

Amy rubbed the moisture from her face and seemed to pull herself together, every bit as suddenly as she had started to fall apart. She took a deep breath that lifted the soft swell of her full breasts. “My oven doesn’t calibrate properly, Teddy.” She looked him in the eye. “It heats one hundred and fifty degrees above whatever the dial indicates.”

“So three hundred fifty degrees was…?”

“Five hundred degrees.”

Teddy swore. “No wonder it burned.” He was lucky he hadn’t set the whole place on fire while blithely installing a satellite dish she didn’t seem to want any more than his company.

Spine stiff, Amy walked back outside and retrieved her groceries. Knowing a change of scene would help, Teddy suggested, “We could forget cooking and go out to dinner.”

Again, Amy shook her head, discounting both his invitation and his help. “I don’t have time. I have to bake twelve dozen cookies tonight.”

Taking charge, Teddy replied, “Then you’re going to have to do it at my place.”

AMY WOULD HAVE LIKED TO turn down Teddy’s offer. She couldn’t. She had to honor her commitment to the organizers of the cookie swap. So for the second night in a row, she packed a bag, got in her pickup truck and drove to the Silverado while Teddy stayed behind to finish the satellite dish and clean up.

Once at his place, she couldn’t help but compare his abode to hers. At just under fifteen hundred square feet, his one-story, sand-colored brick ranch house was roughly three times the square footage of her trailer.

Dark-brown shutters adorned the windows and a covered porch lent shelter to the solid oak front door. The exterior landscaping was sparse, leaving the impression that the person who lived here hadn’t gone to much trouble to add plants or trees, although the lawn was thick and well maintained.

Inside the abode was a different story.

Over the ten years Teddy had resided in the 1980s home, he had slowly but surely redone it, ripping out carpet and putting wide-plank oak flooring throughout. The main area of the house was completely open, revealing a state-of-the-art kitchen with a six-burner stove and double ovens, microwave and sub-zero refrigerator. Cushiony leather stools lined the long granite counter. A long wooden table with Windsor chairs sat next to the bay window overlooking the back patio.

Toward the front of the house, a great room with cathedral ceiling sported a huge beige stone fireplace and mantel. A comfortable sectional sofa that seated seven fronted a big wooden coffee table. An entertainment center featuring a digital stereo and large-screen plasma TV was flanked by book-filled shelves on either side.

To the rear of the house, there was a master bedroom, complete with king-size bed. He had knocked out one of the bedrooms in order to expand the master bath into a beautiful, luxurious retreat, complete with marble counters and double sinks, glass-walled shower and whirlpool soaking tub.

An office and another half bath completed the abode.

The house was decorated primarily in the same beige and brown of the outside of the ranch house. It was definitely a bachelor’s lair. In many ways as unsuited for a family as her own tiny one-person trailer, a fact that weighed heavily on her as she rummaged through his kitchen, looking for everything she needed.

Yet they had to live somewhere, until they figured out how—and where—they were going to expand their living quarters into something suitable for the both of them and any children they had.

That being the case, if she were smart, Amy thought as she slid the butter into the microwave to soften, she would simply move her things over here and be done with it. Make life simpler for both of them.

So why couldn’t she do that?

What really had her keeping one foot out the door?

“SMELLS GREAT IN HERE,” Teddy said, two hours later. He walked in, take-out pizza and a big bottle of Amy’s favorite diet cola in hand.

Pleased his earlier irritation with her had faded as surely as hers with him, she smiled. “It’s the gingerbread cookies.”

He set their dinner down and closed the distance between them, the familiar kindness in his green eyes. Relief filtered through her, as intense and all-consuming as her earlier anger.

“About earlier—” he said in a deeply apologetic voice that sent shivers over her skin.

Amy swallowed. It was ridiculous, how happy and relieved she was to see him, to realize their “marriage” wasn’t over before it had even begun.

Aware her pulse was jumping, she looked into his eyes. “I’m really sorry, Teddy. I don’t know what got into me. All I know is I overreacted.”

“Not really.” He took both her hands in his and squeezed them, in the familiar way of an old friend. “I made one heck of a mess in your kitchen. And I installed a satellite dish without your permission—which I’ll take out tomorrow if you want.”

Amy’d had enough time to think while she worked in his kitchen. If this was going to work, she realized that she had to be willing to give some ground, too. She couldn’t expect Teddy to make all the sacrifices and adjustments while she kept her life exactly the same.

“No.” She tilted her face up to his and looked into his eyes. “You’re right. If you’re going to be spending time there, too, you need to be comfortable, Teddy.”

She could live with televised sports if it meant she could have the family and children she had always wanted.

She just wasn’t quite sure how she was going to live with him.

Before they’d said their I do’s, when they had just been friends, sex—or the possibility of it—had never been an issue with them. Now it seemed to hang in the air at every turn.

Making her realize what a “catch” he was.

Handsome, athletic, kind and generous to a fault. It didn’t take much imagination to realize he would be a handful in bed.

If they ever got to bed…

Oblivious to the amorous nature of her thoughts, he let go of her hands, and went to the cupboard to get two plates. “You’ll be happy to know the oven and kitchen at your place are spic and span, the burnt smell is gone, and the smoke alarm is back in working order.”

“Thanks.” Aware how small even his spacious kitchen seemed with the two of them in it, Amy flushed self-consciously. “I should have warned you about the oven.” She filled two glasses with ice, grabbed the soda and met him at the table.

He reached out to help her with her chair. “You would’ve had you known I was planning to cook.”

They exchanged awkward smiles and sat down opposite each other. Amy couldn’t help but feel the tension reverberating between them. Taking in the way his gaze drifted, however briefly, to her breasts, before moving back to her face, it dawned on her that she was not the only one thinking about sex.

“Things have to get better,” Amy said hopefully.

He agreed with an amused lift of his brow. “Can’t get much worse than they’ve been thus far,” he drawled.

More silence fell, slightly more comfortable this time.

Amy studied his face. “What’s happening to us?” she whispered, resting her chin on her upturned palm. “We’ve been friends forever and it’s never been this…”

“Awkward?” Teddy opened the pizza box, handed her a slice.

“And awful.” She paused. Figuring the more they talked about it, got everything out in the open, the better their chances for a more harmonious existence, she said, “We’re fighting like cats and dogs.”

Teddy kicked back in his chair, his expression pensive. He tilted his head to one side. “Can’t be the wedding rings. Can it?”

“I don’t know.” She studied the plain gold band on her left hand, then returned his searching glance, happy their old camaraderie was returning. She didn’t mind facing problems, as long as they faced them together. She picked a slice of pepperoni off the top of the pizza and bit her lip. “What do you think?”

He looked down at the gold band on his left hand. “A case of post-wedding jitters?” he proposed.

Amy brightened. “Due to poor pre-ceremony planning?” she mused.

“And familial disapproval,” he added.

“No kidding!” Amy heaved a heartfelt sigh. There had been an uncommon amount of stress in the past thirty-six hours. Clearly, she and Teddy were just reacting to that. Once things settled down…

“It’ll pass,” Teddy predicted.

It was going to have to, Amy thought, picking up her pizza and taking a satisfying bite. She couldn’t live with this much tension and anxiety. Not and be happy or anywhere even close to it.