“Round two,” DeSoto murmurs.
I shoot him a look that says secure your seat belt.
“Why? The doctor I’ll fly in is probably better than the doctor in town.”
“Hey!” Romy raises her voice. “Don’t talk about my town like that, or my town’s doctors. They’re fine. They’re great actually. And they’ll keep the secret too.”
Beau shakes his head at her. “Oh, Romy, you have so much to learn about this world. You’re so naïve.”
She looks at him like she’s going to run across the room and throttle him. “If something were to happen, I don’t want my options to be to wait for your doctor to fly in or show up at the local doctor’s office who I’ve never met and haven’t established a relationship with.”
“Enough,” I say, putting up my hands. “Beau, call the doctor in town. Get them to sign the paperwork. I’m going with her.”
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea, Zander?—”
“I don’t care what the fuck you think, Beau. I’m going. This is the first time I get to see a picture of my baby and hear the heartbeat.” I turn to Romy. “Do we hear the heartbeat first?”
“I think so. I think we hear the heartbeat before we see the picture.” She smiles and that’s enough for me.
Beau groans.
“I’m going. I’m going to hear the heartbeat. And I’m going to see the picture. That’s what’s going to happen. So just call the doctor. Romy, can you give Beau the information? He’ll call. We’ll go in the back door. DeSoto will be with us.”
“DeSoto is not coming in. My legs are going to be spread open in stirrups. I’m not having DeSoto in the room with us.”
She’s fiery today. I’ve never seen this side of Romy, but I actually don’t mind it.
“Okay, DeSoto, you’ll stand outside the door.”
“If he stands outside the door, that’ll draw attention to you guys. Obviously, someone important is inside,” Beau says.
God, the man has a mind for logistics.
“Fine. All right. DeSoto, stay in the car outside the building. I can protect myself. I don’t think some pregnant woman or her husband will know I’m coming and try to accost me. I can easily go into an OBGYN office through the back door, see my baby, hold Romy’s hand?—”
“You’re gonna hold my hand?” Romy asks, a sweetness in her voice that hasn’t been there since I arrived on the ranch.
“Well, yeah.” I don’t know why I assumed I would. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but when I picture the moment, we’re holding hands.
She shrugs, but her smile. Fuck me, her smile lights up the entire room. “That’s sweet.”
Beau rolls his eyes.
“Anyway, that’s our plan. So that’s what we’re gonna do. Beau, make it happen.”
“Fine.” He looks at Romy. “I’m telling you, immediate family only. And I’m coming to the dinner.”
She narrows her eyes at him. “You’re not coming to the dinner.”
“Am I invited to the dinner?” I ask Romy. I should be there. She shouldn’t have to do this alone.
She blinks at me in surprise. “Do you want to come to the dinner? You don’t have to.”
Do I really want to go to dinner? I’ve never met parents before. But it’s not like we’re dating. She’s just having my baby. God, this is weird. And now her dad will know I had sex with his daughter. He’s already going to hate me before I even walk in the door.
“I’m going to dinner with you,” I say.
“Okay, well, you don’t have to. You can think about it.”
