Ред Гарнье – Unexpected Legacy: Once Pregnant, Twice Shy / A Baby for the Doctor (страница 23)

While miserably pondering what to do, Kate heard Beth shuffle around the room, no doubt in search of the pregnancy tests. Beth was big on evidence and that sort of thing. This came from being married to a douche bag before she’d fallen in love with Landon.

When her friend couldn’t seem to find them, Kate muttered, “They’re in the trash, Beth.”

“Oh.”

Beth disappeared into the bathroom. Kate glumly wondered what Garrett would do when he eventually found out she was carrying his baby. She remembered how handsome he’d looked two Sundays ago at brunch. He had been thoughtful and dark as sin, and staring at her so intently and so intimately, Kate had barely been able to eat anything. She’d felt eaten by him. He’d stood to follow her when she’d gone to pretend to fill her plate at the buffet, and she’d felt his hand at the small of her back. “You all right?” he’d murmured.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve been so busy with work, I keep wondering if you’re avoiding me.”

“I’m sorry. We can talk at the rehearsal dinner...that is, if you don’t...if you’re not bringing...”

“I won’t bring anyone if you won’t,” he said, staring at her intently.

“I won’t,” she assured him.

“Then I won’t,” he said back.

And oh, how she wished she had the courage to say she was sorry for what she’d said to him that day in her apartment, but the continued talk she heard from Molly and Beth regarding the Clarks and Gage wedding was driving her insane with jealousy and anger.

It killed her. How could he? How dare he tell her he wanted her in his bed while he was planning his brilliant and very convenient wedding? The desire that had whipped them up like tornadoes had now dropped them hard on land, and the whirlwind and the emotions in the air had been reduced to nothing.

Nothing but a one-night stand, that’s what it had been.

But of course, good ol’ Murphy’s law had come for a visit and made sure Kate got pregnant.

And now they were going to have a child together.

“Yes. You’re pregnant,” Beth agreed when she came back out of the bathroom.

A silence settled bleakly in the room.

You’re pregnant....

Her chest gripped with yearning. Along with the inexplicable fear of dying alone, without a family or anyone to love her, Kate had harbored another kind of fear for years. It was one of those little fears that took root in you and you never really knew why you had them—only that you did.

She’d feared she’d prove infertile when she grew up, and that she’d never be able to have the family she’d always longed for. She’d imagined, on her best days, that if she ever got pregnant, the thrill she’d feel would obliterate anything else.

Now, maybe a little kernel of thrill had taken up residence somewhere, in some quiet, motherly part of her, but it was too hidden to recognize.

Kate had proven fertile, yes. Physically capable of having a family, yes.

But she had conceived this baby with Garrett Gage.

And her considerable pride already smarted like hell since she knew she would have to tell him. Especially after this past month, when they’d both pretended at the family Sunday brunches that they were still just friends.

Kate saw that Beth had her cell phone in her hand and leaped out of bed. “No! What are you doing?”

Beth held the phone out of Kate’s reach, her expression stern as a concerned mother’s. “I’m calling a doctor. Unless you want me to call Garrett, Kate. It’s his, isn’t it? You look pale, Kate. I think—”

“Call anyone and die. Do you hear me?”

The thought of Garrett knowing this so soon, before she had time to build up her emotional walls against him...the thought of him finding out that just the thought of carrying his baby inside her made her queasy and restless...and the thought of him demanding to marry her out of duty and honor and all he held dearer than Kate...

No. God, it was worse than she could imagine.

Her worst nightmare come true.

Beth paused when she noticed the angry flush spreading up Kate’s neck. Lips pursed, she hung up, and started dialing again.

“No! Beth, don’t you dare.”

“I’m calling Molly, okay? We need to figure out how we’re handling this with the family. Don’t even try to stop me this time.”

Kate groaned. “Molly’s getting her paintings shipped to New York, and she’s got enough on her plate with a wedding in five days!”

“Fine, then Julian. Julian will help us with this, Kate, you know he will.”

An image of hunky, easygoing Julian, never judgmental, always one for cool-headed thoughts, flitted through her mind. Julian had always been the perfect coconspirator. Not only did he know how to stay quiet, it was his nature to.

But Kate still shook her head. “Beth, the wedding is in five days. Let’s just...drop this for now. Please. Please don’t tell anyone until I’m ready.”

Beth met her eyes dubiously. “But what are you going to do when you see Garrett at the rehearsal dinner? At the wedding? When are you going to tell him?”

“After the wedding. I can’t do it before. I want Molly to enjoy her day,” she said miserably.

“No, no, no, that’s not a good plan. It might be too late, Kate. He might be engaged by then to another woman!”

Pain wrenched through Kate’s insides. “I don’t expect him to stop his plans for me. Honestly. We could be better parents if we weren’t together than if we are forced to be together.”

“You’re afraid, Kate, and that’s okay. But you’re turning into a coward. Where’s the girl I know? The Kate I know would fight for him. Stop being afraid that he will break your heart. You’re breaking it yourself without even letting him know that he has it.”

Kate couldn’t reply.

But the words replayed in her head like an echo of a truth she wasn’t sure she was prepared to listen to when she had a pregnancy to deal with.

Was Beth right?

Was Kate so afraid of letting him in that she was running away, not from being hurt by him, but from loving him?

Oh, God. And now what was she going to do about Miami?

Nine

Kate was turning out to be one of those pregnant women who had nausea every morning, and it wasn’t fun at all. But at least by Thursday evening at Molly and Julian’s rehearsal dinner at the Gage mansion, she felt better. The wedding was to be held this upcoming Saturday at noon, and the gardens had been bursting with activity all day as contractors had started delivering tables, chairs...the works. Through the windows on the other side of the living room, Kate could see the beautiful white trellis that would serve as the chapel, halfway to being fully erected.

It was going to be a beautiful wedding.

Her heart soared as she watched Molly and Julian laugh while talking to the minister. Julian towered behind Molly, who seemed to be leaning back against him as if he were a pillar. His arms were loosely around her, his chin resting on the top of her head.

There was no doubt in Kate’s mind when she saw them that they belonged together. Molly had always loved Julian, but Kate hadn’t realized that Julian had loved her sister back until a couple of months ago.

She’d always believed in having one soul mate...until, at eighteen, she’d realized that the man she thought might be her soul mate didn’t seem to agree. He’d never openly touched her like Julian had touched Molly, but now she kept remembering the way he’d made love to her.

Did he care about her? Or was this all about her leaving?

“There you are!” Kate heard the booming voice of Eleanor Gage from nearby, and in the same instant, spotted the person she was speaking to as he came into the room.

Dressed in a black suit and gleaming silver tie, Garrett made such a striking figure that the atmosphere altered dramatically with him near. His beautiful face looked thoughtful and intense as he kissed his mother on the cheek, then lifted his head and seemed to be scanning the area for something. His gaze stopped roaming when he saw her, and she couldn’t breathe.

With an expression almost of relief, he came over. He had such purpose in his step, and her heart almost stopped when she saw the way his eyes glimmered with...happiness?

Oh, God, she was going to die when she had to tell him.

“We should’ve driven over together.”

His liquid black eyes raked her figure, and her pulse skyrocketed as though he could suddenly see with some sort of X-ray vision the little baby growing inside her. For a moment she thought he knew. He knew her secret and it would all be out in the open.

Drawing in a deep breath, she blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. “I hitched a ride with Beth and Landon.” The thought of being alone with him in the close confinement of his car again both terrified and excited her.

The more distance she kept from him, the smoother her plans would run.

He seized her elbow and pulled her along the room, leading her to the terrace doors. “Come with me outside.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to talk to you, Kate.”