“You can be mad at me all you want, Elsie, but she was there, and she wasn’t mad about it.”
But he was currently furious with himself.
And he turned his horse right around and galloped back to the house. And before he could even think about what he was going to do next, he was in his truck driving toward Copper Ridge.
CHAPTER NINE
SHEHADFINALLYdone it. She had finally gone into the store. And now she was slinking into the back entrance of the bed-and-breakfast, hoping to get a little bit of time to herself to actually commit to taking the test, which would tell her something she already knew at this point. She was more than just a little bit late. And on top of that, she had taken to throwing up every morning.
She was still in denial, though, and actually taking the test would badly damage that denial. So... So...
She paused in the kitchen, looking around and slowly setting her fabric bag down on the counter. She began to get the items out.
A can of soup.
She didn’t want a can of soup.
Maxi pads, just to keep people on their toes. A meat log, which she had bought because it was at a display by the counter. A bag of Hershey’s Kisses, which she had bought for the same reason. The pregnancy test. The only thing she had actually gone into the store for. And she had looked around furtively the entire time she had used the self-checkout.
Normally, she didn’t like a self-checkout. She liked having a casual conversation with the person working the register. She didn’t like having to scan her own items. But she was being shifty, and she was hiding things, so self-checkout really suited her.
She let out a long, slow breath. And then she heard the front door to the bed-and-breakfast open and close.
She wasn’t expecting anybody. She took a breath, trying to deal with a new wave of nausea that swept over her. At this hour it wouldn’t result in vomiting. It was just that she felt horrible. Most of the time.
Ridiculously, her eyes started to water, tears threatening to fall. She didn’t have time for them. She didn’t have time for tears; she didn’t have time for...anything, really. Not anything but just dealing with this.
And now someone was here. So she had to.
She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face, walking out toward the entryway.
Where she froze.
Because there he was. Black cowboy hat, black T-shirt. Looking every inch the trouble that she’d known he’d be from the first moment she’d seen him.
She started to look around for something to throw at him.
“Is it true?” he asked.
“Iswhattrue?” She couldn’t actually figure out what the hell he was talking about.
“Are you pregnant?”
She felt like she was the one who’d had something thrown at her. And that it had hit its mark true. She just stood there, gaping at him. How could he be here for that? She hadn’t told anyone. Yes, Clara suspected but Clara wouldn’t say anything to anyone, and she didn’t even know how to get in touch with him.
Had someone seen her buy the test? How would they know to call him? And how would he get there so fast? “I don’t know,” she said.
“How do you not know?”
“I didn’t... How do you know?”
“Sadie called my sister,” he said.
She shook her head. “I didn’t talk to Sadie.”
“I know. She said you weren’t acting right.”
And Violet Donnelly, who did not put a foot out of line, who did not cause trouble, who did not make waves, let out a howl of rage that vibrated her entire body.