“She had no right to do that. She had no right to call your sister. You shouldn’t be here. I am dealing with some things. You left. You left and you have nothing to do with any of this.”
“Did you go out and get laid the night after I left?” he asked, his voice hard. “Because if not, then I have everything to do with this.”
“You don’t want a baby,” she said, her throat suddenly going painfully tight, to the point where she felt she had a crimp in it, one that ached and burned.
“That was different. You can’t use a theoretical conversation against me.”
“I can do whatever the hell I want, Wolf Garrett. I asked you to stay. You didn’t stay. You didn’t want anything to do with me. You didn’t want any part of this. You just took right off. And you know what? I don’t need to accept you back. I asked you to stay, but it was not an open invitation. The offer is rescinded. Get your ass out of my bed-and-breakfast.”
“Last I checked, it was a bed-and-breakfast. Therefore, not a private residence.”
She crossed her arms. “But it is a private business. And I happen to know the town sheriff. And I will have him arrest you for trespassing.”
“He’s my cousin,” Wolf said.
“And believe me, he will side with me.”
That successfully made Wolf shrink back slightly, and she figured, she was probably right, and he probably knew it.
“What do you mean you don’t know if you’re pregnant?”
“I bought a test. I haven’t taken it.”
“Take it,” he said.
“No,” she said. “I will take it when I’m good and ready. You don’t get to decide when that is. You don’t get to stomp in here and make demands.”
She was ready to take the test. But she wasn’t going to do it just because he said. And he was here... He was here and she wasn’t sure that she wanted him to know. She didn’t think she wanted him involved. He didn’t have any right to be involved. He had said he didn’t want children. Unequivocally. Didn’t want a wife, didn’t want kids. He had rejected her. Coming back just because she was pregnant...
“Look,” she said, “you can’t do a trial run with kids. We both know that. If you don’t want kids, you shouldn’t be standing here. Not even for a minute. I know what it feels like to be abandoned by a parent. And I will never do that. I never will.”
As she said those words she felt them resonate deep inside her soul. And she knew it was true. She hadn’t really thought about it. Hadn’t thought about what she wanted, hadn’t thought that far ahead. But she knew it, as soon as she spoke those words. Knew that she was going to be here for this child. If she was really pregnant... Well, it was a nonnegotiable thing.
She was going to be the best mother. She was going to be there for this baby.
Suddenly, she wanted to weep. Because this was her chance. This was her chance to be everything her mother could’ve been and wasn’t.
And she really didn’t want to be having that epiphany standing there in front of him. Because he didn’t get to have any more of her emotions. She had already broken down and wept. Begged him to stay. Begged him for no other reason than that she... Well, she wanted to see where this thing between them could go. Because she cared. Because she...
Well, she had thought that she felt something that clearly didn’t exist between them. She had been an idiot virgin. Fine. But she wasn’t now. This whole hard five weeks with him gone had taught her a lot. A hell of a lot.
She wasn’t the same girl she’d been when he left her. And that was his own damned fault.
“I don’t intend to do a trial run of anything,” he said. “Take the test.”
“It’s my body,” she said. “If I don’t want to take a test right now, I don’t have to.”
“I don’t know what gave you the idea that I was enlightened or some shit, but I’m not. And I want to know the answer. While I’m standing here.”
She growled in a fury. “I’m going to do it! But only because I want to know.” She turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen to get the test. Because honestly, locking herself in the bathroom for a few minutes was infinitely better than standing there looking at him.
She grabbed the test off the counter and went upstairs. She didn’t care if he didn’t realize what bathroom she was going to use. He didn’t need to follow her.
She locked the door behind her for good measure, then opened up the box with shaking fingers. She’d never taken one of these before. Obviously.
And for a minute, she felt dizzy. For a minute, she felt completely overwhelmed.
How was she going to tell her dad?