A Baby for the Boss(36)

Jenny grabbed her purse out of her desk drawer, then lunged to her feet. “You know, I really think I should just go home early.”

“Are you worried?” Casey asked gently. “About how your boyfriend’s going to take the news? I was nervous before I told my husband.” She smiled to herself. “There was no reason to be. He was excited. Happy.”

Mike wouldn’t be. But Jenny couldn’t say that because no one in the office knew she and Mike were together. Oh, this just got more and more complex.

Still, she forced a smile she didn’t feel and lied to the nice woman still watching her. “I’m sure you’re right and he will be. But right now, I think I just need to lie down for a while.”

“That’s a good idea,” Casey said and stood up, too. “Take care of yourself and if you need anything—” She shrugged. “Call me, okay?”

“Sure. I will. Um, thanks, Casey.”

“No problem. Drive safe.”

Drive, Jenny told herself as she left the office and headed for the parking lot. Straight to a drugstore where she’d buy a few pregnancy tests and take them all. For the first time in her life, she was actually hoping she had the flu.



She didn’t.

An hour later, Jenny looked at the five test strips lined up on her bathroom counter. Every last one of them was positive. She hadn’t trusted one kind of test, either. She’d bought different ones, tried them all. And they all proved her suspicions right.

“I guess that’s it, then,” she murmured, lifting her gaze to her own reflection in the bathroom mirror. “I’m going to have a baby. Mike’s baby.”

Both hands covered her flat belly as if cradling the child within. She waited, meeting her own eyes in the mirror, trying to decipher the myriad emotions racing through her. Sure, panic was in there, but it wasn’t uppermost in her mind. First and most important, there was excitement.

This wouldn’t be easy, she admitted silently, but nothing great ever was. There was a lot to think about, to plan for. First, of course, she had to tell Mike. She wouldn’t even try to keep this from him, even knowing how he was going to react.

Her heart hurt as she thought about the confrontation that would come soon. He’d never trusted her and this news was going to convince him that he had been right about her all along. She still had to tell him that she was carrying his child. Even if he wanted nothing to do with her afterward. Even if he walked out and never looked back.

She took a breath to steady herself, but the twinges of pain still squeezed her heart. Mike wasn’t going to be happy. But Jenny was. There had never been a future for her and the man she loved, but now when he walked away, she would have something of him, forever. A baby. Her own child. Her own family. Someone to love. Someone who would love her.

She hadn’t planned this, but now that the baby was here, she wouldn’t change it, either.

“I promise, I want you,” she whispered, voice soft with wonder as her palms stroked her belly. “You’ll be loved and you’ll never have to worry about me walking away. About being left alone. You’ll be safe, I swear it.”

She lifted her chin, stiffened her spine and resolved then and there that no matter what Mike said, what he tried to make her feel, she wouldn’t lose this excitement. This sense of pure joy that was already whipping through her like lightning strikes. She hadn’t expected this pregnancy, but she would never regret it.

She would give this child the life she had always wanted. It would grow up loved and secure and it would never, ever doubt its mother’s love.

Jenny took a steadying breath and tried to steer her celebratory thoughts back down into more immediate concerns. Like facing Mike—and the possibility that she would have to change jobs. Even if he didn’t fire her and who knew, he very well might, working at Celtic Knot over the next few months could be very uncomfortable.

But before she made any decisions, she had to tell Mike.

Jenny watched her reflection wince. That conversation wasn’t going to be pretty. He would never believe she hadn’t planned this pregnancy. And any semblance of warmth that had sprung up between them over the past few weeks was going to dissipate.

She hated knowing that. Hated understanding that her time with Mike was going to end. But not only did she love the man, she knew him. So she had to prepare herself for the fact that once he knew the truth, all of her fantasies would be over.

When her cell phone rang she went out to answer it. Seeing Mike’s name on the screen didn’t even surprise her. Of course he would call when she was thinking about him. Of course she wouldn’t have time to get used to this staggering news before having to tell him and weather the inevitable fallout. But maybe it was better this way. Worrying over the coming confrontation would only tie her up in knots anyway.