Nobody's Baby but Mine(109)
“I don’t think so.”
“Sometimes a wife needs a little patience.”
“I’m afraid I’m fresh out.” More tears rolled down her cheeks. “Besides, I’m not a real wife.”
“Now that’s plain nonsense.”
She didn’t have any words left to argue, so she wrapped the small, frail-boned woman in her arms. “Thanks for everything, Annie, but I’ve got to go.” After a gentle hug, she pulled away and turned toward the house.
That was when she saw Lynn Bonner standing on the back step.
“You’re leaving my son?”
Lynn looked angry and confused as she stared at Jane. She moved down into the yard, and Jane’s heart sank. Why had she stayed so long? Why hadn’t she simply said her good-byes to Annie and left? She quickly turned away and dashed her hand across her damp cheek.
Annie stepped into the breach. “I got snap beans for dinner, Amber Lynn, and I’m makin’ ’em with fatback whether you like it or not.”
Lynn ignored her and walked toward Jane. “Tell me why you’re leaving Cal.”
As Jane turned to face her, she tried to slip back into the cool persona Lynn expected. “Be grateful,” she managed. “I’ve been a terrible wife.”
But those dishonest words threatened to unleash a fresh flood of tears. She’d been the best wife he’d ever have, damn it! The best wife she’d known how to be! She turned away.
“Have you?” Lynn sounded deeply troubled.
Jane had to get out of here before she completely shattered. “I have a plane to catch. It would be best if you’d talk to Cal. He can explain better.”
She began moving toward the side of the house, but she’d barely taken two steps before Lynn’s astonished exclamation brought her to a halt.
“My God, you’re pregnant!”
She whipped around and saw Lynn staring at her midsection. Automatically, her gaze dropped, and only then did she notice the protective hand she’d unconsciously placed there. The gesture had pressed her dress against her body and outlined her gently rounded abdomen. She snatched it away, but she was too late.
Lynn looked bewildered. “Is it Cal’s?”
“Amber Lynn Glide!” Annie snapped. “Where are your manners?”
Lynn seemed more shaken than accusatory. “But how am I supposed to know if it’s his or not when I don’t understand anything about this marriage? I don’t know what they see in each other or how they got together. I don’t even know why she was crying.” Her voice caught. “Something’s very wrong here.”
The final threads of Jane’s badly frayed emotions unraveled, and as she saw the lines of suffering etched into Lynn’s face, she knew she had to tell her the truth. Cal’s desire to protect his parents had been well-meaning, but now it had grown destructive. If she’d learned anything in these past four months, she’d learned that deception only led to hurt.
“It’s Cal’s baby,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”
Lynn’s hurt was obvious. “But, he never— He didn’t say anything. Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he was trying to protect me.”
“From what?”
“From you and Dr. Bonner. Cal didn’t want either of you to find out what I’d done to him.”
“Tell me!” Her expression grew as fierce as a mother lion whose cub had been threatened, never mind that her cub was now king of the jungle. “Tell me everything!”
Annie picked up the pottery bowl. “I’m goin’ inside and fix my beans the way I like. Janie Bonner, you stay right here till you get this settled with Amber Lynn, you hear me?” She shuffled toward the back porch.
Jane’s legs wouldn’t hold her any longer, and she sank down into the lawn chair. Lynn took the other chair and sat facing Jane. Her jaw was set, her manner confrontational. Jane found herself remembering the scrappy young girl who’d baked cookies at two in the morning so she could support her husband and her baby. The expensive yellow linen dress and chunky amber jewelry didn’t hide the fact that this woman knew how to fight for her own.
Jane clasped her hands in her lap. “Cal wanted to spare you and his father pain. You’ve been through so much this past year. He thought—” She dropped her gaze. “The bald truth is that I desperately wanted a child, and I tricked him into getting me pregnant.”
“You did what?”
Jane forced her head back up. “It was wrong. Unconscionable. I didn’t intend for him ever to find out.”