"I'm fine, Sam. I want to tell you about Jennifer before she and Shel and Emmett get here. It's important."
Sam hadn't even thought about anyone else, but he realized next-of-kin must have been called by now. He should call his brothers, maybe while Willa was in the operating room. "What did you and Jen talk about this morning?" he asked, sliding his hand under hers again.
"About her resenting me," she said, staring up at the ceiling. Tears welled in her eyes.
"Jennifer doesn't resent you, honey."
"Yes, she does, because I've ruined her life. First by mangling her foot so badly they had to cut it off, then by making her feel guilty about it."
"Aw, honey." Sam stood up again to cup her face. "You did not ruin Jennifer's life. I've gotten to know her pretty well these last couple of weeks, and that girl has everything going for her."
"Except for not having a right foot," Willa whispered, more tears leaking out. Sam brushed them away. "She doesn't seem to realize it's missing," he said, straightening to give his ribs some relief. "Jen's fine, Willa. She's okay right now, and she's going to be better than okay in the future."
"Will … will you help me convince her of that? I need to find a way to tell her she shouldn't feel guilty about me and that she has to go after her dreams."
"I'm not sure telling her will do anything to change her mind, honey. I think you're going to have to show her."
"But how?"
He ran his thumb across her cheek. "By forgiving yourself , Willa," he whispered. "You can't spend the rest of your life beating yourself up with guilt and not expect it to affect everyone who loves you. I know it's hard, honey. I have a nasty case of the guilts myself right now." He took as deep a breath as his ribs would allow. "I pretty near killed you."
"The accident wasn't your fault."
"Neither was yours."
"Yes, it was. I wasn't paying attention. I was upset because I'd just walked in on David and another woman. And I had my eleven-year-old niece with me at the time. Jen saw them, too."
Sam realized she was getting upset, which was the last thing he wanted. "How about another sip of water?" he asked, picking up the plastic cup. "Damn, it's empty," he said, looking around the two-bed exam room. There must be a sink on the other side of the curtain. "I'll be right back," he said, shuffling away.
His IV tube brought him up short, and he set the cup on the wheelchair seat, then wheeled the chair around the curtain.
He had just reached the sink when he heard the door open. "Okay, Miss Kent ," an unfamiliar voice said, moving toward Willa. "I'm Dr. Blaine, the OB-GYN Dr. Zeus called in."
Willa gasped, and Sam went perfectly still.
"I understand congratulations are in order," the man continued. "You just relax, and we'll see how the little tyke is doing before you head upstairs. Dr. Zeus is guessing you're only two or three weeks pregnant. Is that about right?"
Sam felt very dizzy all of a sudden and sat down in his wheelchair. Willa was two weeks pregnant ?
"There's been some sort of mix-up. I'm not pregnant" she said. "Sam? Sam! I'm not pregnant!"
"Sam?" Dr. Blaine repeated in alarm. The curtain was suddenly drawn back, and a man dressed in a camouflage hunting shirt glared at him. "Shit! I didn't know anyone else was here!"
Sam looked at Willa, who was staring up at the ceiling, blinking tears back furiously. "Shit," Sam echoed, standing up to go to her. His IV fetched him up again. "Damn," he yelped, and ripped it out of his hand.
"Hey!" Dr. Blaine stepped toward him just as the door opened again.
"I didn't see you head in here, Ken," Dr. Zeus said, skidding to a stop and taking in the scene. "Shit!" he said, rushing over to Willa. "I got called to Exam Room Three and didn't get a chance to warn him your boyfriend was in here," he explained. "I'm sorry, Willa. I screwed up."
"I'm not pregnant."
"My test said you are."
"I'm not pregnant!"
"Okay, okay. We'll run it again."
"I can't be pregnant," she said. "I had my tubes tied four years ago."
All three of them stared at her in silence.
Dr. Blaine finally cleared his throat. "Yes. Well," he said, walking over to her. "I'm afraid tubal ligations don't come with guarantees, Miss Kent . There's a one-in-two-hundred chance that your tubes might not have stayed tied. There's also a chance the pregnancy is in the fallopian tube, and, well, ectopic pregnancies aren't viable," he said softly. He touched her shoulder. "Let's rerun the pregnancy test, okay? Then we'll know what we're dealing with." He turned to Sam. "Would you be the father?"
"If she's pregnant, yes, I'm the father."
Blaineturned back to Willa. "You're too early along to see if the baby is in the uterus, but we need to know if you are pregnant before you go up to surgery."
"Can … can we have a minute alone please?" she asked.
"I'll give you the time it takes to run the pregnancy test again," Dr. Zeus said. "Because the OR team is in place now, waiting for you." He looked over at Sam. "And then I hand you back to Malcolm. I sure wouldn't want to be you when he sees you've pulled out your IV."
When the door closed behind them, Sam walked over to Willa. "You had your tubes tied four years ago?" he asked gently. "Why?"
"I was crazy with grief over what happened to Jen," she whispered to the ceiling. "And I was going through my divorce." She lifted her left hand to wipe her eyes and finally looked at him. "And I was so scared of ever having my own children and having something happen to them that I started searching for a doctor to tie my tubes. I went to nine before I found one inBoston who would do it. The others
refused, saying they wouldn't sterilize a woman my age who hadn't had any children yet."
"DoesShelby know? And Emmett?"
"Nobody knows."
"When were you going to tell me?"
"I never said anything when the will was read, because not having children was my decision-not Abram's and not anyone else's." Her lower lip quivered, and her eyes filled with tears again. "I knew that if I loved my own child even half as much as I love Jennifer and something happened to it, I would … I would … "
"Shh," he crooned, touching his nose to hers. "Everything's going to be okay, Willa. You're not alone anymore." He pulled back just enough to see her eyes. "Remember that a burden shared is reduced by half? I have really broad shoulders, honey, and I can carry as much of your burden as you need me to, for as long as you need."
"And if the tubal ligation worked? Warren Cobb will still get Tidewater."
Sam let out a deep sigh, cupping his ribs at the sharp pain it caused. "Emmett assures me there's a loophole in Bram's will. We'll put an end to this mess. And then we'll get married because we love each other."
"You're willing to spend your life childless if this test comes back negative?"
"I'm not after your eggs, woman," he said with a chuckle, again having to cradle his ribs. "It's you I want."
She actually smiled at that, and he thought she tried to roll her eyes. "You've been hanging around Phil Grindle way too much." She turned suddenly serious again. "I suppose I might marry you," she whispered. "If you get me out of that stupid bequest first, so everyone, especially the seniors, will know we're doing it out of love."
"Deal."
"And if you agree to help me restructure Kent Caskets so I actually get to run it."
"I can do that."
"And you pay Craig Watson the seven hundred forty-three dollars I owe him."
"And sixty-four cents," he said. "Consider it done."
"And you send Barry Cobb packing."
"Happy to."
"And you stop this feud between the seniors."
"I'll lock them in a room and let them duke it out." He placed a finger over her lips. "And just what will