“We’ll set you up with some lab work and determine how far along you are.” They chatted about prenatal vitamins, combating morning sickness, and when she should come in for her first prenatal care appointment.
What am I going to do? What do I tell Ben and Quinten? Sorry guys, I’m knocked up! Just like my mom did with my father.
“We’ll be able to listen to the heartbeat at the next appointment.”
Emma must’ve seen that she was overwhelmed by it all and had mercy on her. In the car, she looked at her phone, then looked around the pristine interior of her Camaro.
Damn it! Where will I put a car seat in this?
She already knew from Juliana that it was damn near impossible to get an infant carrier in and out of the back of that car, and hard on the back to lift a sleeping baby into one of those contraptions. Her Camaro was brand new and suddenly impractical.
She started the engine and sat listening to the radio for a few minutes. She couldn’t focus on any one thing, as though her mind had gone squirrel-on-crack on her. Queasiness assailed her, and even though eating was the last thing she wanted to do, she pulled out a sleeve of saltines and munched on one, wishing she’d remembered to bring a bottle of water with her that morning. The dry cracker settled her stomach, though. She looked at her phone again.
“Okay. Who do I call? Ben? Quinten?” She put her phone in the cup holder with a sigh and drove to work instead.
The smell of paint lingered in her new office, adding to her queasiness, as she sat sorting and shuffling the same papers, not seeing anything. She opened her appointment book and groaned when she realized she’d made an appointment in Divine. The doctor’s appointment had her morning all shuffled around, and she’d forgotten about it. That meant driving back when she’d only been in her office a half hour.
A knock came at her door.
“Hey, boss lady.” She looked up and tried to smile at Heath.
“What’s up?” His eyes flickered as he gazed at her and she was sure he knew with that one look that something was wrong.
“Ben just called me. He said he’s been calling you for the last hour.”
Camilla looked around and sighed when she realized she’d left her phone in her car, in the cup holder, right where she’d put it earlier. “I forgot my phone in the car.”
“Want me to get it for you?”
Camilla rubbed her forehead and then shook it. “No, I need to run an errand. I’ll call him from the car.” She grabbed her purse, figuring that she might as well handle it since she wasn’t accomplishing much at her desk.
Heath stopped her at the door. “You don’t look like you feel well. Why don’t you let me come with you? I’ll drive, and you can rest.”
Camilla gave him her best effort with a smile. “You just want to drive my badass car.” Which I won’t be able to drive very much longer, anyway. “Hell, all right. But it’s only a V6, so don’t go getting all excited.”
Heath chuckled and held up his hands. “I’ll treat her like the little darlin’ that she is. But I’m adjusting your seat all the way back so don’t get bent out of shape when you climb into it later.” As tall as Heath was, she knew he’d need every inch of available leg room.
He let Cody know where they were going and then escorted her out to the car. “I know it’s none of my business, but do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” Yup, Heath’s sixth sense is definitely pinging on me. But she couldn’t talk with him about this. Not yet.
“No. I’ll be fine.”
He started the car, and she directed him to Cheaver’s Western Wear in Divine. She had a meeting with Rosemary Garner about some cross-promotional efforts with the store and The Twisted Bull and Chantilly’s. While he drove, she picked her phone up, and checked the call history. There were calls from Ben’s and Quinten’s cell phone numbers. There were also text messages from both of them. She put her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.
I should be grateful. Affording this baby isn’t the problem. Whether I have to work or not isn’t the problem. Whether I can keep this car or not isn’t the problem. Can I handle a baby in my life right now? That’s the problem.
Her phone vibrated in her hand.
She knew if she told Ben and Quinten she was pregnant, they’d do the stand-up thing, but in years to come, would they regret it? Or worse, would they resent her? They’d only been together a little over a month.
Her phone vibrated in her hand again, and she looked at the screen.
From Ben. “Are you all right? What did the doctor say?”