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“Afraid of what, Joe?”
Without missing a beat he responded, “I’m afraid that one day the kids and I are going to wake up...and you won’t be here anymore. You will have moved back to New York. I can’t bear the thought of not having you here. I’m afraid of how that will impact the kids, especially Molly. She’s grown very fond of you.”
Her heart raced and her body shook. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you guys, but I, too, cannot bear the thought of being without all of you. But I’m also still not sure how to handle what’s going on at work. What I do know right now is that I am not ever planning on returning to New York.”
Relief rushed across his handsome face. She knew he believed her. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. The security she felt in his arms was unmeasurable, and unbelievably satisfying.
He released her from his grip but held her gaze.
After how he’d just opened up to her she knew she should do the same and tell him everything the Kents had told her, but she couldn’t, she wasn’t ready, she still needed more time to process that information in her own mind.
His gaze softened. He was letting her off the hook again. The man had the patience of a saint.
He pulled her coat from the closet and held it for her as she slid into it.
“I’ll see you guys at 11:30 a.m., sharp,” she said to him as she headed out the door.
Glancing over her shoulder, she caught him watching her through his living room window. She smiled and waved before she entered her house.
Her tense body ached. Perhaps a soak in the Jacuzzi would help her relax.
Ten minutes later she sank into the Jacuzzi, closed her eyes, and leaned back. The warm, jetting water soothed her muscles, but unfortunately did nothing for her agonizing thoughts about her distressing situation. She placed her hand over her stomach, and thought about the fact her period was nearly a week late.
What was she going to do if she turned out to be pregnant? She never thought about having children, at least not yet, she hadn’t gotten to a point in her life where it made sense. But now that she’d met Joe and his family...her heart throbbed with pain, she just couldn’t bear the thought of being pregnant with Mr. James’ child. A child conceived by rape, not love.
She pushed the thoughts of Mr. James out of her mind, and tentatively envisioned that she was pregnant, but in this dream, the baby was Joe’s. The thought warmed her, and she could see the future with him, Max and Molly, and the baby. She could see Max and Molly playing with their new little sibling. She could easily see Joe caring for her and the baby, loving them unconditionally.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as her thoughts shifted to Joe’s reaction in the event she was pregnant with another man’s baby.
She flung herself out of the tub, dried off, slipped on her pajamas, and threw herself on the bed as she sobbed hysterically.
“Why is this happening to me,” she yelled into her pillow.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Elizabeth returned home from the store with Transformer sheets and pajamas neatly wrapped. As she knocked on Joe’s front door she glanced at the packages hoping Max would like his gifts. She wanted to please him on his special day.
