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“No, sir. She wasn’t visibly pregnant when I delivered your gift and I didn’t see any reporters hanging around her place.”
“Thanks, Jose. I’m going to leave the phone off while I drive to Key West.
“Why don’t you take the chopper? I already have it ready and waiting at the Coral Gables compound.”
“I’m trying to decide if I need more time alone to clear my head,” he said.
“It’s up to you, sir.”
If he took the chopper he’d cut his travel time in half and be at Emily’s side that much sooner. But he was still not sure what he was going to say when he got there. The plans he’d been hatching as he flew back from Alma were all moot now. He was in damage control, and so was the rest of the family.
“I’ll take the chopper.”
“I’m turning around and will be in Coral Gables with your bag in a few minutes.”
“Where were you headed?”
“Key West,” Jose said. “I also have procured two jewelers to meet you. They are waiting in Coral Gables.”
“Thanks, Jose.” Rafe disconnected the call.
Jose had thought of everything, which was why Rafe paid him the big bucks. Still, Rafe was uncertain. Having the chopper and his bag and even a ring might make going to Key West easier for him, but he had no idea what kind of reception he was going to get when he saw Emily. How was he going to tell her that they had to be engaged? He knew he needed to have that conversation in person and not over the phone. In fact, the sooner he could get to her the better. He needed to think about what he was going to do.
With Em he tended to react first and then do damage control later. This was one time when he needed to plan with his head and not his groin. He wanted her, but he needed the details to be right. There was no more choosing between the throne and Emily.
What kind of king would the people of Alma think he was if he abandoned his child? In a way it was the perfect solution to the debate he’d been having with himself. There was no more keeping Emily and the baby hidden.
* * *
Emily gave up trying to call Rafe and convinced her mom and Harry to go home around 11:00 p.m. She changed into a big T-shirt she’d gotten during the last hurricane to hit the Keys with the slogan It Takes More Than a Little Breeze to Shake Me on it.
Harry had called his buddies at the Key West Police Department and together they’d cleared the reporters from her yard and were keeping them at the end of the street. She’d heard a chopper fly over and hadn’t turned on the local news because she was afraid she’d see her home on it.
She felt as if this story about being Rafe’s “baby mama” was enough to shake her though. She had an idea that the source might be that creepy guy from the coffee shop who’d watched her and made awkward conversation with her. But how had he known about Rafe?
Not that they’d done much to keep it secret. They had been flirting at the bar that weekend he’d been on Key West. Everyone had seen them together. She guessed it wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that she and Rafe had hooked up.
But baby mama? That was insulting. She guessed it was meant to be. If it was that creep from the coffee shop, did that rat bastard have a vendetta against Rafe? She vowed to get to the bottom of it tomorrow. She rolled to her side feeling very alone as she stared out the window.
She’d done everything to pretend that it was normal. That she wasn’t bothered by the fact that he hadn’t called her back.
Why hadn’t he?
Surely he knew she hadn’t gone to the papers. Didn’t he?
There was nothing in it for her if she did. Or maybe he hadn’t heard about it yet. But that seemed far-fetched to her, even if she wanted it to be true.
What if he’d decided he’d had enough and the paparazzi were the last straw? It didn’t seem like the man she knew to just retreat. More than likely he was coming up with some plan. Maybe he’d ask her and the baby to leave town. Disappear for a while so he could get on with his coronation plans.
Tired of listening to her own thoughts, she got out of bed and wandered through her empty house to the kitchen. She found the carton of frozen yogurt she’d shoved into the back of the freezer when she got home from the grocery store earlier. She’d been trying to hide it from herself because the last time she’d opened a pint of the key lime pie flavor, she’d eaten it in one sitting.
But if ever she needed the cold comfort of fro-yo, it was tonight.
She didn’t want to leave Key West, to start over on her own. But she wasn’t alone, was she? She had this little pod in her belly.
She dipped her spoon into the carton and took a big scoop, putting it in her mouth as she leaned against the counter. Letting the frozen dessert melt on her tongue was bliss.
