Finally, she called her boss. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to make this trip,” she said. “The… uh… medical exam didn’t go the way I thought it would.”
“Oh, my God, are you sick?” Olivia asked. “What happened? Wait, don’t tell me. That’s confidential. I shouldn’t have asked. Sorry.”
Anna’s boss was a woman with nooffswitch. She was a workaholic like Anna herself, but her lack of an off switch extended to her inhibitions. The woman was a treat to be around, but not someone you’d want to live with, depending on your level of tolerance for chaos. Right now, though, Anna was grateful for the kind of woman Olivia was. She would understand, no doubt. And she wouldn’t judge. “Apparently, I’m pregnant,” she admitted.
“No way!” Olivia shouted, so loudly that Anna had to pull her cell phone away from her ear for a second. “You’re pregnant? That’s amazing! Wait—is that good? If that’s good, it’s amazing. If not, then it’s terrible and I feel sorry for you.”
Anna shrugged despite the fact that her boss couldn’t see her do so. “Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I just foundout. But I think I need some time to figure out a plan, one way or the other.”
“And that’s not something you’re going to be able to do on the job in Japan,” Olivia concluded. “I get it. It’s okay. I’ll hate to lose the best location scout out there, but we can find someone else this time around.”
“Thank you,” Anna said. “For real, thank you. I don’t want to give anything up, but I just think I’ll be overwhelmed if I try to do everything at once.”
“It’s understandable. So… any idea what you’re leaning toward?”
“I’m thinking I might like to keep the baby. At my age, what’s wrong with having a child? I’ve always wanted a family. It’s just the idea of doing it alone, you know?”
“Scary,” Olivia said. “For sure. Here’s my advice. Get into a good community. It takes a village, you know. So, find your community, and I bet some of them will be willing to help you out from time to time. Can I ask who the father is?”
Anna sighed. “You can. It’s the owner of that ranch we shotTexas Sunriseat.”
“Ah, wow. Should I pay you extra for that job? Hazard pay, maybe?”
Anna laughed, recognizing the slightly inappropriate humor. “No, no. I’m sure I was just being an idiot. I thought we were more serious than we were.”
“That’s not calledbeing an idiot,” Olivia said. “That’s called being an honest and open individual. Don’t blame yourself just because he chose to be deceptive. Listen, take my advice. Find a good community. My own mom was a single mother, and lookhowIturned out.” She laughed and added, “Or maybe don’t. I might be a bad example. Anyway, a good community will make a world of difference. Just remember that. Maybe you can even keep your job. You should try, anyway. And not just because I want to keep you. Keeping your identity while becoming a single mother will help you through the rough times.”
Anna hadn’t even thought about that, but she couldn’t deny it was probably true. Then again, how did finding a community jibe with keeping her current job? She traveled more than anyone she knew. Didn’t a person need to settle down to find a community? At the very least, one would need to travel with the same people every time, and that was definitely not in the cards for her. Anyway, meeting new people was one of her favorite parts of her job. How could she happily give that up?
Out of curiosity, she started searching online for new places to settle down, small towns that would make finding a community a little easier for a person like her. Maybe she could do a hybrid version of settling down and keeping her job—try to get the best of both worlds if she could. Maybe it could work if she compromised.
The first town she found was small but industrial. Every image she saw was of four-lane roads and strip malls. The place looked like it could never be anything other than unpleasant. Even if all her neighbors were nice as pie, she couldn’t bring herself to seethatevery time she looked out her window. She’d never even want to leave her house.
The next town she found was a little bigger and adorable to boot. But when she looked at rent rates around the area, her pocketbook began to ache. They were twice what she was paying now for anything with more than one bedroom. And she lived in California! Moving to a more expensive place with the smallerpaycheck she’d be getting for only working locally seemed like a bad move, no matter who she was doing it for.
“Third town’s the charm,” she muttered to herself, clicking on the next place she found. This one seemed perfect. The downtown held a certain appeal, and the prices were more comparable to what she was used to. Granted, she’d be making less, but she thought maybe she could make it work. Maybe. But then she looked at the town itself and the surrounding area. There wasn’t a hospital to be found anywhere. No chance she was going to have a child in a medical desert. She closed the window and her laptop lid with a groan.
It seemed no matter what she did, no matter how many places she tried, nothing would be quite like Denson Oaks. She’d been wandering around paradise only a week ago, and she hadn’t even realized it. The unfortunate truth was that she couldn’t imagine raising a child anywhere else. Denson Oaks was perfect. Except Charlie was there, and if she chose to move close to him with a child, he would assume she wanted something from him. And she didn’t. It hadn’t been her intent to trap him into a life he never wanted.
Truly, the only thing she could really do was talk to him, tell him the truth, and assure him she didn’t need anything from him. He had a right to know, she figured. He had a right to be in his kid’s life if he wanted. At the very least, he had the right to know he evenhada child out there in the world. Anna knew she was going to have to get up the nerve to tell him. The question was when, and how? She couldn’t even begin to guess at what his reaction would be, and frankly, she didn’t really want to.
CHAPTER 20
ANNA
Anna stood in a West Hollywood bookstore and browsed the shelves of greeting cards. She was so used to shopping for books, but this time, she needed something different. The trouble was, there was no helpful sign directing her to cards designed to let someone know they were having a baby. She thought about a birthday card or a Father’s Day card to break the news to Charlie. She thought if she could find the right card with the exact right words, maybe he would take it well. Maybe he’d even be happy he was going to be a father.
But no matter how many cards Anna read, she just couldn’t picture any of them warming Charlie’s heart or breaking the news to him in a way that didn’t freak him out.
She must have been there longer than she thought because, after a while, one of the last employees manning the shop came over to let her know they were closing soon. “Do you need help finding what you’re looking for?” he asked.
Anna just shook her head. “I doubt you have what I need.”
“We might,” the employee said. “No harm in trying. We have some pretty specific cards. Maybe I can help. Otherwise, I have to let you know we’re closing up shop in about five minutes.”
“Ah, well.” Anna felt herself blush. “Got any cards to let a guy know he’s gonna be a father after a one-night stand?”
The employee’s eyes went wide. “Okay, we probably don’t have anything great for that. But… sorry for saying so, but do you really think a card is the best way to let him know?”
