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Willow scowled. "No!" she said defensively. "Of course not." Then her shoulders slumped as she mumbled, "The condom broke," under her breath, hoping she didn't have to confess she'd bought Malloy outdated protection.
"The..." Camille trilled out a startled laugh. "Goodness. Your Malloy must have some powerful—"
"Camy!" her husband cried, utterly scandalized. He snagged the pregnancy test from her hand and treated her to a sour look, as if silently commanding her not to praise his enemy's libido. Then he lowered his gaze to the box before lifting a censorious scowl to Willow. "How long ago did this happen?"
Embarrassed about the answer, she glanced guiltily away. "Eight days."
"Eight days?" Camille scolded. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? You've been living with this for eight days?"
"Are you sure you'll be able to tell so soon?" Dylan asked, turning the package over to scan the back.
Willow nodded. "It says you can get an accurate response four days before your period. I'm at three days now."
"Well, then, let's get started," Camille answered, ripping the test from her husband's hand and taking charge of the situation.
Suddenly glad she'd come here for support, Willow grinned as she watched the woman who was eight and a half months pregnant open the pregnancy test and pull out the instructions. After scowling down at them a moment, she extracted the actual test stick.
"Okay," she said and blew out a nervous breath. "Go pee on this."
She shoved it at Willow, and Willow almost dropped it. Before turning in the direction of the bathroom, she glanced meaningfully at the Taggarts. Dylan had taken hold of Camille's hand and Camy was lifting her free fingers to show she had them crossed.
"Good luck."
Willow nodded and turned away. Good luck. Right. But what kind of luck was her friend wishing on her: that the test would come out positive or negative?
As she shut herself inside the bathroom, she realized she wasn't sure which result she wanted either. She'd had a dream about having Raith Malloy's baby the same night the condom had broken, and it hadn't been a nightmare. It had been lovely, in fact. He'd been so attentive and seemed to adore the child.
When she woke up, she'd gone directly to a pharmacy to look into Plan B. As soon as she realized she didn't need a prescription to buy it, however, the damn dream danced through her head. She'd found herself setting her hand on her flat abdomen and wondering... what if.
She'd left the store without purchasing anything.
But now, as she hovered over the toilet, trying to aim, she wondered what the heck she'd been trying to accomplish by refusing to buy the emergency contraceptive. She didn't really want a baby. She didn't want to give an arrogant, conceited jerk a child. And yet, despite all that, she didn't regret the decision she made.
When she finally departed from the bathroom, she jumped when she found both Camille and Dylan loitering outside the door as soon as she opened it.
"Ar
e you sure you peed on the tip. On this end?" Camille asked, fidgeting.
Willow pulled the test stick away from her cousin before Camille could touch it. "I'm sure." She glanced down at it, but quickly looked up before she could look at the results.
"Well, what's it say?" Dylan demanded.
Treating him to a dirty look, Willow muttered, "It says you have to wait three minutes."
"Two pink lines means you're pregnant," Camille added. "One pink line means, 'Thank the Lord.'"
Willow nodded. Okay, so she knew what result Camille wanted... and Dylan too. But she was still undecided about herself. They moved to the living room, leaving the test on the kitchen table so they wouldn't stare at it the entire three minutes.
The trio settled onto the sofa and waited.
It was the longest three minutes of Willow's life. She, Dylan, and Camille sat in stony silence. A clock ticked on the wall, and a car drove by on the street outside. A neighbor's dog started to bark. And only twenty seconds had passed since the last time she'd checked the time.
Dylan surged to his feet to pace.
Camille shot her nervous looks, but Willow phased them out, thinking of Deputy Raith Malloy. She hadn't seen him since that night.
Eight days.
