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ChapterFive
Chase
“I'm pregnant.”
Hallie's words rang like a gong, reverberating through my brain. I stared at her, not realizing my mouth had dropped open until she added, “I'm surprised too.”
Snapping my mouth shut, I stared at this woman I hadn't been able to forget. I’d resisted the urge to try to find her. Although Alaska was geographically large, it was small when it came to its residents. If I’d tried, I probably could have found her. But I had remembered Delilah’s observation.
I'd figured it would be the hottest night of my life for the rest of my life, and I would always wonder what happened to Hallie.
“We used a condom,” I stated the obvious.
“I know.”
As the information slowly filtered through the shock into my rational brain, I gave my head a little shake. I glanced down at her belly when she smoothed her hand over it. She was just barely showing.
“I didn't know until a few weeks ago.”
“How far along are you?”
“Four months.”
I nodded, absorbing that detail. “What do you want to do?”
“I want to keep the baby,” she whispered, her pretty hazel eyes searching mine.
My heart felt as if it gave a rounding kick inside my rib cage. My breath seized for a moment before I dipped my chin. “Okay.”
“Is that okay with you?”
“It's your decision.”
“I know, but what you think matters,” she whispered.
I took a moment, almost as if testing the idea out in my brain. I'd always figured I’d eventually want kids. Did I want a child with this woman who I didn't really know? Other than that, we’d had the best sex of my life. In the end, those answers didn't really matter. What mattered was, “Yes.”
Hallie must’ve been holding her breath because she let it out in a big sigh, her palm coming to her chest. “Thank god.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I didn't know how you might feel. I wasn't planning on this.”
She took a deep breath. For a second, I thought she was going to fall when she wobbled on her feet. I stepped to her side swiftly, sliding one arm around her waist as I snagged a chair at the table nearby and pulled it close before easing her into it. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She sank down with another sigh. “I am. I was kind of freaked out about trying to find you and didn't know if I could.”
“How did you find me?”
“Well, I knew your name was Chase and that you lived in Willow Brook, and you're a firefighter. I started at Wildlands. Delilah wouldn't give me your last name, but she told me to come here.”
“Mills,” I said.
“What?”
“That's my last name, Mills.”
“Oh. Mine is Thomas. Delilah has my name and phone number on a piece of paper. I asked her to give it to you, so if she does, that's why.”
