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Yeah. This was over. He had scratched the itch that was Shelby Sohappy.
And he should be glad that it had gone off without a hitch.
Shelby couldn’t believe it. She really could not believe it. In a deep, profound way that had her ignoring the problem for four whole weeks. Until it happened again. She hadn’t seen Kit Carson since the wedding. She had been telling herself that she was fine with that. But all the while, there was a growing unease, a growing sense of disbelief that had taken root inside her. She had a feeling it wasn’t the only thing that had taken root. But it didn’t seem possible. She had tried to get pregnant for years. Granted, she didn’t really know what the source of her inability to conceive with Chuck had been. She had known that it could have been him, but she had just felt like the odds were with her. Women’s bodies were tricky things. And it had seemed reasonable that the issue was her.
Yeah. It seemed completely reasonable, completely standard, really, that the issue would be her. They hadn’t gotten to find out yet, though. And then in the end they hadn’t. But this was two missed periods. Two. And that was two more than she had ever missed in her entire life.
She’d never been pregnant. Not once. She was as regular as cows that needed feeding, and there was no doubt in her mind that this missed period was not a coincidence. How could it be? How the hell could it be? And she knew that what she needed to do was talk to her sister. Confess everything. Figure out what the hell she was supposed to do. She wanted a baby. She had wanted a fresh start.
Those two things hadn’t really gone together in her mind. Because, of course, she had wanted to be a mother in context with the marriage she had with Chuck. She hadn’t really considered being a single mother. But here she was...
You don’t know if you’ll even be able to keep it. Eight weeks. It’s not secure yet. You could just leave it. You could just keep ignoring it. You could not talk to anyone about it.
Except, she was already dialing her sister. Already time to find out where she was. As an EMT, Juniper was often on call, or in the far reaches of Lone Rock and the surrounding areas.
“Are you around?” she asked without introduction.
“Yeah. Pretty around. Are you at home?”
“Yes. I need to talk to you. I mean I really need to talk to you, and I need you to not tell Chance.”
“Well, this is a little bit disconcerting. And I’m not sure what to do with it.”
“Come over. Don’t make any promises yet... Just come over.”
Shelby started pacing. Pacing the halls of this house that still had her husband’s clothes in it. It had been a whole thing coming back home after the wedding. Sleeping in the bed that she had shared with her husband, having gone to bed with someone else. And not just anyone else, Kit Carson, who had been a source of guilt and shame for her for all these years.
She had known that she needed to make a change, and she still hadn’t done it. She had just sat in whatever all this was. Had just sat in her... Her fundamental misery, and she still hadn’t made a move. Maybe this was her move. Maybe it was an answer to prayers that she hadn’t had a voice for, hadn’t had concrete words for.
“I’m here,” she heard her sister call through the front door.
She scrambled back to the front of the house. “Thank God.”
“What the hell is going on, Shelby?”
“I think I’m pregnant.”
“Holy shit,” Juniper said, staring at her.
“Yeah.” She chewed the edge of her thumbnail. “I know.”
“Howpregnant?” Juniper asked, her eyes narrowed.
She felt heat creeping up the back of her neck. “Why is that the question?”
Juniper’s expression went granite. “I think you know why.”
Shelby coughed. “Well, that would be two months,” she said.
“Coincides with my wedding date, doesn’t it?”
“You can’t tell Chance yet.”
Juniper looked too all knowing, and it hurt. “Kit’s the father?”
“You know he is,” Shelby said, feeling defeated and seen and helpless. She knew that Juniper knew. That was the thing. Maybe that was why she wanted to talk to her sister more than anybody. Because she just already knew. And no matter how much Shelby had ever tried to deny it, Juniper had known that Shelby was attracted to Kit.
“You’re pregnant though,” Juniper said. “Really.”
