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He fixed her with a glare. “Looters don’t scare me.”
His words made her dizzy with worry. He truly wasn’t afraid. And, in the back of her mind, she was still freaking out over what Jeb had suggested. Could Xavier be in the Navy? Her brain ran in two dozen directions at once, and physically, she was exhausted. A weird, bone-deep tired that made no sense.
She reminded herself that her body always did a little freak-out after the return to standard time in early November. It was now dark by four thirty, and she wanted to do nothing but sleep. Add to that the niggle of a broken heart she’d stupidly opened herself up to, and she wanted to sit on her couch and eat ice cream and watch movies that made her reflect on the futility of human existence.
She was thirty-eight and alone. Her job was her life. She’d given up everything—even a man she’d thought she loved—for it. And now she was staring at looting that proved she was shitty at the one thing that mattered most.
She stared at the pit and tried to control her emotions. “I’ll have the cameras installed by Thanksgiving.”
Chapter Four
Port Angeles, Washington
December
The stick had a blue plus sign. Audrey stared at the pregnancy test.This isn’t possible. We used condoms. They were sealed in the box. We were careful.
And yet, she knew it was true, possible, and real. In the five weeks since she’d been with Xavier, her energy had flailed as if aliens—or a parasite within—had zapped her strength. The slightest upset had turned her stomach, but relief came when she ate—which was the opposite of how it normally went for her.
Six hours ago, at three a.m., she’d woken up with a jolt, her subconscious mind connecting the dots in a way her conscious one refused to do. She was pregnant. She’d known it then, and the proof was before her now, bright blue on the white stick she’d peed on.
She touched her belly, and tears sprang to her eyes.
Oh my god. I’m going to have a baby.
Oh my god. I’m going to have Xavier’s baby.
Even as a strange, shocking joy surged, she wondered how it was possible.
She dropped the test into the bathroom sink and ran out to her car, where she kept her always-packed overnight dig kit. This bag contained more than trowels and measuring tapes; it was her go bag, always ready should she get caught in a storm or if a single day of fieldwork ended up requiring more time than expected.
The canvas bag predated grad school. She’d used it in her midtwenties—during all the years she’d lived and worked as a dig bum. The containers inside the bag had been upgraded over the years. An old Rubbermaid food bin held brushes and dental tools for fine work. A ditty bag held the plumb bob, line level, carpenter’s rule, and mechanical pencil. And a nylon pouch held dry shampoo, a toothbrush—for her teeth, not to be confused with the one in the dig tool kit—toothpaste, and other essentials.
She’d prided herself on being always ready.
And like the prepared person she was, she’d always kept condoms in her kit, because things happened in the field. But she refreshed her toothbrush and deodorant along with all the items in the kit over the years. And this included the condoms. She remembered buying them last year and putting them in the kit.
At least, she rememberedbuyingthem.
She rummaged in the bag and found the toiletries. Yes. There was the toothbrush she’d used in Xavier’s hotel room. And there was the depleted box of condoms.
Damn, only five left. The guy deserved a medal. She pulled out a condom and checked the expiration date.
And there it was. The prophylactic had expired—wow—two years ago. She must’ve bought this box before she and her ex started dating.
She carried the bag into her house and made a beeline for her bedroom. She remembered buying condoms after the breakup. She’d stopped taking the pill and figured she needed something on hand, just in case. She’d put the condoms in the dig kit, like a responsible adult.
Except she hadn’t, obviously.
She dug through her drawers, searching. She finally found the crisp, unopened box of condoms in her nightstand. She sank to the floor, her back to her bed as she held two boxes of condoms, one in each hand.
Well. This answered any questions she might’ve had about those expiration dates. They mattered.
She dropped the newer box of condoms and rubbed her belly.
I’m pregnant.
Tears pooled and fell, and suddenly, she was laughing and crying at the same time. But it was joy that had triggered both.
