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“Finn,” she said quickly. “It’s nothing. It’s just a virus—”
“Are you pregnant?”
The words hung in the air between them, a crushing weight.
“W-what?” Beth stammered, everything inside her going into free fall.
“I think you heard me.” He took another step. “Could you be pregnant? I know you said you were on the pill, but is that a possibility?”
Her mouth was dry, her heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to come out of her chest. She wanted to keep smiling, wanted to tell him that of course she wasn’t pregnant, don’t be silly.
But she was tired, and she felt ill, and his eyes were glittering like sharpened pieces of obsidian, the expression on his face hard, and all she wanted to do was cry.
Everything was falling apart, and the bright dream she’d had about what her life in New Zealand would be like was in jeopardy.
And it was all her fault.
She hadn’t been strong. She hadn’t been looking to the future. She’d let her desire and her passion do her thinking for her, and now look what had happened.
The need to run away swamped her, and she shoved her stool back, slipping off it and making to stride past him, but his hand shot out and he grabbed her arm. His fingers were warm and strong, stopping her in her tracks.
Beth faced the doorway, breathing very fast. She didn’t want to look at him, didn’t want to see the expression now on his face.
Coward.
“Beth,” he said quietly, “I think it’s time you and I had a chat.”
***
She’d gone rigid in his hold and her face was chalk- white, and if her sudden break for the exit hadn’t been enough of a giveaway, the mere fact that she wouldn’t look at him now told him all he needed to know.
It was a guess. He’d been thinking about her symptoms and why she’d lied to Indigo about having a migraine and why she’d looked so afraid in the gallery that morning. Plus she hadn’t wanted anyone to know, it was clear, and that made no sense. Why would she not want people to know she’d picked up a virus?
There was only one explanation that would cover all of those things. And either she had the plague or she was pregnant, and he was pretty sure there was no plague in New Zealand.
Shock at the confirmation gripped him, along with a host of other more complicated emotions, but he couldn’t take any of that in just yet. Because this was a crisis, and one of the first rules of managing any crisis was to deal with the immediate problem.
So first things first.
Beth was obviously in some kind of shock too and he didn’t like that. He didn’t like that she was so upset either, though it was understandable. Whatever, he needed to take care of her until she was in a better space.
Which is your job?
Hell yeah it was his job. If his guess had been correct, and judging from her face right now it was, then looking after her would be his responsibility for some time to come. And he wasn’t going to walk away from that.
It took two to create a child, after all.
Are you ready to be a father though?
An emotion he didn’t care to name twisted inside him, but he shoved it away for the moment. He’d deal with his own issues later. Right now, he had Beth to deal with.
“We don’t need to talk.” Beth still wasn’t looking at him. “Nothing’s certain yet. I haven’t had a test or anything.”
But he didn’t let her go. She was still too pale, and he didn’t like how fast the pulse at the base of her throat was beating. If she hadn’t had anything to eat all afternoon, then that wasn’t going to help her feel any better.
“Yeah, we do.” He let go of her arm and took her hand instead, threading his fingers through hers in a way he hoped would be reassuring. “Come on.” And before she could protest again, he moved toward the workshop exit, pulling her gently along with him.
She resisted for a moment, then followed without a word.
