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Nodding, Hope sucked in one deep breath after another, praying for no reprise.
"What can I do?" Drew asked as he stroked his palm up and down her back.
Hope swiped the back of her hand against her mouth. "Can you get me some water, please?"
"Sure, but how about you sit down first." He led her over to the benches located in the back of the two-story stone and timber clinic built to resemble a stable. In a flash, he retrieved a water bottle from the stash they kept in the truck and, after removing the cap, handed it to Hope.
Hope took a sip and swished it around in her mouth before spitting it out. Then, she took a tentative swallow, praying it stayed in her stomach.
"What else can I do? Is there anything I can get you?"
Just a time machine to take us back about twelve weeks. Instead of voicing that thought, Hope shook her head. "No, I'm good. Thanks."
Crouching in front of her, Drew urged Hope to drink more of the water. She complied, taking a deep breath between each sip until her stomach no longer mimicked a volcano on the verge of eruption. When she looked up at Drew, Hope felt a tug in her chest at the concern reflected in his lake-blue eyes.
God, he had beautiful eyes.
"Is this why you went to the doctor this morning?"
Not intentionally. "No. It was just my annual checkup."
"Do you think it was something you ate?"
Oh, how Hope wished it were.
"Or maybe you have a virus. I heard something is going around." Reaching up, Drew laid the back of his fingers against her forehead. "Do you have a fever?"
Hope batted his hand away. "No. No fever." Sighing, she averted her gaze. "And it's not a virus or anything I ate either."
Dropping one denim-clad knee to the pavement, Drew crossed his wrists atop his opposite knee and leaned forward. "So, what do you think is wrong?"
Everything, Hope wanted to scream. But that wasn't accurate because there wasn't anything wrong. Unexpected, yes. And definitely one hell of a freaking surprise.
But considering she’d just tossed her cookies in front of him and likely would again, she might as well answer his question honestly. She forced herself to look him in the eye. "I'm pregnant." Not exactly the way she'd envisioned sharing the news of her pregnancy with the father of her baby, but then again, nothing in the past three months had been anything she expected.
* * *
Stunned, Drew was silent for a few beats as her words sank into his brain.
Hope.
Pregnant.
With his child.
Damn.
Drew eased onto the bench beside her. "How long have you known?"
"About three hours."
Three hours? Wow! "Is that why you went to the doctor?"
Hope shook her head. "No. Like I told you before, it was my annual physical."
"So, you didn't suspect you might be pregnant?" Though he was definitely more familiar with the estrous cycle of the equine species, Drew did have a basic grasp on how a woman's reproductive system functioned. And if he did the math correctly, he was fairly certain Hope should have gotten her period at least twice, if not three times, since they'd slept together twelve weeks ago.
She cut him with a slicing glare. "No. I didn't." Hope took another sip of water. "Maybe if I hadn't been trying to work a full-time job while also taking care of my terminally ill father, watching him die a slow, painful death, and then laying him to rest, I might have had a second to realize my monthly visitor had neglected to show up for three months in a row."
