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I couldn’t help the way my body reacted to his words. I shivered and actually broke out into a sweat, gasping as my gaze jerked to his. He grinned and winked at me before starting the truck and heading back to the hotel.
As he opened the door to our suite, my phone chimed. I glanced at the screen to see my mother’s name, requesting a FaceTime. I groaned. I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk to her, but she’d be getting anxious and I didn’t want her to worry more than she already was.
“Go,” Cyclone said, urging me to the bedroom. “Talk with your mother.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I felt like a little kid who knew she was in trouble and was avoiding her parents for as long as possible.
He shrugged those brawny shoulders and gave me a reassuring smile. “Tell her whatever you want. Better to prepare her for us coming home. You do that. I’ll call Trucker and we’ll get this part of it over with.”
And just like that, all those pancakes I’d eaten threatened to come up. “Oh, God. NO! Do not call my father.” The phone had stopped chiming, but I knew my mother would call back in a few seconds. She always tried at least twice, knowing I was forever losing my phone.
Pulling me into his arms, Cyclone hugged me fiercely. “Honey, I have to. If he finds this out from anyone else, the ass beatin’ I’d get wouldn’t be just epic, it’d be catastrophic. Besides, I respect your father, though he’s not going to believe that when I tell him everything. By avoiding you all this time, I earned every single thing he’ll do to me when we get back. No matter if you want me long-term or not. I’m gonna be lucky to get out of this with my balls intact as it is.” He tilted my chin up with gentle fingers and kissed me briefly. “You talk with your mom. Let her know you’re good. Tell her everything. It will help you figure out how you really feel and what you want to say to me once these conversations are over. Because we still have things to settle between us.”
I took a deep breath. “OK. It’s just… I don’t want to disappoint my mom.” I couldn’t help the tears that dripped from my eyes down my cheeks.
“Honey, she’s your mother. She loves you more than life itself. She may not like some of the choices you make, but she would never be disappointed in you.”
As I stared up at him, trying to find the reassurance I needed, my phone started chiming again. Cyclone framed my face with his hands and kissed me once again before giving me an encouraging smile and moving to the other side of the suite and shutting the connecting door.
I took a deep breath and answered the FaceTime call. “Hi, Mom.” I gave her a bright smile, hoping like hell she thought I was happy to hear from her.
“Hi, sweetie. You hanging in there?”
“Yeah. I’m doing fine. Just contemplating how much weight my right foot needs to lose to keep this from happening again.” I tried to make a joke but had to stifle the wince.
“Cruise control will become your new best friend, huh?” She still smiled, but I could tell she was still worried.
There was an awkward silence between us that I’d never experienced with my mother. She’d always been a mother and best friend all in one. I told her everything in my life. Always had. Any time I’d ever had a problem, Mom was the first person I ran to.
“Baby, what’s going on? I know something’s not right. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s happened.”
“Mom, I’m pregnant.”
She blinked several times then gave me a gentle smile. “I assume you didn’t plan on this?”
“No.” My reply was soft, and I looked away from the phone.
“It happens. Happened to me with you. Surely you know I’d never judge you or be angry at you for this. Right? I mean, I can hardly be angry when I was in a similar situation.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Honey. Why are you sorry?” She sounded almost relieved. Had she been that worried about me? So worried that finding out her daughter was pregnant wasn’t something she was angry about? “Things happen. While I wish you’d taken more precautions, this isn’t the end of the world. Your father and I will help you in any way we can. If that’s taking you to terminate the pregnancy, we will. If that means we help you raise the child, we’ll be on board with that too. Baby. We love you! With all our hearts.”
And yeah, the fucking tears started again, no matter how hard I tried to hold them back. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to shut you out. I just didn’t know what to do.”
She tilted her head, studying me for a long moment. “There’s more. Isn’t there?”
Right. How to answer that. If Cyclone was on the phone with Dad, then there was no reason not to tell my mother. Besides, if anyone could keep my dad from killing Cyclone, it was my mother. “Yeah. There’s more.” I chuckled as I used a tissue to wipe my nose. “A lot more.”
“I’m guessing you need to start by telling me who the father is.” She phrased it carefully and kept her tone as gentle as possible, but my mother knew me well enough to know the subject of the baby’s father was the part she dreaded the most.
“Yeah.” I shook my head once, not believing I was having this conversation and really not wanting to divulge this, but it had to be done. “Cyclone. Daniel Gill is the father.”
My mother’s expression didn’t change. She still had a mild, pleasant look on her face, but something in her eyes told me she was considering all the possibilities and not liking the outcome of any of them. “I see. I suppose that’s why he insisted on coming after you himself?”
“He didn’t know until he got here. I only found out myself a few days before I left.”
“Did he… hurt you, honey?”
