The next three weeks were busy ones for Beth. Now that the gallery was open, she, Izzy, and Indigo found their schedules filled with stock sourcing and production, record-keeping and banking issues, not to mention having gallery shifts to cover.
Because as it turned out, Brightwater Dreams was a hit with the tourists. Many came to view Evan’s paintings (Finn had managed to wheedle another couple out of him) and were thrilled to find out he was a resident of the town. Then, once they finished looking at the paintings, they started looking at the gallery’s other offerings, and once they started looking, they started spending.
It was very, very pleasing, and the three of them were ecstatic about how it was turning out.
Izzy had met with Cait to see if the Rose could start doing café meals and/or lunches for the tourists during busy weekends, so those who weren’t doing outdoor adventure activities could poke around the gallery, then have a nice lunch afterward.
Beth was over the moon that her first lot of jewelry sold out quickly, then got slightly panicked when she realized she was going to have to make more—and keep on making more to satisfy the demand.
Which was why, despite her initial worries about living in Clint’s farmhouse, mainly based around Finn owning the place and possibly being around far more than was comfortable, the shift from the Rose to Clint’s was a welcome one.
She and Indigo moved in the week following the gallery opening, and it was great to finally have her own room again after over a month of living out of a suitcase at the hotel.
Clint’s farmhouse was a rustic wooden building with a steeply pitched roof of red corrugated steel, a gabled front room, and a wide porch at the front of the house.
Inside it was basic but comfortable, with a front room that housed a big wood-burner, a small kitchen and bathroom at the back, and a couple of bedrooms on the other side of the hallway.
Clint had been happy to leave all his furniture behind, so they didn’t have to face furnishing it, but Beth had already privately decided she was going to get a new bed when she had some money, because the one in the bedroom she’d claimed was uncomfortably hard.
Not that she was complaining. Because the best part about Clint’s was the workshop space and the bench that Finn had talked about, which was indeed big, and there were plenty of places for her to put her jeweler’s tools.
She hadn’t been able to do any work since she’d left Deep River—or not proper work—and having the space to put everything away and store the raw materials she’d collected over the past month was fantastic.
Indigo was insanely happy there was enough room to do her dyeing too, bustling about with dye pots and drying racks and bins full of undyed yarn, then doing some more bustling in the house, making it habitable.
The only downside was the house being a good fifteen minutes’ drive from the town, which would have been a problem if Clint hadn’t also left them his old truck and a quad bike to use as runarounds.
Beth loved the quad bike but she didn’t know how to drive it, so she stuck with the truck instead to ferry her and Indigo—who didn’t drive—up and down from town. It took some getting used to driving a right-hand drive vehicle, and several times she accidentally drove on the wrong side of the road, but it didn’t matter too much, not when there were so very few other cars on the road too.
She didn’t see a lot of Finn. He and the other Pure Adventure NZ team offered to help her and Indigo move, but since there was really nothing to move but their suitcases, she and Indigo graciously declined.
He’d visited once, briefly, to see how she and Indigo were doing and to tell them that if there was anything they needed to let him know, but apart from that, she didn’t see him much at all.
Toby Miller and his two sons from the neighboring farm managed the day-to-day running of the stables, while Finn would visit every couple of days to keep an eye on things, Karl at his heels since apparently, Izzy had told her, Clint had given his dog to Finn. But he didn’t come inside the farmhouse, not even to say hello. Not that she was there even when he did, because she was usually doing a shift at the gallery.
She only saw him on the periphery, helping tourists out by the lake or sitting with Chase and Levi in the pub. Once, she saw him take a small group out on a horse trek and found herself watching him as he rode, his lean, muscular body at ease in the saddle.
It was sexy. He was sexy.
Not that she was looking for him or anything, or even noticing him. And she definitely wasn’t still thinking about that night on the couch in HQ. No, most definitely not.
What she was doing was concentrating on this new life she’d built for herself in Brightwater Valley, with the gallery and making her jewelry. Surrounded by nature and making friends with a whole new bunch of people who only ever knew her as the positive, sunny Beth she was here.
Not the sad, gray, scared Beth she’d been back in Deep River.
Life was good.
So good that at first she didn’t realize how much more tired she was in the evenings, a lot more tired than normal, and that she was falling into bed sometimes as early as eight o’clock. And sometimes she felt a bit sick in the mornings, but surely that had to be a virus.
Then one morning in the gallery, a customer came in with an egg sandwich from Bill’s general store next door, and Beth abruptly knew she was going to be sick.
She only had a moment to excuse herself before stumbling into the tiny bathroom out the back of the gallery, her stomach deciding it was done with the toast she’d had for breakfast and it needed to be empty right the hell now.
Afterward, she splashed some cold water on her face and stood in front of the little mirror above the basin, cold and shaky and distinctly fuzzy around the edges, and wondering why this bug she’d picked up wasn’t getting any better.
This is very familiar.
The thought drifted idly through her brain, because yes, it was familiar. She’d felt this tired and this sick before, back when—
No. No, it couldn’t be.
She shut down that thought hard, but a cold feeling was creeping through her, winding around her like a giant snake, constricting so tight she could barely breathe.
No. No. She hadn’t been with anyone…
Only Finn Kelly.
And suddenly her knees felt weak and she was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, the wall at her back, her breathing way too fast, her thoughts spinning around and around.
Yes, they’d had unprotected sex. But it had only been the once. Finn hadn’t had any condoms on him, but had found some in HQ’s little bathroom and they’d used those.
So, only one time. And anyway, she was on the pill. She’d been taking it to regulate her period and for other hormonal issues, and she was sure she’d taken it religiously.
But maybe you didn’t? Maybe you missed one?
Beth tried to think. It was a month ago and she’d been busy with the gallery opening and trying to get Finn to be her friend… It was possible that she’d missed one and hadn’t noticed.
Oh God.
A wild uprush of feeling swamped her, an emotion so complicated she couldn’t untangle all the threads. Mainly grief and fear, but mixed in was a tiny bit of joy, like a nugget of gold at the bottom of a bitterly cold lake.
For a long moment she just sat there against the wall, her eyes full of tears, because if this wasn’t a bug, if this was indeed what she thought it was, then her life here was about to change.
She’d done this once before, a couple of years ago, with Troy, and the baby they’d conceived had been very much wanted. But the pregnancy had been difficult and then…
Beth swallowed.
You idiot. How could you not be more careful?
She put her hands over her face, pressed her palms hard against her eyes. He’d overwhelmed her, that was the problem. She’d been so obsessed with him, had wanted him so much, she hadn’t been thinking straight, not at the time. And neither had he.
Then her breath caught.
This was going to affect him too.
“Hey,” a deep male voice called from the gallery. “Is anyone around?”
Yet more cold washed over her as she recognized it.
Oh hell. Talk about timing. It was Finn.
She shoved herself to her feet, her heart racing, and as soon as she came upright, black spots began to swim in her vision. Her hands and feet felt cold. Everything felt cold.
She tried to ignore the feeling as she came out of the bathroom and went into the gallery. Or at least she tried to go into the gallery. But the black spots in her vision multiplied and her feet were numb, and she had to lean against the doorway for support.
Oh, please, not in front of Finn. Please don’t let her faint in front of Finn.
He was leaning against the counter, looking unbelievably gorgeous in a pair of black utility pants, black Pure Adventure NZ T-shirt, and boots. It was clear from his clothing that he was either about to take a group out or had just come back in.
His eyes met hers, widened slightly, then narrowed into thin slits of obsidian.
“Beth?” His dark, husky voice was a whip crack in the silence of the gallery. “Beth, what’s wrong?”
She opened her mouth to tell him nothing was wrong, absolutely nothing, she was fine, just a little upset tummy, no biggie, when the doorway she was leaning against moved and she wasn’t upright anymore but falling.
Things went black for a couple of seconds, and when her brain decided to work again, she found herself lying against something very warm, very hard, and covered in black cotton.
She blinked.
Someone was holding her. Finn was holding her.
For a moment all she was conscious of was his warmth and his delicious scent—spicy and earthy and masculine—and the strength of the arm that was circling her, holding her against his chest.
Feeling was coming back to her hands and feet, making them tingle, and her heartbeat was slowing, and long seconds passed where all she wanted was to simply exist there, lying against him, feeling safe and warm.
But no matter how badly she wanted to deny it, no matter how desperately, the truth was sitting inside her and she couldn’t escape it.
She wasn’t sick; she was pregnant. And Finn was the father.
And she had no idea, no idea at all, what she was going to do.
***
Finn had a group of tourists waiting down by the lake and a trip to Glitter Falls to manage, and he’d nipped into the gallery to find Izzy to let her know that Chase had another booking mix-up, and since it was taking him a while to sort out, he might be home a bit late.
It shouldn’t have taken long. Only a minute or two. But what he hadn’t expected was to find the gallery empty at first, before a very pale Beth staggered out of the bathroom and promptly fainted in front of him. And it had only been lightning-fast reflexes, honed by years of guiding tourists around who did stupid things constantly, that had had him catching her before she hit the floor.
Now he was sitting on said floor, holding her against his chest, a complicated mixture of anger, frustration, worry, and unholy desire tangling in his gut. She felt small in his arms—small and warm and very vulnerable.
He did not want her to be vulnerable. He did not want to be holding her either, but it was clear she was unwell and he couldn’t leave her in this state.
So much for three weeks of distance.
Finn ignored the thought, glancing down at the woman in his arms. He could only see the soft curve of one cheek, her pale, silvery lashes resting against it. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and he was conscious of the sweet scent of apricots or peaches. A familiar scent. A scent that was haunting his dreams…
The desire inside him coiled tighter, but he shoved it aside the way he’d been shoving it aside for the past three weeks. The last thing Beth needed was him getting inappropriately turned on while she was feeling crappy.
“Beth?” He shifted her so he could see her face. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Her eyes were firmly shut, and she didn’t open them. There were big black circles beneath them, and she looked so white she was almost green. A sour smell was coming from the bathroom, a sure sign that someone had thrown up and recently.
Well, not just someone. Beth.
The worry he’d tried to tell himself he didn’t feel tightened its grip. “Come on,” he said, securing her more firmly against him. “Let’s get you to the Rose and I’ll call a doctor.”
That seemed to galvanize her because she moved abruptly, pushing at him. “No, I’m fine. You can let me go.”
He didn’t want to. Especially since she’d fainted just before and quite clearly wasn’t fine. “Beth,” he began.
But she pushed at him harder. “Please, Finn.”
Color was returning to her cheeks, though they weren’t at their usual pretty deep rose yet, and since he knew it was for the best if he wasn’t physically close to her, he loosened his hold. He did keep an arm around her as he helped her to her feet though, because she was unsteady, noting that she pulled away almost as soon as she was standing.
Used to assessing people’s well-being as part of his job when he was guiding tourists, he gave her a rapid scan. Yeah, she was still pale, and she looked exhausted.
“What’s going on, Beth? Tell me.” It was an order, and he made no effort to soften it. If she was unwell, he wanted to know, because if so, he was here to help. He, Chase, and Levi were all up-to-date with first aid since the closest ambulance was two hours away in Queenstown, which made them also first responders in an emergency.
That’s not the only reason you want to know.
Yeah, well, if so, he was not going to be interrogating those reasons just now.
“It’s nothing,” she said faintly. “A stomach bug, I think.”
He wasn’t sure he believed that. She’d given him the oddest look when she’d come out of the back room and leaned against the doorframe, her face chalk-white. It was almost as if she was…terrified.
People with stomach bugs usually weren’t terrified.
“Beth,” he began again.
“Really, I’m fine.” She turned to him, the biggest, fakest smile he’d ever seen plastered on her pale face. “It’s only a virus.”
He had people waiting for him, and he didn’t have time to stand around arguing with her about how fine or otherwise she was. But he was a caregiver first and foremost and he couldn’t leave it alone.
Sheri had told him she was fine, that he didn’t need to worry, and look how that had turned out. The doctors had told him there would have been nothing he could have done if he’d known about her illness earlier, but he’d never been able to shake the feeling that he could have. That perhaps if he’d noticed Sheri’s symptoms earlier he could have done something that might have made a difference.
“You’re not fine,” he said tersely. “You just fainted and I’m guessing you threw up as well.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “And I feel tons better for having done so.”
He ignored that. “You look exhausted. You should be in bed, getting some rest.”
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you.” She turned away, moving over to the counter. “But there’s only a couple of hours before Indigo takes over for the afternoon, and I’m not exactly run off my feet. I’ll be fine.”
This was his cue to accept what she’d said and leave, because she was an adult. She could look after herself. And besides, he had a crowd of people to take over the lake to visit the falls. He didn’t have time to fuss around with her.
“Will you though?” he persisted.
Beth fiddled with one of the displays of preserves stacked neatly on the counter, then looked at him. Her green eyes were very direct and there was no sign of the fear he’d seen in them earlier. “Yes,” she said with great certainty. “And if I feel sick again, I’ll drive home and go straight to bed. Promise.”
Doubt still nagged at him, though since he couldn’t quite pinpoint why, he had no real reason to believe she didn’t just have a virus. In which case he couldn’t really protest about it.
He left her, in the end, with assurances she’d look after herself, but the doubt wouldn’t leave him alone. It dogged him the whole day, sitting in the back of his mind as he took the tourists across the lake to the falls, making him grumpy and foul-tempered by the time he got back.
“What’s up with you?” Chase, who’d come out to meet him and help with any remaining equipment, asked as the last of the tourists got off the boat and Finn finished stowing the life jackets.
Karl—whom he’d started bringing along on trips since the dog loved being out in the bush and was a hit with the tourists—had already leapt from the boat and was wagging his tail hopefully at Chase.
“Nothing,” Finn said, then winced at how short the word sounded.
“Yeah, sure.” The skepticism in his brother’s voice was obvious. “You’re supposed to smile at clients, remember?”
Finn finished with the life jackets, then stepped off the small runabout they used to ferry tourists to and from the Glitter Falls trail across the lake.
Chase was standing on the little jetty watching him, silver gaze narrowed. He dropped an absent hand onto Karl’s head to give him a scratch, but the dog, clearly sensing his half-heartedness, bore it dutifully before trotting off down the jetty after spotting Mystery enjoying a few pets from the tourists and deciding he wanted in on the action.
“This isn’t McDonald’s,” Finn said. “We don’t have to smile constantly and ask people whether they’d like fries with that.”
Chase’s gaze narrowed still further. “You should go see Beth again. That’ll put you in a better mood.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Chase it was Beth who was the problem, but he decided against it. Telling his brother he was concerned about the fact she was sick and that he suspected it wasn’t actually a bug would only lead to more questions. Which in turn would lead to supposition and probably some advice that he hadn’t asked for and didn’t want.
So all he said was “No. It was a one-time thing, remember?”
The tourists were climbing back onto one of the big buses that had brought them here, some coming out of the Rose and a couple from the gallery. A kea had flown in from somewhere, obviously having decided to join the party, and was now perched on top of the bus, flapping its green-feathered wings and screeching at the tourists. Levi was pointing at it and talking to one woman, the late-afternoon sun picking out the gold strands in his tawny hair, and she was laughing.
“You should tell Levi to stop flirting with the tourists,” Finn muttered, mainly to distract Chase from mentioning Beth again. “It’s not professional.”
Instantly his brother’s head whipped around, his gaze zeroing in on Levi and the woman.
Then Indigo came out of the gallery. She took a couple of steps toward the general store, then stopped, her attention also on Levi at the woman.
Finn didn’t particularly care what was up with her and Levi, but there was probably only one way he was going to stop thinking and worrying about Beth and that was to ask Indigo if she was okay.
“You deal with Levi.” Finn strode past his brother. “I’ve got something I need to ask Indigo.”
Chase muttered something, but Finn ignored him.
Indigo was scowling in Levi’s direction, her expression clearing as she noticed Finn coming toward her. “Hey, Finn,” she said, a shy smile appearing.
“Hey.” He stopped in front of her. “Just wanted to check in on Beth.”
Indigo frowned in obvious puzzlement. “Oh? Why? Is something wrong?”
Right, so Beth hadn’t told Indigo she hadn’t been feeling well. Interesting. Why was that?
Briefly, Finn debated whether to tell Indigo that Beth had fainted in front of him earlier that morning, then decided against it. There must have been a reason Beth hadn’t wanted her to know, in which case she wouldn’t appreciate Finn running his mouth about it.
“No,” he said smoothly, covering his lapse. “I only wanted to make sure everything was okay in your neck of the woods.”
Indigo blinked. “You mean with the farmhouse?”
“Yeah, of course the farmhouse.”
“Oh, everything’s fine. We’re good.”
“Great. You know where Beth is?”
“She went home at lunchtime.” Indigo’s attention drifted back to where Levi and the woman stood, now joined by Chase, the three of them plus the other tourists, all of them staring at the kea who was doing a little dance on the roof of the bus. “Said she had a migraine.”
First a stomach bug, now a migraine. What was going on?
Seemed like if he wanted to know, he was going to have to go talk to her himself.
Why? You slept with her once and she can damn well look after herself. And it’s not as if you don’t have a lot on your plate already.
That was true, he did. The past three weeks had been extraordinarily busy, what with managing his commitments at Pure Adventure NZ, then overseeing Toby and his boys at the stables, not to mention still trying to find a permanent stable manager. So he hadn’t had a lot of time to think about anything else, which was quite frankly a blessing.
“Anything else” being Beth and the couple of hours he’d stolen with her up in HQ that was still haunting him even a month later.
So really, did he have to go and check on her? He had a horse trek booked the next day, and even though it was only a day trip, he had to do some organization and an equipment check for it. Then he’d promised to have dinner with Chase, Izzy, and Gus.
Then again, the equipment he needed to check was at Clint’s and if he was going up there anyway…
“Why do you need to see her?”
Still going over things in his head, it took Finn a second or two to realize that Indigo wasn’t looking at Levi anymore, but at him, and her expression was far too speculative for his liking.
“Was going to ask her the same question I just asked you,” he said easily. “Unless you know of anything that she needs?”
Indigo’s mouth curved in what could only be termed a smirk. “I could think of a few things.”
Her tone was suggestive, which made him wonder what Beth had told her and Izzy. Then again, maybe it was nothing, merely some friendly teasing between friends.
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow, wondering idly what she’d say. “What things?”
She flushed. “Uh…don’t worry, it’s nothing.”
“Good.” He turned toward HQ, where his truck was parked. “If you think of anything important, let me know.”
He gave Karl, who had given up trying to get Mystery to play with him and was now fawning all over Levi, a whistle, then strode to his vehicle. And once the dog had leapt into the back, he started the engine and drove up to Clint’s to find out just what the hell was going on.