Aleen sat outside of Luke’s house for over an hour. She couldn’t find the courage to go to his door.
He had a kid to worry about. He was probably exhausted from pulling double duty with work and child care. And though she knew he’d be there to offer support when he heard what she had been through, it wasn’t fair to emotionally manipulate him into being her friend when he made it clear that friendship was off the table.
When the initial shock wore off, she realized she needed to report the crime so Creepy/Criminal Guy couldn’t try to rape another woman.
The dispatcher asked her to get checked out at the hospital. They’d send an officer to meet her there.
The last place she wanted to be was back at the scene of the crime, but she called her friends in the ER and they agreed to meet her at the door so she wouldn’t have to make her way through the parking lot again.
Though she wasn’t one to cave under the pressure of stress, she felt herself losing consciousness as she parked in front of the ambulance bay. She reached to the back of her head and felt the sticky proof that she had obtained a head wound in the struggle.
When she awoke, she was hooked up to an IV on an ER cot.
“How long was I out?” she asked the nurse monitoring her.
“Long enough for us to worry, but not long enough to admit you. Yet.”
Aleen smiled at the woman. She had seen her in the halls and the cafeteria from time to time, but she didn’t know her name.
“We called your emergency contact. He’ll be here any minute.”
Aleen’s stomach rolled.
“No. You need to call him back and tell him not to come.”
“You should have someone here with you. We can have him step out when the police are interviewing you. But you can always opt to have him stay. Your choice.”
“No. Tell him.”
Another nurse poked her head in the room. “He’s here.”
Aleen employed her sternest face. “Tell him he’s free to go.” When neither nurse budged, Aleen pointed to the door. “That wasn’t a request.”
As one nurse scurried off to do Aleen’s bidding, the other stayed and asked for permission to perform standard procedures. With Aleen’s consent, they collected hair samples, cleaned the bite wound, and ran a full battery of tests. Next step—CT scan.
Though she was dying to hear what Luke’s reaction to being sent home had been, she didn’t see that other nurse for the rest of the time she was there.
An officer she didn’t know and who hadn’t taken her report dropped by to let her know that Milton had been picked up and was being held.
The doctor came in to give her discharge papers minutes before the sun began to rise. Aleen couldn’t wait to get home and shower away the horrible day.
“As you know, we tested your blood.” He explained the results, pausing dramatically when he announced they had performed a pregnancy test as part of their standard procedure.
“No worries there.” Aleen laughed.
“You weren’t trying to get pregnant?”
“Does the entire hospital know about my ill-fated attempt at finding a man to marry?”
The doctor adjusted his glasses and studied the chart.
“We can discuss your options.”
“What are you talking about? Give me that.”
She snatched the chart out of the doctor’s hands.
“This is a mistake.”
“It could be a false positive, but we’ll have to run more tests to be sure. I recommend setting up an appointment with your OB/GYN.”
“It’s a mistake. It’s not even possible.”
“Have you engaged in sexual intercourse?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Then it’s possible.”
The doctor handed her the discharge papers and wished her well.
She gathered her things and shuffled her way out of the ER.
“Need me to call someone for you?” the receptionist asked.
“No, I’m good.”
She found her car in an ER doctor’s parking spot and made her way home, eagerly soaking up all of Dagger’s affection before they both passed out in exhaustion.
Two days later, the unlikely truth was confirmed.
She was pregnant.
***
Aleen drove home from her doctor’s office in a daze.
She couldn’t identify one particular feeling among the mess of twisted, curled, tangled together emotions roiling through her brain and her body.
Pregnant. Quite by accident.
When the words finally found a comfortable place to nestle into her brain, she smiled.
Pregnant. By accident. By Luke. Made with love.
Not the kind of love she had imagined making a baby with, but love just the same.
She debated scheduling her European tour before she started to show. Maybe she’d never come back to Healing Springs.
Then she remembered how betrayed Luke had been at finding out he was a father when the child was already three.
She couldn’t do that to him.
He didn’t ask for this. She didn’t want to tell him. But she owed him the truth.
The news of her pregnancy had ignited her cravings. Psychological effect, yes. But she wasn’t one to deny herself. Now she had the perfect excuse to swing into the ice cream shop on the way home. She’d do her version of healthy and get a banana split. For the baby, of course.
She parked in the shade of the town common.
Just her luck—the first person who caught her attention was a tall, dark, too-handsome-for-his-own-good veterinarian. And his sweet, beautiful, bouncing-haired little daughter.
Aleen hoped beyond hope that her baby had his eyes, too.
She wanted to run up to him. To leap into his arms, kiss him passionately, and tell him that he had made her the happiest woman in the world.
The longer she watched him, the harder the truth hit her.
He looked comfortable in his daddy role, but slightly frayed around the edges.
She didn’t want to tip him back onto the overwhelmed part of the scale.
He seemed content in his new life. Without her. He wasn’t suffering without his best friend. He didn’t need her the way she had always thought he would. The way she needed him.
She’d tell him. Eventually. She’d invite him into their child’s life.
But she’d never expect to go back to where they had been before she threw it all away for the opportunity to make sweet love to her best friend.
Creepy Guy, combined with the series of horrible dates, had messed with her head—made her doubt the good in men.
Luke was all good. But they weren’t on the same page.
She didn’t imagine he’d welcome the news, especially since it had been her fault. She was the one who climbed on top of him. She was the one who had forgotten the condom. She was the one who knew they couldn’t be in a relationship but had sought comfort one last time.
He’d think she had planned the whole thing. That she had intentionally become pregnant. And though she couldn’t hide the fact that she was thrilled to be a mother, she wouldn’t have gone about it this way.
She pulled out of the parking spot without taking time to run into the store to satisfy her ice cream craving.
Instead, she drove to Luke’s mother’s residence. He was busy on the common with his daughter and wouldn’t be making an appearance while Aleen was there.
The nurse on duty warned that Luke’s mom wasn’t doing well. They had moved her into hospice.
Aleen sat beside her bed for nearly thirty minutes before the woman—far too young to be on her deathbed—opened her eyes.
Without a word, Mrs. Edwards reached her hand out to grasp Aleen’s.
“I hope you don’t mind that I stopped by.”
Mrs. Edwards shook her head slowly, a smile creeping onto her face.
“I’m glad.” She dissolved into a coughing fit.
Aleen poured water into a Dixie cup and held it for Mrs. Edwards to sip.
“I have a secret to share with you. Luke doesn’t know yet, and I’d like to wait for the right time to tell him. But I really, really wanted you to know.”
“Before I die,” Mrs. Edwards added, her eyes brightening.
“I’m sorry you’re so ill. I wish I could help you.”
Mrs. Edwards smacked her lips together three times, then whispered, “You are.”
Aleen sat again and resumed holding the hand of the woman who held Luke’s heart.
“I’m going to be a grandmother. Again.”
Aleen’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”
Mrs. Edwards closed her eyes. “I’m so close to God these days.”
“I wanted you to know.”
“Your secret,” her voice began to drift.
“I know it’s safe.” Aleen kissed her on the forehead and rubbed her temples as she drifted off to sleep.
Aleen sat with her for another hour before kissing her goodbye for what she assumed would be the last time.
***
“Sweetie, I’m all out of stories. How about you tell Daddy one?”
Luke collapsed into the small beanbag next to Lulu’s bed. He hadn’t slept more than four hours each night since Lulu came to stay with him, and half of those hours were spent tossing and turning.
Missing Leeni.
“Okay, Daddy. Wisten carefully, okay?”
“Yes, baby girl. I’m listening.”
“Okay. Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. Her name was Lulu. She had a mommy and a daddy, but they didn’t live together because Mommy said Daddy didn’t know how to love a queen. Lulu played with a queen who wasn’t her mommy who had sparkly eyes, and she lost her shoe at the park when they was feeding duckies. The duckies quacked and that is how the daddy knowed he had to go find the girl to give her the shoe. And then they kissed and lived in a castle and had more babies so Lulu was a big sister and Mommy smiled because Daddy loved the other queen and it made everyone happy. The End.”
Luke jerked up in his seat, not sure what to make of the story his tiny three-year-old had made up.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, baby girl?” He propped his elbow on the side of her bed, a little scared of what would come next.
“When will we see the girl again?”
“Which girl, sweetie?”
Lulu giggled and brought her feet to Luke’s face.
“Smell my feet!”
“Mmm, they smell good enough to eat!” He pretended to eat her toes, inciting giggle after giggle.
“You could love the girl, Daddy. I want to see her again. We can feed the duckies, and play in the twee house, and live happily-ever-after!”
“We could, huh?” He squeezed her feet, kissed each toe, then tucked them under the blankets. “Time for you to go night-nights.”
“But Daddy, what about the girl? You has to save her!”
He laughed at the idea of Leeni needing saving. From him, maybe. Otherwise, she was strong and capable.
“Sometimes queens don’t want or need to be saved, my sweet girl. Now get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He stood in her doorway, watching her drift off to sleep, wishing her version of happily-ever-after could come true.
He had screwed up. Royally. He had pushed Aleen into a sexual relationship, and then he had pushed her out of their friendship.
He was no better than any of those guys he had tried to keep her from.
Their last night together had been the most painful night of his life. Saying goodbye while being where he wanted to be with her threatened to shatter him.
Why couldn’t she believe in him? Why would she doubt his intentions?
When he was called to the hospital as her emergency contact, he hadn’t given a single thought about whether he should go or not. She needed him—he was there.
And she had the nurses send him away. He still didn’t know why she had been there. All he knew was what he had been able to convince the nurse to tell him—she was okay and would be discharged soon.
She hadn’t wanted him there during her time of need. That spoke volumes.
He had to let go of the memories. Audrey had told him that the cancer treatments were making her sicker than she had thought they would, and she wasn’t able to take Lulu as often as she had planned. Her doctors also weren’t sure what her prognosis would be, and she wanted Luke to be prepared to take on the responsibility of full custody if her condition deteriorated.
Several months ago, his biggest problem was how to avoid going home to a girlfriend he didn’t care about.
He had been a selfish prick, and probably deserved all of this.
At eleven o’clock, the phone rang. He had been expecting the call, but he didn’t want to face what it meant.
In preparation, he had asked the babysitter to spend the night so he could leave Lulu home if need be.
Not wanting to disturb her peace, he sent a text letting the sitter know the time had come and he had to go see his mother for what would more than likely be the last time.