Chapter Six

Ethan made his way through the crowded fairgrounds with his mother and Claudia at his side. Laughter and high-pitched screams filled the mid-August night air, competing with the music from the bandstand and the whir of sirens as the rides picked up speed. When the smell of fried food wafted past his nostrils, he decided that last corn dog he’d eaten was responsible for the dull gnawing in his gut. He dug in his leather jacket for a roll of antacids. Except for a piece of tinfoil he withdrew from his pocket, he came up empty.

“I’m going to head home instead of going back to the hotel, Ethan,” his mother said, as they reached the parking lot.

Maybe he wouldn’t need the antacid after all. For the last ten days, his mother had been campaigning for him to put a ring on Claudia’s finger almost as hard as she’d campaigned for him to win a seat in the state senate. He kissed her cheek. “Careful on the road. Text me when you get in. I’ll probably make it home for the Labor Day weekend.”

“You better. Madison’s baby shower is on the Sunday. You can keep Gage occupied. Maybe get him out for a game of golf. You could use a little R & R. You look tired,” she said, rubbing his arm. “At least I know I’m leaving you in good hands.” She turned to hug Claudia. “Make sure he eats and doesn’t stay up half the night working, dear.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him,” Claudia said with a suggestive look in his direction.

So maybe he’d need that antacid after all. Over the last couple of days, he’d noticed a change in Claudia. She’d gone from friendly professional to friendly flirty. But she was too damn good at her job for him to consider firing her now. Not to mention the negative impact it would have on his campaign if he did. His mother would probably just rehire her anyway. He hoped it was a passing phase, but obviously he was going to have to deal with it before it went much further. And the first chance he got, he’d tell his mother to knock off the matchmaking.

“You’re coming home with Ethan on the long weekend, aren’t you?” she asked Claudia.

Duct tape, that was what he needed. “I’m sure Claudia wants to go home and spend some time with her dad, catch up with friends.”

“Pish.” His mother responded with a flick of her hand. “I’ll invite Richard. We can all spend a nice, long weekend together. I could use his advice. When you were saying good-bye to the mayor, I got a text from Raul,” she said, referring to the ranch foreman and Rosa’s husband. “Bandit, the rescue horse, kicked down the gate to his stall.” She sighed and got in her truck, glancing at Claudia before she closed the door. “Don’t let me ruin your plans, dear. I understand if you’d rather go home.”

Claudia cast Ethan a sidelong glance before saying to his mother, “No, I’d love to come, and I’m sure Dad would, too.”

So much for a relaxing weekend. He wondered if his mother was using Richard as a means of getting Ethan and Claudia together or if she was interested in the man herself. Ethan didn’t like either scenario.

“Perfect. I’ll call your father tonight.”

They said good-bye, walking to the Escalade as his mother’s taillights faded from view. “You don’t mind me coming home with you, do you?” Claudia asked.

He pressed the Unlock button on his car key fob. “Of course not, but you’ve been working twenty-four seven this last month. You deserve a break.”

“So have you. But we really can’t afford to take time off. I was thinking of it more as a working holiday. I’d like to spend some time mapping out the next couple of months leading into the election.”

As dedicated as she was, Ethan knew he shouldn’t be surprised. “You want the rest of the team to come along?” he asked, as she buckled her seat belt and he closed his door. Having everyone there would cut down on his one-on-one time with Claudia. And his second in command, Pete Travis, had a major thing for her.

She made a face. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

At her answer, the gnawing in his gut increased. He leaned across her to open the glove compartment. When his search failed to produce a roll of antacids, he said, “I’ve got to stop at a drugstore on the way to the hotel.”

Ever the efficient campaign manager, she took out her BlackBerry. “Okay. There’s a Walgreens off the highway.” She punched the directions into his GPS. “I’ll let Peter know we’ll be a few minutes late.”

“Thanks.” They were expecting a volunteer update from the district managers within the next hour.

She was still on her BlackBerry when Ethan pulled into the brightly lit parking lot. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said as he undid his seat belt.

“Okay, I’ll wait for you here.” She looked up from her phone and angled her head. “Is that Kendall?”

Ethan followed the direction of her gaze to the leggy, butterscotch blonde in a black motorcycle jacket, knee-high black boots, and Daisy Duke denim shorts entering the store. Oh yeah, he’d recognize that hair and body from a mile away. And if he wasn’t mistaken, five parking spots over was Jack’s black Harley. It gave him heart palpations just thinking of her on that bike. And not the I’m-so-hot-for-her kind. More like the panic-attack kind.

“Yeah, looks like her.” He hadn’t seen Skye since the Strawberry Social. He’d thought about her… a lot. But hadn’t seen her. He’d been worried about her. Worried enough that he called Gage every few days and somehow found a way to work her into the conversation. Of course his best friend figured out what he was up to and busted his balls. But in the end, he’d relented and told Ethan what he needed to know. She was good and still helping Grace out. A couple of weeks ago, the Flahertys had moved into their new place, and Skye had moved into their apartment above the bakery. A piece of news Gage had been very happy to share.

“I wonder what she’s doing this far from Christmas.” Claudia shot him an uneasy glance. “You don’t think she’s stalking you, do you? We’re a good two hours from there.”

He wished she was. “Since no one’s been picketing our events, I’d say no. Looks like she took Jack’s bike out for a ride,” he said, lifting his chin to the Harley. And that was something he planned to talk to her about. Right. He’d have more luck talking to Jack.

Claudia unbuckled her seat belt. “I think I’ll come in with you. I just remembered a couple of things I have to pick up.”

“Tell me what you need. I’ll get them for you,” he said. He wanted to talk to Skye on his own.

“Um, they’re sort of personal. Feminine products, you know.”

“Gotcha. Come on.” When they reached the entrance to the pharmacy, Ethan held the door open for her. “I’ll meet you at the checkout.”

He didn’t spot Skye right away and searched several aisles before he saw two male clerks hanging around one of the rows. Great—she was in the feminine products aisle. Head bowed, studying the box in her hand, she didn’t notice him. It gave him an opportunity to do a leisurely perusal of the woman who played a frequent role in his dreams. His gaze lingering on her shapely, tanned legs, he didn’t realize Claudia had come up behind him until she scooted past him. “Kendall, what are you doing here?”

Skye’s head jerked up, and she dropped the box. “Ah, I’m…” She scooped the box off the black-and-white-tiled floor and grabbed a couple more off the bottom shelf. Her arms now full, she straightened. “Sorry. You startled me. What are you guys doing here?” she asked with a strained smile, her face flushed. She walked backward, pulling more items off the shelf.

“Campaigning in the area, and I needed—” Ethan began, before she cut him off.

“That’s great. Gotta go. Nice seeing you both.” She whirled around, dropping one of her items as she took off in the opposite direction.

“Is it just me or was she acting more weird than usual?” Claudia asked as she walked over to pick up the box Skye had dropped. “Maybe she’s just really anxious to get home and put these to good use.” She laughed and held up a box of magnum condoms.

* * *

Seriously? She drove all this way to make sure she didn’t run into anyone from Christmas, and she ran into the man she most wanted to avoid. If only she hadn’t put off picking up the pregnancy test until now. In her defense, she’d been busy. Busy in a way that made her think her luck was turning around. She had a place of her own, and Grace had reduced the rent. In exchange, Skye opened and closed the bakery and took a cut in pay. And just last week, she’d signed on two advertisers for her blog.

The cashier stood snapping her gum as she talked on her cell phone. Skye dumped her purchases onto the conveyer belt. “I’m kind of in a hurry, so if you don’t mind…” She smiled and nodded at the cash. The woman ignored her and kept talking.

“Okay, seeing as you’re busy, I’ll give you a hand.” Skye ran the pregnancy test past the scanner, leaned over the counter, and grabbed a plastic bag. “Um, do you have paper?”

“What do you think you’re doing? This isn’t one of those self-serve counters, you know.” The forty-something woman shoved her phone in her pocket, then grabbed the box and bag from Skye.

“Sorry, my mistake.” Skye leaned back to look past a rack of magazines and saw Ethan headed her way. “I’ve really gotta go,” she said, and started sliding her other purchases over the scanner.

“If you don’t stop that, I’m calling my manager.”

“I think you forgot something,” a deep voice said from behind Skye.

She turned, and sprawled across the conveyor belt, leaning on her elbow in what she hoped was an I’m-cool-and-totally-relaxed pose to hide her purchases from Ethan’s observant gaze. He handed her a box of condoms. “Thanks,” she said, tossing it over her shoulder.

“Ow,” the cashier yelped, then pushed Skye. “Get off of there right now and stop throwing things at me. Are you high?”

“Yes, I am. I’m high on life,” Skye said in a voice that sounded slightly manic even to her. She straightened, tilted sideways, and stretched her arms, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the damning evidence was now concealed in the bag. “Beautiful night out there, isn’t it?” she said to Ethan, who crossed his arms and raised a brow. It was a look that she imagined he used in the courtroom to intimidate witnesses. He was a little too good at it for her liking.

“What are you doing?” he asked, using his smooth, lawyerly voice. She didn’t like that voice. At all.

“Kink in my shoulder. Just stretching it out.” She smiled, added one more stretch for good measure, and snuck a quick peek behind her. Thankfully, everything was in the bag.

“Sixty-two fifty,” the woman said, looking past Skye with a flirty smile. “You’re Ethan O’Connor, aren’t you?”

Skye rolled her eyes, then briefly closed them when she realized the amount. What the heck had she bought? She fished out her black AmEx from the back pocket of her shorts and handed it to the woman, who took the card without looking at her. She was too busy batting her eyelashes at Ethan. “I love your ads. Me and my friends are voting for you. We need someone like you representing us,” she said as she ran the card through the machine.

“Could’ve called that one,” Skye said under her breath.

“Did you say something?” Ethan asked, once he’d thanked the woman.

Skye smiled sweetly up at him. “No, I didn’t say—”

“Your card was declined,” the cashier said with a smirk in her voice.

Skye’s smile faltered, and her face got hot. “There must be a mistake.” She hadn’t used that card in almost a year. “Can you try again, please?”

The woman released a loud, put-upon sigh. “I’ll have to call it in.”

Skye avoided looking at Ethan while listening to the cashier. Claudia appeared at his side. “Problem?” Claudia asked.

“No, there’s something wrong with their—” Skye began, then stopped when the cashier hung up the phone, took a pair of scissors from the drawer, and cut her credit card in half.

“You can’t do that,” Skye said, trying to grab a piece of plastic as it fluttered to the floor.

The woman gave her a smug smile. “I can when the credit company authorizes me to confiscate the card. Can you pay or should I put it all back?” she asked, even as she began taking the items out of the bag.

“No, I can pay. Stop that,” Skye said, grabbing the bag and clutching it to her chest with one hand as she dug into her back pocket with the other.

“Are you kidding me, Kendall?” Claudia shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Your father always said you were ridiculously inept at managing your money. He tried to get her trust fund changed because he was sure she’d blow it before she hit thirty,” Claudia confided to Ethan in a superior tone of voice. “I guess you’re lucky you have so much money, Kendall. No one, not even you, could spend your fortune.”

Wanna bet? Skye thought miserably.

“But you really should pay your bills if you don’t want to destroy your credit rating,” Claudia added.

If she only knew. Claudia had always been jealous of Skye’s fortune. She had no idea that Skye had bailed out Richard when he’d run into financial trouble several years ago. He’d been too embarrassed to go to Skye’s father, so he’d come to her instead. “FYI, Claudia, I forgot to send them my change of address. And really, what do I care about my credit rating? It’s not like I’ll ever need to borrow money,” Skye said in a flippant tone of voice, ignoring the disappointed look on Ethan’s face. She tossed a couple of crumpled twenties on the counter, reaching in the bag to remove a box of magnum condoms and a box of small ones. “Can you take these off the total and see what it comes—”

Ethan handed the cashier his credit card. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, but I’m not taking your money. I’ll just—”

He held her gaze as he stuffed the condom boxes back in the bag, a little more forcefully than she thought was necessary. “It’s worth the money to ensure you’re protected.”

“But I—” She was about to tell him it wasn’t what he thought, but she’d never seen Ethan angry, so she hurriedly said, “Okay, thanks. I’ll pay you back,” just to get out of there.

The cashier snorted, handing Ethan his receipt. “If her pregnancy test comes back positive, she won’t have to worry about protection. At least not for that.”

Skye stared at the woman. She didn’t just say that? Yeah, she did, Skye realized, taking in both Ethan and Claudia’s shocked expressions.

She had to think of something fast. “Oh, come on, you can’t seriously think that test is for me? It’s for Grace. Why do you think I came all this way to buy it? She doesn’t want Jack to know. She wants it to be a surprise if she is. So you guys better keep this on the down-low, got it?” She narrowed one eye and made a gun with her fingers.

Ethan visibly relaxed. “We won’t say anything. I hope Grace gets the news she wants.”

“Oh, God, me too,” Skye said.

Ethan’s gaze narrowed at her as he paid cash for a roll of Tums and a pack of gum.

“Antacids aren’t good for you, you know. They’ll give you leaky gut syndrome and pollute your colon and liver. Try cutting back on the greasy food and sugar,” she said as a means of distracting him. Plus, it was true. “Ciao.” She waved and hurried off, leaving Ethan and the two women staring after her.

As Skye roared out of the parking lot on the Harley, she thought how a session of primal therapy might be just what the doctor ordered to alleviate the stress from her run-in with Ethan and Claudia. She didn’t, though, not with the possibility she had a baby on board.

Three hours later, it was no longer a possibility but an actuality. The stick had turned blue. And sitting on the cold floor in the bathroom of her apartment, Skye indulged in a fifteen-minute primal therapy session. And when she finished screaming, she cried really loud and really hard for a good twenty minutes straight. By the time she pulled herself to her feet and looked in the mirror over the sink, her eyes were practically swollen shut, her cheeks were blotchy, and her nose was red and two times its normal size. She stared back at the terrified, exhausted woman in the mirror and said, “Suck it up, buttercup.”