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Dr. Jenkins nodded and placed his hand over Maggie’s in a kindly gesture. “Quite sure. The fetus was clearly visible on the CT scan.”
Maggie shook her head, as if denying the truth of the doctor’s words. “But I can’t get pregnant!”
The older man smiled ruefully. “If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that...”
“No, you don’t understand,” Maggie said forcefully. “I have endometriosis. I’ve had it since puberty. It’s so bad I had a surgical ablation six months ago to help relieve my symptoms. My gynecologist told me I probably wouldn’t be able to have children due to all the scar tissue that’s developed over the years.”
Dr. Jenkins nodded. “I hear what you’re saying. But the scan clearly showed you’re pregnant. As for the how of it, I think the obstetrician will be better suited to answer your questions. That’s not my area of expertise.”
Thorne finally found his voice. “How far along is she?” He held his breath, feeling like he was standing on the edge of a cliff. What the doctor said next would determine whether he plunged into a free fall or stepped back to the safety of his normal life.
Dr. Jenkins cast him a glance. “I can’t say for sure—” he began, but Maggie cut him off.
“Three months,” she said evenly. She met Thorne’s gaze; her blue eyes glinted with challenge, as if she was daring him to question the paternity of the baby.
The doctor nodded. “I’d say that’s consistent with fetal measurements and development. The obstetrician will likely be able to narrow it down further.”
“I see,” Thorne said weakly. He tried to take a deep breath, but there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. He gasped, his chest tightening with effort. His fingertips began to tingle and he leaned forward, trying to stand.
A hand shot out and grabbed his upper arm, holding him steady. Thorne looked up and Dr. Jenkins’s concerned face filled his vision. “Are you okay?”
Thorne nodded. “I just need some air.” He managed to get his feet under him and staggered out of the room, feeling like his body weighed a thousand pounds.
A baby. He was going to be a father.
He found a chair in the hall and collapsed into it, grateful for the support. How was this even possible?
Well, he knew how it had happened. He remembered every second of that night—every touch, every kiss, every sigh. He’d been living off the memories for the last three months, knowing it was all he’d ever have.
But even though he’d finally indulged in his attraction to Maggie, he’d made sure to use protection. He wasn’t ready to be a father, and he hadn’t wanted to saddle her with a child, either.
Especially not his child.
A cold chill gripped his heart as he thought of his brother Knox and his nephew, Cody. A few months ago, one of Livia’s old cronies, Earl Hefferman, had kidnapped Cody in a bid to get back at Livia for cheating him out of some money. Fortunately, Knox had found his son safe and sound, but the aftershocks of that terrifying ordeal still affected them all.
What would happen if Livia or, God forbid, her enemies found out about this baby? He harbored no illusions about how his mother would react; she would see this child as another pawn to be moved around in her sick game of chess. And her accomplices would feel the same way. His stomach cramped at the thought of an innocent baby being exposed to such wicked people. Maggie wasn’t safe, either. As long as she carried his child, she was a target.
And it seemed like someone was already trying to hurt her.
He shuddered, imagining the giant fireball that had consumed her car. A few more minutes, and Maggie would have been inside the car when it exploded. She was definitely a target, but who would want to do her harm? And more importantly, why?
Given the look of shock on her face, she hadn’t known about the pregnancy, which meant no one else did, either. But it was possible Livia or one of her goons had figured out that Maggie held a special place in his heart. Livia wasn’t above hurting an innocent person to get what she wanted, and if she had her sights set on punishing Thorne for his lack of support during her trial it made sense she would target the one woman he’d shown an interest in, even if he had walked away after their night together.
He wouldn’t put it past Livia to have hired people to keep tabs on her children, reporting back any developments that she could use against them. And his night with Maggie would not have gone unnoticed. It had been years since he’d dated anyone, and he didn’t enjoy one-night stands. A woman staying the night in his apartment certainly would have been news, and he could picture all too well Livia’s gleeful reaction at the discovery of a new button she could push.
Thorne shook his head, cursing under his breath. He’d wasted so much time worrying about Maggie’s reputation should anyone find out about their connection. He should have realized the true threat came from Livia, especially after her escape from prison months ago.
“There you are.”
Thorne glanced up to find his brother Knox walking toward him. A wave of relief washed over him; next to Mac, Knox was the glue that held their family together. He’d always looked up to his older half brother and just seeing him now made Thorne feel like everything was going to be okay.
“What are you doing here?” Thorne stood and met his brother halfway down the hall. “It’s good to see you, but what’s going on?” A terrible thought occurred to him, and Thorne’s stomach dropped. “Are Cody and Allison okay?” God, had someone targeted them, as well?
Knox clapped a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. “They’re fine, everyone’s okay,” he said. “I’m here for you. Mac called me,” he explained. “Said there’d been an explosion at the ranch and you were here with Maggie.”
Thorne nodded, glad to know no one else had been hurt today. “She’s in with the doctor now. She has a concussion and some bruised ribs.” He paused, wondering if he should tell Knox the rest of the news. Maggie might not want anyone to know about the baby yet.
Knox picked up on his hesitation. “And?” he prompted.
Ah, to hell with it. Her pregnancy affected his life, too, and Knox wasn’t the kind of man to spread gossip. Still, Thorne glanced around to make sure no one was nearby to overhear his next words. “And she’s, uh, she’s pregnant,” he said, keeping his voice low.
Knox’s eyebrows shot up. “By the way you’re acting, can I assume the baby is yours?”
Thorne nodded. “I think so.”
“You think so? You mean you don’t know for sure?”
Thorne looked down, resisting the temptation to scuff the toe of his boot on the shiny linoleum floor. “We haven’t had a chance to talk yet.”
Knox leaned back against the wall, blowing out his breath in a sigh. “Well. That will be some conversation.”
Thorne fell into place beside his brother with a small laugh. “Yeah.”
Knox was silent a moment. Then he leaned over and bumped Thorne’s shoulder with his own. “Don’t you know how birth control works?”
“We used a condom.” Thorne felt his face heat and knew he was blushing. “I still have that box you bought me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Knox turned to face him, incredulity shining in his bright blue eyes. “I gave you that box when you were still in high school! Do you mean to tell me you haven’t used them all yet?”
“No.” Thorne’s shoulders hunched and he looked down again, searching for an escape from this conversation. “Wendy Smithson broke up with me a few weeks after your little sex ed lesson, and I haven’t really dated a lot of women since then.”
“Yeah, but...”
“There were a hundred condoms in the box,” Thorne pointed out dryly. “I’m glad you think so highly of me, but I haven’t had a lot of success with women. I understand horses a lot better.”
“Who doesn’t?” Knox muttered. He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the short light brown strands. “You know they have a shelf life, right? They’re not as reliable after the expiration date. The latex starts to break down.”
Thorne leveled an arch stare at his brother. “Do tell.”
Knox chuckled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Fair enough. I suppose congratulations are in order, then?”
“I...” Thorne trailed off, wondering how he should respond. In truth, he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the news. He’d gone from an initial sense of shock to fear over what Livia might do to Maggie or the baby. He hadn’t really considered what having a baby actually meant, and all the ways in which his life was going to change. Having children was something he’d thought was years down the line. To be faced with the prospect now was a bit unsettling, and to be honest, it was still too soon for him to know what to think.
Knox lifted one eyebrow, taking in his reaction. “Still in shock?”
Thorne nodded. It was easier than explaining everything, and it was close to the truth.
“I can relate,” his brother said, offering a sympathetic smile.
Several months ago, Knox had reunited with his old high school love, Allison, and learned that her son, Cody, was his. At the time, Thorne hadn’t wanted to pry into his brother’s personal life, especially after the boy was kidnapped. But now, faced with his own paternity surprise, Thorne needed some advice.
“How did it work for you?” he asked bluntly. “I mean, how did you come to terms with learning about Cody?”
Knox scratched the side of his jaw, his expression turning thoughtful. “It was different for me,” he said. “I already knew about Cody, I just didn’t know I was his father. I realized it as soon as I saw him, though. Everything just kind of clicked into place.”
“Yeah, but didn’t you worry about how your life was going to change? How different things would be now that you have a child?”
“Of course I did. And let me tell you, everything does change once you have a kid. There’s really no way to prepare for that—it’s just something you have to accept. It’s kind of like trying to swim against the current. You can struggle and fight to stay where you are and burn up all your energy for nothing. Or you can relax and let yourself be carried into your new life.” He shook his head with a rueful laugh. “I’m terrible at metaphors, but hopefully you get the idea.”
“I don’t know if I can be that Zen about it,” Thorne said. He was a planner by nature and he liked routine. Some might call his life boring, but it served him well with the horses—his methodical, careful actions engendered their trust, which was a gift he never took for granted.
Knox tilted his head to the side, his gaze bright with understanding. “It’ll come,” he said quietly. “Besides, you have months to adjust to the idea of being a father.”
“That’s true,” Thorne allowed. Hopefully it was enough time to figure things out.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re going to make a great dad.”
Thorne closed his eyes, absorbing Knox’s words. It meant a lot to know that the brother he looked up to thought he could do this job. Maybe he could borrow his confidence until he found his own.
“I hope you’re right,” he whispered.
“I am. Now, let’s go check on your girl.”
Thorne opened his mouth to correct Knox, but thought better of it. Maggie wasn’t his girl, not anymore. His actions had seen to that. But now that she and his unborn child were in danger, would she let him back into her life?
* * *
One of the overhead lights was about to burn out.
It flickered randomly, alternately dimming and flaring bright, humming faintly in the otherwise quiet room. Maggie hadn’t noticed it before, but now that Dr. Jenkins had left and she was alone—
No, she thought. I’m not alone. Not really.
She placed her palm flat on her abdomen, right between her hip bones. Over her baby.
Baby. She marveled at the word, hardly daring to believe it. Was it really true?
Of course it was, she thought. Dr. Jenkins wouldn’t lie. Not about something like that. She closed her eyes, picturing the older man’s face as he’d told her the news. You’re pregnant. He’d said the words so casually, as if he spoke them every day. Perhaps he did. But to Maggie, those two little words did more than just explain her recent fatigue and nausea. They signified a miracle had taken place, marking a transformation she’d never thought she would experience.
She hadn’t really given the idea of children much thought, until her doctor had told her that due to her endometriosis she likely wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. The painful condition that had plagued her since the onset of puberty had damaged her body, leaving swaths of scar tissue in its wake.
“Your fallopian tubes are almost completely blocked,” Dr. Owens had said, her voice calm and kind as she broke the news. She pointed to two thin lines on the diagram she held, the tip of her pen leaving little blue dots against the pink of the illustration. “It’s a delicate area to begin with, and because of the chronic inflammation, I’m afraid it’s been damaged beyond repair. I’m so sorry.”
It had taken a while for the news to sink in. Maggie had been nineteen at the time, still at a stage in her life where the idea of children was more scary than appealing. But as the years had ticked by, a sadness tinged with anger had filled her. It was one thing to not want children; it was quite another to have that choice taken away before she’d even had a chance to decide for herself.
For a while, she’d stopped dating. Most men wanted a family, and since she wasn’t capable of having a baby, she didn’t want to fall in love with someone who would eventually leave her or grow to resent her for the things she couldn’t provide. Better to be alone than experience the pain of unmet expectations.
Except...she’d grown tired of being single. There had to be a few men out there who didn’t want kids, or who would be happy to adopt. She just had to find them.
Her girlfriends Sonia and Amber had celebrated her return to the dating scene. They’d been after her for a while to take a chance. And while Maggie had never been one to act rashly, their words had clearly influenced her because she hadn’t hesitated to hop into bed with Thorne as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Now she had one hell of a souvenir to remember him by.
She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what the baby might look like. Thorne’s light brown eyes and her blond hair? Or her blue eyes and his brown hair? How would her pale skin blend with his darker shade? Whatever the result, she knew their child was going to be beautiful.
“I’ll take care of you,” she promised softly, a sense of determination settling over her like a second skin. And she would. Better to be a single mother than to deal with a man who might not be interested in being a father. This baby was a new life, a blank slate. Maggie was determined to do right by her child, even if that meant her own life would be more difficult than she’d wanted.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. “Come in,” she called. Anticipation made her stomach flutter—was the obstetrician here to tell her more about the pregnancy?
The door opened, and Thorne poked his head around the edge. “Hello,” he said, sounding a little shy. “Do you mind if we come in?”
We? Who was he talking about? Curiosity had her nodding her head.
Thorne pushed into the room, followed by his older brother, Knox. Maggie didn’t know Knox all that well, but Mac often spoke well of him, so that was enough for her.
Thorne resumed his seat next to her bed while Knox stood at her side. He offered her a kind smile. “I heard you had quite a scare today. How are you?”
Maggie cut a glance over to Thorne. Had he told his brother about the baby? He met her eyes, his expression unreadable. “I’m okay,” she said carefully. “A little shaken up.”
Knox nodded. “That’s to be expected.”
“Are you here as part of an investigation?” She knew he’d retired from the Texas Rangers, but perhaps Knox was consulting with the police because the explosion had taken place on Mac’s ranch.
He shook his head. “Not exactly. Mac called me and told me what had happened. I was in the area, so I figured I’d stop by and see how you and Thorne were holding up.”
Maggie leaned back against the too-small pillow with a sigh. She hadn’t really given the explosion much thought after learning about her pregnancy—funny how her priorities had already shifted. Now the memory of her new car going up in flames invaded her thoughts, and the heavy weight of worry dropped onto her shoulders.
“I’ll be doing much better when the police figure out why my car blew up.”
Knox shifted, cocking one hip and hooking his thumb through a belt loop. “See, that’s the thing,” he said, his tone friendly. “In my experience, cars just don’t explode for no reason. This was the result of a deliberate act.”
A chill skittered down Maggie’s spine, and goose bumps broke out on her arms. “There’s no chance this was some kind of mechanical flaw? A frayed wire, maybe?”
Knox gave her a pitying look. “I don’t think so.”
Maggie suddenly felt very small and vulnerable. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them, then practically jumped out of her skin when a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked over to find Thorne standing next to her, his expression apologetic.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay,” she said, surprised to find that she meant it. She hadn’t expected Thorne to touch her, but she hadn’t minded it, either. It seemed her body was willing to draw comfort from any source, no matter what her heart had to say about it.
Dismissing the moment, she returned her focus to Knox and the issue at hand. “Why would someone want to blow up my car? I’m nobody important. What could possibly be the motive here?”
Knox opened his mouth to respond, but a voice from the door beat him to it.
“Excellent questions, Ms. Lowell. Fortunately, I think I have the answers.”
Chapter 5 (#uc922640d-38ac-577d-b18d-d49ef35f557b)
