Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“ Y ou’re blaming me?”
Larissa gaped at him. “You think this is my fault?”
The big jerk’s eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe she wasn’t accepting responsibility.
“I’m the one who you’ve almost bowled over twice!”
“How was I supposed to know you were on my ass yesterday? I was going out the door when you came barging in. You’re obviously looking down at the ground instead of watching what’s ahead.”
“I’m the one not watching? You turned around yesterday without looking, and when you came out of the store, you were too busy sucking that coffee cup to care that anyone was coming inside!”
“I was watching where I was going,” he argued.
“I was watching where I was going, too,” she countered.
“Why were you coming back inside?”
“I was coming back inside because, when I was getting into my car, I found a cell phone on the ground and was bringing it inside.” Realizing she must have dropped it when they bumped into each other, she looked down at the ground. “There it is.” Larissa pointed to where the cell phone was lying next to the newspaper machine. She could tell from his surprised expression whose phone it was.
“It must have slipped out of my pocket when I went up the step,” he admitted with a pained expression.
When there was no thanks forthcoming, Larissa hopped on her good foot to start back toward her car.
God, why on earth had she had sex with that man? The sex voice, which had lured her toward the bed, was missing, for sure. She didn’t have to be told he wasn’t attracted to her; his treatment of her made it glaringly obvious. She bet, if she looked like one of the women Priscilla had told her about, he would have gone down on his knees to beg her forgiveness.
Opening her car door, she glanced in his directions as he picked the items he had purchased off the ground. Moon’s total disregard for her feelings had anger flowing through her veins.
Bracing her hand on the roof of her car, she let her fury fly. “I just moved to Treepoint, and if you’re an example of the men who live in this town, I feel sorry for the women. You are so full of yourself, no wonder you can’t see where you’re going—your big head won’t look down.”
The big jerk gave her a mean stare, which she returned in spades.
“You don’t scare me. I’ve taken on bigger and badder, believe me. You want to know what I found out about them?”
“Not really.”
“The bigger the ego, the smaller the dick.”
“As you’re never going to get near my dick, I guess you’ll never know, will you?”
His sarcastic remark didn’t faze her. It was everything she could do not to tell him she could tell him what size his dick was, but she wasn’t that far gone.
“Thank God!” she yelled at him.
“Amen!” he shouted back at her.
She got in her car before saying something regrettable and drove out of the parking lot, calling Moon a litany of names.
Her being the first one in the office allowed her enough time to cool down before Priscilla arrived. Going to her desk, she pulled up today’s calendar. Her first appointment wasn’t until eight.
Larissa was about to click onto another screen when she saw the small notation at the top corner. Frowning, she pulled up last month’s calendar, hoping she was wrong.
Closing her eyes, she ran her fingers over her forehead.
You’re just late , she told herself as she pushed her computer chair back from the desk.
Her stomach churned as she went to the treatment room next to her private office. After opening the drawer with the pregnancy tests, she went to the restroom.
With shaking fingers, she opened the pregnancy test. Then, making sure the door was locked, she took it.
Deep down, she didn’t need to see the result before the positive sign appeared. She was never late.
Carrying the test and wrapper back into the treatment room, she disposed of it before returning to her office.
She closed the door and laid her head on her desk.
She detested Moon. He would off himself if he found out she was having his baby. He couldn’t stand her any more than she could him. Would he even believe it was his child? Probably not, and she didn’t want to find out. There was no way she would let that conceited oaf anywhere near her baby.
Pulling a tissue from the box on her desk, she wiped her eyes before taking her purse out. She repaired her makeup, then went to the breakroom to find a snack and grabbed a juice.
Forcing herself to eat despite the food tasting like cardboard, she took the last bite when her appointment arrived.
When she was finishing up, Priscilla walked in.
“Good morning.”
Larissa forced a cheerful smile to her lips. “Good morning,” she returned her sister’s greeting.
“How are you doing, Ginny?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“The baby healthy and happy?” Priscilla grinned at the expectant mother.
Ginny gave her a rueful smile. “From the way she’s dancing on my bladder, a little too happy.”
“You still think you’re having a girl?”
“Yes, at least until the baby comes out and proves me wrong,” she joked.
Larissa laughed. “I admire your restraint. I wouldn’t be able to help myself from asking during the ultrasound.”
“All I care about is if she’s healthy. Whether it’s a boy or girl, I really don’t care.”
“I’m surprised Gavin didn’t come with you today. He hasn’t missed any of your appointments so far,” Priscilla commented.
“He’s out of town, on business,” Ginny explained.
“Tell him we missed him, then,” Priscilla said as she took off her coat and hat.
“I will. Bye.”
“Bye. See you in four weeks.”
“You’re early,” Larissa said once Ginny had left.
“I thought I would get caught up on some paperwork before my appointment arrives.”
“I’ll be in my office if you need me. I want to check in with Eryn. She missed her appointment yesterday.”
Priscilla frowned. “That isn’t like her.”
“I know. I’m concerned. I called her yesterday when she missed her appointment, but she didn’t answer. I left a voicemail, and she hasn’t called back. Maybe something came up and she hasn’t had the time to respond yet? I’ll feel better once I’ve spoken with her.”
Priscilla nodded. “Keep me updated.”
“I will.”
Larissa returned to her office to make the call. Still receiving no answer, she left another voicemail. Then, biting her lip, she went to the front office to wait for her next appointment. Once she finished the appointment, she’d have a two-hour break.
She Googled Eryn’s address and saw it was twenty minutes away. Plenty of time to go check on Eryn and be back before she was needed. Should she, though? She had only seen Eryn twice. Could she have changed her mind about using her as a midwife and didn’t want to tell her? It wouldn’t be the first time a patient had dodged her calls.
She was still indecisive when her next patient arrived. Clearing her mind. she greeted them.
The appointment took an hour, as she needed to go over Mrs. Terrell’s medical history and the folder she had put together for her, which gave her all the information to talk through with her husband to help in their decision-making. The next step would be for the couple to decide if they preferred to use Priscilla, her, or give both of them a pass.
Before Mrs. Terrill left, Larissa introduced her to Priscilla. Then, after she’d escorted her to the door, Larissa turned back to her sister.
“She seemed nice.”
“I agree.”
Priscilla leaned on the side of the front desk. “How’d it go?”
“I couldn’t tell.” Larissa shrugged. “She seemed interested in both options. I guess we’ll know in a few days.”
Larissa went back to her office to call Eryn again. Hanging up the phone, she looked up as Priscilla walked in.
“Still haven’t heard from Eryn?”
Making up her mind, she went to the closet to take out her coat.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to drive to her house and check on her.”
Priscilla frowned. “How far away?”
“About twenty minutes. I’ll be back before my next appointment.”
“I’m not worried about that. I could do the appointment for you. I just don’t want you going by yourself. Wait until my appointment is over, and I’ll go with you.”
“You have two appointments back-to-back; I don’t want to wait.”
“No, then I’ll cancel my appointment and go with you.”
“You can’t. It’s Crazy Bitch. She would have already left her house. In all likelihood, she just doesn’t want to use me and didn’t want to tell me.”
“Was she still having issues with her husband?”
“I don’t think so. She told me he had agreed to a divorce and was giving her space to think it over.”
“Call the sheriff’s office and ask them for a welfare check on her. I really don’t feel good about you going.”
“Eryn told me Dennis threatened her the last time she called the police on him. I don’t want to start an argument if they did decide to get back together. I’ll take my phone and call you before I go in. You can hear the whole thing.”
Taking her phone out of the desk, Larissa walked from her office to the front just as Crazy Bitch arrived for her appointment.
“Hey, honoree bitches. What’s shaking?”
Larissa laughed. “You’re in a good mood today.”
Crazy Bitch came sashaying into the office as if she felt like a million bucks. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve been keeping my man busy this month. You’re going to give me some good news today, aren’t you?”
Larissa and Priscilla shared worried glances. The way Crazy Bitch was acting, she was practically warning them that the pregnancy test she was about to take better be positive.
“Yes … we’ll”—Larissa cleared her throat—“hope for the best. You can go into the treatment room, and Priscilla will be right there.”
“Where you going?” Crazy Bitch’s expression turned turbulent. “Don’t you want to be here when I get the news?”
“Of course, I do,” Larissa hastened to assure her. “Unfortunately, I need to go check on a patient. Priscilla will call me when she has your results.”
“Won’t be the same without you here.”
Larissa reached out to take Crazy Bitch’s hand. “I wouldn’t leave if I didn’t have to. Priscilla can put me on speaker phone right after you take the test. I’ll still be driving. I might not be here in person, but I’ll be with you when you find out. Will that work?”
“I guess it’ll have to. But if the test is negative, I’m going to wait here until you come back and break your other foot.”
“Having you as a patient is such a joy,” Larissa told her.
Crazy Bitch narrowed her eyes at her. “You’re kissing up to me, aren’t you? Because you’re making fucking bank off me, aren’t you?”
“Totally,” Larissa teased her.
“Works for me.” Crazy Bitch nodded at her. “Keep it up.”
Larissa shook her head at the woman. “Call me when you’re ready,” she told her sister, heading for the door.
Priscilla held the door open for her. “I wish you would wait.”
Larissa wished she would, too, but the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was prompting her to go.
“I won’t be long,” she promised, maneuvering her crutches through the doorway.
Thankfully, the weather was on her side, and it was turning out to be a sunny day, brightening her spirits. Eryn’s fine , she told herself. At least with her going, she’d be able to assure Eryn that there were no hard feelings for her deciding to go the other route with the birth of her baby. Yeah … it was going to be fine with Eryn. Who she really should be worried about was Crazy Bitch. She wasn’t exactly one hundred percent positive the wild woman wouldn’t break her only good foot.