CHAPTER 10 #2
By the time we get back to the yard, I feel content and whole. I know my life is changing, and I’m okay with it. But the moment I slide off the saddle and my feet hit the ground, the world spins. Weakness hits me, and I crumble to the dirt.
Somebody is yelling my name as I lose consciousness.
Beeping sounds and overhead calls pull me back to the world. The sharp scent of hospital antiseptic invades my nostrils. I roll to the side, and a bowl is instantly pressed against me. I throw up nothing but bile and acid.
“What happened?” Butcher asks softly.
I try to focus on him, but the world is spinning out of control. I close my eyes and groan as I flop back onto the pillow.
“My head is killing me,” I say, my voice barely audible.
“It should be. You haven’t eaten all day. Are you trying to kill yourself?” Butcher’s voice is tinged with anger and hurt.
“No. I didn’t feel good this morning. I haven’t felt good for a couple of days. I think it’s just lack of sleep.”
“It’s not,” a doctor says as he steps into the room. “I have some of your test results. I can wait until your friends leave to discuss them.”
Butcher and Ty get up from their seats.
“They can stay. They’re my family.” Which is true for Ty, and Butcher is becoming that way.
The doctor looks down at his tablet, then back at me. “Is one of these guys your boyfriend?”
“No,” Butcher says, and the doc looks at Ty.
“Not me either,” Ty adds.
My stomach curdles. “Okay. Guys, step out.” I fear I know what he’s about to say.
Not once did we use protection, and I know pills aren’t a hundred percent. I start to feel the panic rising, and my breathing gets out of control.
The doctor moves closer, and so does Ty.
“What’s the matter with her?” he asks as my vision starts to blur along the edges.
I look up at the doctor. “It’s not true is it. Take another test. I can’t be.”
The doctor shakes his head. “It’s true.”
“What?” Ty raises his voice, and I cringe back, unable to help it. “Sorry. What’s the matter with her?”
The doctor looks between us again. “She’s pregnant,” he says. “I’d like to run a few more tests to figure out why she fainted, but I don’t need to rerun the pregnancy test. It’s positive twice over. Blood and urine.”
My world spins out of control. I’d just decided I needed to move on, and now I can’t. I’ll never be away from Callum. When he decides to marry someone else and move on with his life, I’ll have to watch. What am I going to do?
My hand drifts down to my flat stomach, and for a moment, I cradle the life inside me. In my heart, I know what I will do, but my mind is still spinning.
Can I be strong enough for that? Is it even an option I’m willing to consider?
Ty’s hand on my shoulder startles me from my thoughts. “Andi, you’re going to have to tell him.”
Tears start rolling down my face. “I know.”
They keep me in the hospital overnight for observation. They figure out that not only was my blood sugar low because I hadn’t eaten all day, but I was also dehydrated from not drinking due to the nausea.
By morning, I still don’t know what to do, but Ty drives me back to the ranch in his truck. He doesn’t speak to me, and when he drops me off at the cabin, I ignore Butcher, who still doesn’t know what’s going on, and step into my small space.
I crawl into bed fully clothed and curl into a ball. The tears haven’t stopped. It’s all I’ve been doing since I found out. I cry, and I worry. I know this isn’t good for the baby or myself.
I glance at the nightstand and see my phone sitting there. I can’t stop myself. I power it on and wait to see what happens. The phone immediately starts vibrating in my hand, blowing up with text messages and voicemails.
I listen to the voicemails first. My heart breaks as I hear Callum’s voice, begging me to call him. Asking me what happened. Telling me he misses me. And then they change.
“Nymph, all I can say is you misheard what was said. I’m so very sorry.
I’d like to start over from here.” He clears his throat.
“Hello, I’m Callum Rutherford. I’m a single dad after adopting my niece when my sister was killed.
I’m not looking for a mom for her. But if you’re interested, I’d hire you in a heartbeat. ” He laughs, and I do too.
“I screw up and make decisions over and over without thinking them through. I even fucked with the birth control of the woman I love to get her pregnant because I didn’t want to live without her.”
I gasp as I put a hand to my mouth. He loves me. He’s the reason I’m pregnant.
“I didn’t deserve her. She doesn’t know everything about me. She sees this mature, strong man, but I’m afraid…” He chokes up. “Let me call you back. This message is getting long.”
He hangs up, and the next one starts. “I’m afraid all the time. I saw and did horrible things when I was in the military. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and be back there without her. She’s everything to me. If she saw me weak in that moment, it would destroy me. More than when she walked away from me.”
He takes a deep breath. “Then there’s the fact that I was scared to run my family’s ranch, so I took off.
I was mad at my father for choosing the ranch over my sister.
My mother was toxic. She’s the reason I learned to be cautious when trusting women.
But Andi wasn’t into me for my money or the ranch.
She only wanted me, the man, and to be wanted herself.
I should have told her more often how much she meant to me.
But every time I was near her, all I could do was get deep inside her body. ”
He sighs, then I hear Ria in the background. “I’ll call you again.”
The last message ends, and my phone startles me when it rings. It’s him.
I answer but don’t say a word.
“Are you there?” he asks, then pauses. “Okay, I’ll continue what I was saying.
Ria took some time to get settled. She needed her diaper changed, a bottle, and then I had to cuddle her for a bit before she’d lie down.
I think she misses you. I know it was brief, but I believe she does.
Don’t take that as a reason to come back or say anything to me. ” He pauses.
“So let me continue my story. My mother had talked my sister into living with her and walking away from the ranch. My father let her go without a fight or a dime to her name. I blamed him for not giving Carrie access to her trust fund at the time. We both know my mother would have used it up, but it didn’t matter.
He shouldn’t have let her walk away with nothing. ”
He’s quiet for a while, and I pull the phone away to make sure he didn’t hang up.
“I took off, leaving everything behind, and only used my own money until he died. Then I got it all. I wanted to give Carrie a share, but the lawyers said I couldn’t.
There was a huge stipulation in the will.
If my sister gained access to a single cent, then everything would be sold at auction.
I couldn’t let my grandfather’s hard work go that way.
So I took the chicken shit way and listened to them. ” He huffs.
“I didn’t know Carrie had gotten pregnant or married.
Hell, I didn’t even know where she was. I didn’t know about Ria.
Carrie’s husband murdered her and my mom in a fit of rage.
He wanted the money. In the end, he took his own life too.
I lost everything in a single moment, except for Ria. Then I lost you.”
“Callum,” I sob, and I can practically hear him swallow across the line.
“Baby, tell me where you are. Please. I need to explain what you misheard.”
“No. I didn’t misinterpret anything. You and Ria deserve peace and safety. My life is too crazy right now. I’ll be in touch.”
I hang up on him, then open my text messages. I read all the ones he sent. He goes from begging me to come back to telling me he loves me.
I want to say the words back, but I can’t. I won’t as long as this person is after me. I’ll do everything I can to protect this baby. When they catch my stalker, if Callum still wants us, I’ll go back to him. Until then, I’m staying here, hidden and safe.
“I’ll protect you, little one.” I rub my stomach. “Your daddy is an amazing man.”
I fall asleep cradling my phone to my chest, thinking about everything Callum told me. I’m not scared of him. He’d never hurt me. I know he’s a good man who was put into a messed-up situation.