Those questions were too dangerous, she thought, and shied away from them. She loved her work and would hate to think he’d created the job out of pity. If nothing else, she wanted him to respect her abilities. Maybe she could—
The examining-room door opened and the doctor stepped in. The gray-haired woman smiled at her. “Cathy? I’m Dr. Chastin, but please call me Maddy. How are you feeling?”
“Good. A little nervous. I don’t think anyonelikestheir yearly exam, but I know it’s important. Oh, I told the nurse that I would like a prescription for birth-control pills.”
“Yes, she mentioned it.” The doctor settled on the stool next to the table. “You’re in a relationship?”
“Yes. I’m monogamous, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“I am, but not for reasons you’re thinking.” The doctor had a kindly expression. The lines around her eyes and mouth hinted at a happy nature. She made Cathy feel very comfortable.
She took Cathy’s hand in hers. “You’re a little late for the birth-control pills. We check all our patients’ urine samples, and yours came up positive. You’re pregnant.”
Chapter Fifteen
Cathy didn’t remember much about the rest of her appointment. When she was next aware of herself, she was sitting in her car staring at a handful of brochures and pamphlets on prenatal care. She also had another appointment for a check-up. She would have to come in more regularly now that she was going to have a baby.
A baby! Dear God, she was pregnant.
She pressed her left hand against her still flat stomach. There was life growing inside of her, and she hadn’t even known. She vaguely recalled the doctor calculating her due date based on her last period.
“I’m so late,” she told herself as she stared out the windshield and tried to make sense of it all. “Why didn’t I notice?”
Maybe she hadn’t wanted to, she thought honestly. She and Stone had been pretty hit-and-miss with the birth control, and she had to take responsibility for that. She had been a virgin, but that was no excuse for being irresponsible. Now there were serious consequences for their actions. She was going to have to make some difficult decisions.
Cathy set the brochures on the seat next to her and fastened her seat belt. Then she started the car. She supposed she should go home and discuss this with Stone. But the truth was she wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. Her head was spinning. She needed some time to come to terms with what was happening.
She left the parking lot without a particular destination in mind. Ten minutes later, she saw a large bookstore up ahead on the right and quickly changed lanes. Cathy parked and walked inside. After a couple of minutes of searching, she found the child-care section. She collected several books on pregnancy, took them over to a chair in the corner and sat down.
Not knowing what to expect, Cathy flipped through the books. Several had pictures of ultrasounds, line drawings and computer images of the different stages of development. She stared at them, but didn’t feel any connection. The doctor’s statement that she was pregnant made about as much sense as saying she was going to be abducted by aliens.
Cathy looked through the rest of the books, then picked two that seemed to have comprehensive information. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she was about to be responsible for another person. She was going to have to learn what to do to stay healthy for both herself and the new life growing inside of her.
She thought about the past few weeks. Oddly enough, she hadn’t had anything to drink. Not even at the masked ball. She’d been so nervous that she’d been afraid alcohol would upset her stomach. That was something. She figured she could talk to Ula about a healthy diet, although she was already consuming plenty of fruits, vegetables and lean protein. She was going to have to increase her calcium, the doctor had said.
Cathy paid for the books and returned to her car. She had to go home. She had to talk to Stone.
What was she going to say to him? What was he going to say in return? She shivered and realized it came from fear. She was terrified.
She knew that he wanted to be with her. She knew that they had passion, but what else? Anything? In her heart she was afraid that if she pressed him for more, he would simply turn away from her. He’d never once indicated that he was interested in them being more than friends.
She bit down hard on her lower lip and fought back tears. It was all going to fall apart. She could feel it in her gut. He hadn’t loved Evelyn, even though she’d loved him desperately and had even been his wife. They’d grown up together. She’d known him for years. If Evelyn hadn’t been able to make him fall in love with her, what hope did she, Cathy, have?
History was repeating itself, she thought sadly. He would let her go without a second thought.
As she pulled into the driveway and parked her car, she tried to tell herself she was jumping to conclusions. After all, Stone might surprise her.
“How?” she asked aloud. “Will he suddenly realize he can’t live without me?”
Not likely, she thought. Not likely at all.
It didn’t matter, she told herself. Either way she had to find out the truth. She owed them both that…make that she owed the three of them that.
She stuffed the brochures into the bag with the books and made her way inside. The foyer was still overly large and very impressive. The curved staircase led up to the second and third floors. There were too many rooms. She’d never counted or visited them all, but she knew that to be true. Stone lived in a different world from her. He was wealthy and he’d been wealthy all his life. She was a nobody he’d practically taken off the streets. What on earth had she been thinking?
She climbed to the second floor and walked down the hall to her office. Maybe if she worked for a while she could clear her head enough to make sense of it all. She walked into her office and stared at the familiar furniture.
More games of pretense, she thought as the rest of the truth sank in. She hadn’t fooled anyone but herself. She wasn’t a businesswoman. She was a rich man’s mistress playing at having a “real” job to justify her presence in his life. Now she was a pregnant mistress. Nothing about her story was unique…including the fact that Stone was going to want to get rid of her as quickly as possible.
