Page 30

Sinclair

“I think maybe it’s stomach flu or something I picked up at work,” I told the doctor as I sat on top of the butcher paper covered exam table.

The fluorescent lights were harsh and blinding, the walls off-white and beige and covered with posters of the female reproductive system, babies in utero and a chart showing fetal development.

I turned back to the doctor with a shaky smile.

“I teach fourth grade, so I’m surrounded by young children as well as their germs all day.

I’ve been feeling rundown a lot and it hasn’t improved, so here I am.

” My hands fidgeted in my lap, and I kept a nervous smile on my face.

My nausea hadn’t settled, and I felt so exhausted all the time.

I’d been through stress before, but it had never affected me like this, and I was worried that something was wrong.

Seriously wrong.

“Okay, no problem.” Dr. Brooks smiled and gave me instructions for blood and urine tests.

She was a very kind woman with a good bedside manner, and I felt the tension leave my body.

Twenty minutes later I was inside her office as she took a seat behind her desk.

“We have some news,” she said with a tight smile.

And just like that the tension returned times a thousand. “Okay,” I said, drawing the word out until I needed to catch my breath. “Is it serious?”

Dr. Brooks’ lips pulled into a straight line. “You’re pregnant. The urine test was processed immediately but the blood test will give us an idea of how many weeks.”

I sat there trying to come to terms with what she’d just said. “Is there a chance I’m not pregnant?”

“A very small chance,” she offered. “But unlikely. The urine tests have a high degree of accuracy.” After a long pause she handed me a bunch of leaflets, “Here are some resources so that you can explore your options.”

Explore my options. I knew what she meant, and that was exactly what I should’ve been doing, but I couldn’t. I watched Dr. Brooks’ lips move, but I didn’t hear a word she said. The only word I heard was pregnant.

I was pregnant.

Having a baby.

Having a biker’s baby.

The next thought slammed into me. I couldn’t be pregnant. Not by Dagger and not now. “Wow,” I whispered, mostly to myself.

“This is a big shock, I know. The receptionist will give you the log-in details so you can check the blood test this evening and I’ll get you a list of doctors in the area.”

I nodded even though I felt as if I were underwater.

I always thought that if the time for children ever came, I’d be in a committed relationship, if not married.

I also imagined it another five to seven years into the future.

Right now, I wasn’t stable, not financially or professionally.

Not to mention the fact that Dagger wasn’t exactly the man I saw at my side when I pictured my future.

He was big and magnificently beautiful, but his life was also incredibly dangerous.

“Miss Bronson, are you okay?” Dr. Brooks’ voice was full of concern.

I blinked and looked around. It was almost as if I’d forgotten where I was.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I will be when the news sinks in.

” I tried for a smile that I didn’t feel before I got to my feet and left her office.

I still couldn’t believe this was my life as I took the log-in details and the list of obstetricians in town.

It was unbelievable, really. I mean not really since I’d been nothing but lax in terms of birth control when it came to Dagger. I should’ve been more careful, but I wasn’t, and this was the consequence.

What was I going to do?

I had no answers. It had only been fifteen minutes since my life had been turned upside down and I hadn’t even accepted the news yet, so I pushed it as far back in my mind as I could and stopped for lunch before returning to the school for my afternoon classes.

If I let myself obsess about the pregnancy, I wouldn’t get anything done, and I had too much to do to be so distracted.

I told myself to focus as I stopped at the deli to grab a corned beef sandwich with extra pickles.

The deli was crowded, and I waited patiently in line, looking around at the other customers to make sure my thoughts didn’t drift back to a certain person due to arrive in nine months or his or her father.

“Next!”

I stepped forward and placed my order before moving aside while I waited, still looking around. It was almost standing room only and I crowded against the deli counter to make room for other customers. That’s when I spotted him.

Or thought I did.

The man from the bake sale. It looked like him, except without the hoodie or the sunglasses. He had wavy dirty blond hair and brown eyes. The angry cut of his jaw and his hunched over posture were very familiar, but as the crowd shuffled forward again, I lost sight of him.

A tension I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying in my shoulders relaxed when I saw that the man was gone. There was something unsettling about him, an underlying anger that Dani had picked up on immediately.

***

I sat in the school parking lot and chewed, savoring the rich flavors of the sandwich and dressing while I searched my mind for any men named Nick or Nicholas in my past. Obviously, I’d met a few Nicks, it was a common enough name, but I’d never dated or slept with a man named Nick.

At least not if that man had been honest about his name.

But that only made this situation even scarier, because if it wasn’t someone I knew, someone who felt I’d done them wrong, then it was just a random psychopath who might think we’re meant to be together or something.

My hands shook as I let that thought settle deep in my gut. I wasn’t safe, and I wouldn’t be as long as this guy was lurking on the outskirts of my life. He could strike at any moment, and until I knew what I would do about this baby, I had to be extra careful.

Finishing my sandwich, I wrapped up the other half and stepped out just as my phone buzzed. It was a withheld number, and the message made my blood run cold.

It’s almost time.

I had no idea what that meant, but if the goal was to scare the hell out of me, it worked.

I should tell Dagger, about the message and about the man in the deli.

About the pregnancy.

My sandwich now lay heavy in my stomach like a dead weight.

I didn’t think I could face seeing Dagger right now.

I didn’t have a clue what I would say to him, and I think if I saw him right now then I’d fall apart.

So, instead I went for denial and tossed the phone in my bag and went inside the school.

I had fourth graders to teach.