Frigid Affair(18)

“I was wondering if I’d be able to rent out one of the cabins for the next several months.”

“Are you having some work done on the cabin?”

“Not exactly. I just found out I’m pregnant. The doctors think it would be best if I stayed in town until after I’ve delivered.”

“When are you due?”

“I’m five months along.” It wasn’t the exact answer, but she understood.

“I can put you in one of the larger ones. If you end up wanting to stay longer, just let us know. We’ll keep it off the books. We’ve never been at capacity with guests anyway.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll pay for the place.”

“You’re a local. You need a safe place, and I have the room. I insist.”

“Thanks June. I appreciate it. This is all so new to me. It hasn’t all sunk in yet.”

“I bet. Will the father be joining you?”

June was probably in her forties. She’d been married for a long time to one man. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to my one-night stand, but secrets around town didn’t really exist. “He was just a guy on a hunting trip.”

“So, you’re not in touch with him?”

“Not at all, but it’s okay. Really. It’s probably better this way.”

“I know this is a big change, Amantha,” my sort-of-friend stated. “It’s also a blessing, if you’ll allow it to be.”

I hunkered up a smile, even though inside I dreaded what would come next. I knew there were plenty of women who couldn’t conceive. I had to consider my situation to be some kind of miracle, and even though I couldn’t appreciate it at the moment, I knew in time it would change everything.





Chapter 6


With the news of my pregnancy fresh in my head, I was glad to have help getting my cabin closed up and moving a few of my necessities from there to the place I’d be temporarily calling home. Unlike Ava, who was thrilled to be able to play with other dogs each day, I hated the idea of having to uproot because it was too dangerous to be out on my own, though I understood the importance.

After the first week I missed my cabin. I spent most of my days reading the books about pregnancy, because let’s face it, I didn’t know the first thing about being a good mother. There were so many little details I wouldn’t have thought about. Let’s not even get started on the topic of diapers. How in the world was I supposed to stock up when the sizes changed as the child grew? If I chose cloth, I’d have to hand wash those stinky things.

None of this was how I saw my future going. Temporary or not, I couldn’t begin to fathom being able to take care of a tiny infant.

As time passed, I became undoubtedly depressed. I surrounded myself with the small amount of items I was able to bring from the cabin, but it wasn’t like I was used to. I missed being home with the remnants of my family around me. I hadn’t realized how much little knick knacks meant to me until they weren’t there.

The place I was staying was nice. It had a fireplace that ran off propane instead of wood. It had electric throughout, instead of just being hooked up to solar panels like mine was. I found myself keeping all the lights on, just because I could. I watched television, so much that I forgot to shower on some days. For someone who hadn’t known I was pregnant, the weight started to show almost immediately after making the move. My belly grew by the day, and two weeks later I recognized something inside of me that wasn’t a gas pocket, like I’d always assumed. The little life growing in my stomach was moving around in there. I could feel him. The constant reminder was only more active as my pregnancy progressed. By the sixth month I had a cute little belly, albeit my ass was getting too large to fit into my pants comfortably. I had a pair of my father’s old sweats I managed to salvage, and thank goodness I’d taken them with me when I came down from the mountain, because I lived in them.



Being held up in town also gave me a constant WIFI signal. It didn’t take me long to wish I could reconnect with Easton. I began searching every social media site for his name, coming up with nothing. It was like he didn’t exist. For someone prominent in the New York City Fire Department, he was nowhere to be found. It was absurd. My last resort was checking dating websites, in which I came up with no results again. In this day and age, I wasn’t sure how it was possible. People were easy to find, yet I couldn’t even come up with a people search for someone with his name and around the age he was in the entire state of New York.

By the eighth month of my term, I got it in my head that maybe he didn’t want to be found. Perhaps he was married and told me a different last name to keep me from tracking him down. Lets face it, men take trips to get away from what they deal with at home. He saw an opportunity he couldn’t refuse and he took it. He knew no one would ever find out. I was an adulterers dream; someone living in the middle of nowhere with little means to hunt them down. I’d offered myself on a silver platter that night.

Since he’d never tried to get in touch with me, I knew I had to be right. Easton was someone who came into my life for a reason. He’d saved me and left with something to forever remember him by, but he’d never be anything more than a memory.

My doctor appointments became more frequent as my due date came closer. I enjoyed hearing my little guy’s heartbeat on the monitor and getting good results for our health, because I knew soon enough we’d be back on the mountain starting a new adventure together. I’d had plenty of time to consider how I was going to raise him, and what I’d have to do to make sure he grew up educated and respectful. Living on the mountain would pose a problem when he had to go to school. I could do it myself, but I wanted him to have the opportunity to be around other children. We’d have to move, at least into town when the time came. Until he was school-aged, we’d stay in the cabin.