Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(72)

“By the way everything went down. She wanted you back, and she knew a baby would make all the difference.”

“She couldn’t have known that.”

“She couldn’t be positive. But she knows you well, knows how you feel about kids—what you do out here for so many orphans and boys who are in the system. And if it didn’t go her way? She was confident that she had a worst-case scenario.”

“Which was...”

He widened his eyes as if it should be obvious. “She knew I’d marry her even if you didn’t.”

Gavin sat on the corner of his desk. “And you drove all the way out here to tell me this because you’re doing me a favor?”

When Scott chuckled without mirth, Gavin knew he’d heard the sarcasm. “No. I’m telling you because I’d hate to see her get away with it. But all I can do is warn you. What happens from here is up to you. I’ve told the police—her, too—that I won’t bother her again, and I haven’t. I won’t bother you again, either.”

He started to go, but Gavin stopped him. “You’re washing your hands of the whole affair?”

“I am,” he said when he turned back. “I’ll pay the price for what I’ve done and then...that’s it.”

“What if the baby’s yours?”

“I’ll demand proof, of course. And if I get it, I’ll pay child support, but only because the state will force me to. I no longer want anything to do with Heather or the baby.”

And Gavin had thought the situation was bad when Scott still maintained an interest in Heather. Now, if the child did belong to Scott, and Gavin didn’t marry her, the baby would have no father. “The child’s not to blame,” he pointed out.

“I’m not to blame, either. I was honest in my intentions all along. I loved Heather—I would’ve married her. But she wanted you, and she used me to get you. Now we’re all in this terrible mess together. Sure, I was wrong to strike a woman. But what she did was worse. Think about it. A busted lip will heal in a few weeks, but she’s screwed up all our lives, possibly for good,” he said, and walked out.

The meeting with Scott hadn’t drifted anywhere near violence, and yet Gavin felt as if he’d taken a strong right hook. Could Scott be telling the truth?

No. Heather would never do something so terrible. Gavin knew her. She’d been single-minded in her pursuit of him, and she was certainly using the situation to her advantage now that she was carrying a child, but she was a decent person, a kind person. The pregnancy was an accident, as she claimed.

But what if Scott was right? How would that change things?

For one, Gavin would be as angry as Scott was. Manipulating other people to such a degree was unconscionable, especially when it involved a baby.

He checked his watch to see what Heather would be doing. He wanted to talk to her, see what she had to say in response to Scott’s claims, but she’d be teaching right now. She had to take her lunch earlier than he did.

Anyway, he knew what she’d say. She’d say it wasn’t true. Given the possible consequences of admitting to something like that, she’d almost have to. So what difference would it make to ask her?

She couldn’t be that bad, he decided, and tried to finish his lunch. But he wasn’t hungry anymore.

*

Gordon hadn’t called Savanna since she’d mentioned Emma Ventnor. That, more than anything, made Savanna believe he was the one who’d kidnapped and possibly murdered the girl, which made her feel a greater sense of responsibility to grant Detective Sullivan’s request to return to Utah and meet with her former husband. She didn’t want to see Gordon, had been putting off making a final decision. But she knew in her heart that she’d most likely have to go. How would she live with herself knowing that Emma’s parents were suffering and she’d done so little to help? Gordon had to be guilty. Otherwise, why would he back away the minute she mentioned Emma’s name? He still didn’t have the money for the high-powered attorney he felt he needed, and yet Dorothy had quit bothering her, too. Savanna had texted and called her ex-mother-in-law numerous times over the past week, but Dorothy hadn’t picked up or responded, not until Savanna threatened to involve the police to make sure Gavin received remuneration for the damage to his truck. Then Dorothy had sent her insurance information, but that was it. No other comment. No pleas for money or threats that Savanna would be sorry if she didn’t stand by Gordon.

Savanna had forwarded Dorothy’s text to Gavin so he could get on with taking care of the financial arrangements. He was already moving forward with having his truck repaired; she’d seen the rental car he was driving. Now his insurance could get reimbursed. Although he’d thanked her, that was about the only contact she’d had with him since the night they’d made love so spontaneously outside under the stars—other than a few texts where he’d been showing her various carpet remnants for the living room and trying to schedule a day when he could come over and take care of the dry rot repairs. They’d agreed on a week from tomorrow, a Saturday when he’d be off work, but she would see him in less than forty-eight hours if she attended the barbecue at his mother’s place. He insisted she should still come, despite his current situation, but she wasn’t convinced either one of them would be comfortable. Would Heather be there? Would Savanna have to see Heather and Gavin together?