Summer Nights (Fool's Gold #8)(83)

“You’re talking like a girl.”

“You’re avoiding the question and the truth. You’re not mad at me. I don’t think you’re even mad at Annabelle. You’ve got a burr up your butt about something and you need to figure out what.”

With that he left the barn.

Shane stared after him, then turned back to his work. But he’d lost the energy for it. His brother’s words mocked him as he wondered if they could possibly be true. Was he looking for trouble where none existed or was he seeing things clearly? And if this was just leftover trash from his first marriage, how did he get rid of it and believe in someone else?

* * *

ANNABELLE PACED THE length of her living room. “I’m going to throw up.”

Charlie eyed her cautiously. “Is this drama, or are you serious?”

“I don’t know.” She pressed a hand to her roiling stomach. She hadn’t felt right since the wedding, two days ago. She wanted to blame the champagne, but couldn’t. Maybe it was hormones.

She turned to the sofa, thinking she should sit, then realized she was too upset and that the walking back and forth helped.

She looked at her friend. “This is so bad. Really, really bad. He’s just starting to trust me.”

“Shane,” Charlie said, in a tone that indicated she was still playing catch-up.

Annabelle reminded herself she’d called the other woman and begged her to come over without telling her why. Explanations were required.

She dropped to the ottoman in front of Charlie’s chair. “Shane was married before.”

“I know that part.”

“From what I’ve been hearing, she was pretty awful. Wild and unfaithful. Shane isn’t the kind of guy who gives up easily. His word matters. So he tried to make the marriage work and she kept cheating and then it was over.”

“Nearly everyone deserves a second chance,” Charlie said cautiously. “Now he’s done with her. What’s the problem?”

“Sometimes he thinks I’m like her. That I’m wild and flighty.”

“You’re not.”

“I know, but the first time he saw me was after he’d moved back. The night I did the dance of the happy virgin at Jo’s bar. It painted a different picture.”

“I can see that. But now he knows you. He trusts you.”

“He was starting to. I think. I hope. But then Lewis showed up and we weren’t really divorced.”

“Not your fault.”

“Agreed, but it was awkward. It seems like every time he starts to get close, something happens.”

Charlie stared at her. “And something has happened again?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. She closed it and swore. “Seriously?”

Annabelle fought tears. “Yes. I found out this morning. I suspected at the wedding.” She hesitated. Nevada hadn’t announced her good news, and she didn’t want to steal her thunder. “I was thinking about how great things were with Shane and suddenly I wondered. I went to the drugstore as soon as it opened and got a test.”

She pressed her lips together. “I’m happy about the baby, of course. It’s shocking, but good. Honestly, I can’t wrap my mind around that part of it. I’m so caught up in wondering how bad this is going to be with Shane. Just when he’s starting to trust me, you know? He’s not going to believe this is an accident. He’s going to think the worst of me. He’s going to assume I did it on purpose.”

Which wasn’t true, she thought sadly. She hadn’t had a clue. Which had meant an emergency visit to her gynecologist, stick in hand, to find out if she’d done anything bad by drinking a glass of champagne at the wedding. Thankfully Dr. Galloway was used to hysterical pregnant women and had taken a few minutes to reassure her before sending her off to schedule a regular visit.

“He’s as much responsible as you are,” Charlie told her. “This isn’t your fault any more than it’s his. You used protection.”

“Faithfully.”

“Then you tell him he has good swimmers and he should be proud.”

“I doubt he’s going to see it that way,” Annabelle murmured. “This is so much worse than Lewis. That was just a paperwork error that didn’t affect him directly. This is a baby!”

Charlie leaned forward and grabbed her shoulders. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Give Shane a chance to screw up before you assume the worst. He might surprise you.”

“Good advice,” Annabelle whispered. Too bad she knew Shane well enough to believe he wasn’t going to surprise her this time. At least not in a good way.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“SHOULDN’T YOUR BUSINESS partner be doing this with you?” Shane asked as he followed his brother into yet another building in the center of Fool’s Gold. So far they’d looked at three potential office locations. To Shane they were all the same—open spaces with windows and doors. Weren’t all offices the same?

“Dante’s hiding out in San Francisco,” Rafe told him, using a laser tape measure to take quick calculations. “Resisting the inevitable.”

The inevitable being the company’s move. “Dante’s not a small-town kind of guy,” Shane pointed out. “I’m not sure how he’ll fit in here.”