Temptation Ridge (Virgin River #6)(57)

But in the chilly days of late October, her divorce still not final, she was sitting in her doctor’s office, tears pouring down her cheeks. “I just don’t see how this could have happened. I’ve been on the pill forever and never before…”

Dr. Pollock took her hand in both of his. “I can tell you exactly how,” he said. “You were taking antibiotics for an ear infection and it rendered your oral contraceptive ineffective. Didn’t they warn you about that at the clinic? When they prescribed the antibiotic?”

“They might have,” she said with a sniff. In fact, who knows what they said? There were many colliding facts—one, she had to have something to heal her ears—she was flying after all. When she realized she couldn’t clear her ears without pain and would be on duty in three days, she went to the airline’s outpatient clinic right away. If they’d said anything about her birth control being useless to her, she wouldn’t have given it a thought—she wasn’t making use of her birth control. Her husband was gone; his lawyers had called her every week about that divorce. And then, a handsome young doctor had found her sad and lonely in a hotel bar, bought her a couple of champagne cocktails, led her upstairs and made incredible, unforgettable love to her.

A complete stranger. She had become pregnant by a complete stranger.

“Dear God,” she whispered. “What am I going to do?” she wept.

“You have a few options,” her doctor said. “But you should make a decision about whether to continue the pregnancy as soon as possible. The longer you put it off, the more complicated it gets.”

It briefly crossed her mind to get in touch with Cameron Michaels. Nikki had called her to ask her if she’d met the man; he’d gone to Joe’s office, looking for a way to get in touch with a woman who fit her description. Abby played dumb; she wasn’t about to tell even her closest friends what had happened before she had a plan. “Gee,” she’d said to her friend, “I ran into a couple of real nice guys in the hotel bar, but that name doesn’t ring a bell.”

Now it was too late. Now if she saw him again, he’d know he had fathered her child and she’d be stuck with him for life, if only as the baby’s father. And what if she learned she didn’t want a permanent relationship with him? She couldn’t take the risk. That he had been perfect that one night didn’t mean anything! Even Ross had been perfect longer than that!

Then everything had become a horrible mess; as if the divorce wasn’t enough, being followed constantly by people with cameras, hungry for the ugly details, made it so much worse. Ross had made himself excellent tabloid fodder.

And then there was that other sticky thing—the prenup. Ross’s attorney would begin sending her a settlement every month—ten thousand dollars—predicated on her fidelity during their marriage. When she signed the agreement, it seemed almost silly—if she promised to be completely faithful during her marriage, he would pay her that amount in the event of divorce, up to the date of her remarriage. Rich guys had to make deals like that—so short-term wives didn’t walk away with millions. She hadn’t expected to be a short-term wife.

If her pregnancy became obvious, it was possible Ross or his legal beagles would be able to prove she’d had sex with another man more than a month before the divorce was final. To give up the alimony was nothing to her; she didn’t care about that. But the bills Ross had left her with were huge. Cheating him out of alimony wasn’t on her mind, but those bills that claimed more than forty grand owing were his, not hers.

She could have this baby if she could find a way to conceal her pregnancy, or at least the time of conception. She had left Grants Pass, returned to Los Angeles, called a lawyer and signed the papers within a couple of weeks—but it was another month before she was a single woman—and a good OB could determine the due date extremely closely with the use of an ultrasound. Any doubt would send her to court, which would cost even more. Abby wasn’t a millionaire rock star, she was a flight attendant whose income was completely eaten up by her living expenses, her savings and equity in her small town house zapped by legal fees. She’d have to go into deep cover; she couldn’t even return to her family in Seattle to wait out the delivery.

She decided quickly. She was going to give birth, but no one would know about it until it was over and the baby, hopefully, a few months old at least.

When Paul Haggerty decided to relocate part of his construction company to Virgin River from Grants Pass, his mother’s only requirement was that he bring the grandchildren back to visit once a month. The only child since his union with Vanessa so far was little Matt, her son from her previous marriage, but to Marianne Haggerty, little Matt was as much her grandson as if he was Paul’s very own. And for Vanessa, these little trips to Paul’s family were a delightful respite. In fact, she used the trip to make sure Mattie had at least an afternoon with his biological grandparents, Carol and Lance Rutledge, as well.

On this particular early-November weekend, Matt wasn’t finding the visit quite as enjoyable as usual. He’d been teething and had developed diarrhea and a bad cold. When, on Saturday morning, a scary-sounding cough settled into his chest, Vanni and Paul were strongly considering a trip to the emergency room.

But Paul wanted the baby treated by a doctor he knew he could trust. On impulse, he picked up the phone and called Cam. “It’s Paul Haggerty, Cameron. Hey, man, I’m real sorry to bother you at home, but we’re visiting my folks here in town and the baby’s sick. He’s got a fever, diarrhea and an awful thick cough. Any chance you’re on call? Or maybe you could recommend someone for us to take him to?”