Temptation Ridge (Virgin River #6)(106)

“And I’ll be in a huge mess if you share that with anyone.”

“Okay,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be sure and not write home about you.”

“Funny,” she said. “This is serious.”

“All right, we’ll get serious. You’re not my patient, but anything that happens in that clinic is confidential. Mel and I have access to all the records and they’re protected by privacy. Even if I wanted to gossip about you, I can’t. But there’s no rule against talking to you—and I have a personal stake in this. I have a feeling this has everything to do with me.”

“They’re not yours.”

He smiled patiently. “Yeah, they are, but don’t panic. Right now making sure you’re all right is the only thing that concerns me. I’m not going to get pushy—I understand how you must feel about it being just one night, unplanned, accidental. Abby—I’m sorry. This is my fault. I talked you into it, I had the condom accident…”

“I had the pill accident,” she relented. “I was taking antibiotics.”

“Well, that explains it. You didn’t know about the contraindication?”

She shook her head and sniffed. He produced a handkerchief and she wiped at her eyes and nose. “I’m not even sure they told me at the clinic. If they did, maybe I wasn’t paying attention—I was getting ready to go to that wedding and my own marriage was over. It was a stressful time and I had an ear infection. Really, I was half-deaf.”

“So why are you here?”

She shrugged. “I have to go real low profile right now. Oh hell, you’re going to find out anyway. I hope you turn out to be someone I can trust because—”

“Didn’t I show you that?” he asked as gently as he could. “I tried to.”

“Yeah, well, Ross showed me that, too. For at least a couple of months he was the sweetest man I’d ever known. A couple of months later he was back with the band, using drugs, his life a train wreck.”

“Okay, point taken. But I don’t think I have much in common with him. I don’t have a long history of infidelity and drug use, for one thing….”

“But see, I don’t really know that.”

“Like I said, I’m real easy to check out. You could start with Vanni.”

“Vanni?” she asked, surprised.

“Yup. Her first husband’s mother tried to fix us up and we dated a little, before Paul. I had a practice in Grants Pass for several years—ask the doctors there. Check with Mel—she hired me. I’m here for a year.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Their doctor, a man I knew briefly, died a few months ago. They needed help and I happen to love this place. You’ll see—it’s kind of special. Now, tell me about this problem you have. Not the pregnancy, that’s not a problem. What has you hiding out in Virgin River, afraid someone will recognize you?”

She sighed deeply and let it out. Her choices were few at this point. At least if he knew why she was so afraid he might keep his big mouth shut.

“And that’s what has you so wound up? Abby, that’s only money.”

“Only money? It’s a ton of money! I didn’t stick him with any debt, but I feel lucky it was only a fortune in credit-card bills! I suppose a rock star can run up a big tab.”

“Abby,” he said calmly. “It’s legal details. It can be handled. We just have to figure out the best approach and—”

“Stop! This is my problem! I need time to breathe!”

Cameron wasn’t too worried about things like prenups and credit-card debt. It wasn’t that he thought he could buy their way out of this mess; he didn’t have a ton of money. But he was sure there was a compromise in there somewhere. His biggest concern was getting the mother of his twins to trust him a little. He put a large hand over her slightly rounded middle. “Have you been seeing a doctor since the beginning?” Again she nodded, but this time she lifted her eyes. “And everything is going fine? You’re feeling all right?”

“Fine,” she said. “If I didn’t miscarry from being a nervous wreck, I guess I must be in good shape.”

He smiled. “You should have called me. I could have helped.”

“I was afraid to get involved with someone I didn’t know. I already screwed up on that once. You could be a lunatic for all I know.”

“I could be, but I’m not.”

“I can’t be sure of anything. Anyone. You have to understand that. Don’t take it personally—there are very good reasons for me to be cautious.”

“I smoked a little pot in college,” he said with a smile. “Otherwise, I’m relatively safe.”

“Relatively?”

“Yeah. I’ve been known to do insane things like chuck a thriving practice to come to a town of six hundred for practically no money because it’s quiet, clean and the people make you feel useful. My family thinks I’ve lost my mind,” he added, laughing. “Other than that, I haven’t had a severe personality shift since puberty.”

“When I saw you at the clinic, it scared me to death,” she said.

“That’s the first thing we have to work on,” he said. “There is absolutely no reason to ever be afraid of me. I would never hurt you. Why would I? What would that get me? I’d like a chance to get to know you a little bit. I told you that back in Oregon, that I’d like to know more about you. I’m not going to screw up that chance by being cruel. Forceful.” He grinned. “You have that list. Forceful isn’t on it.”