“Could you be pregnant?”
“For the love of God, no.” She shoved her hand into her purse and grabbed her keys. “You have babies on the brain. I’m not pregnant.”
Her sister’s brow furrowed. “It sounds like morning sickness. I know. I’ve had it twice.”
“Sherilyn, stop. I’m not pregnant. I have an IUD.”
“Interesting. You didn’t say you haven’t been having sex.”
“I didn’t?”
“Have you been seeing someone?”
Adele shrugged.
“Who?”
What did it matter if Sherilyn knew? Zach would be home in a few days, and Sherilyn would see him when they jogged together.
“The football coach.” Sherilyn’s brows shot up her forehead. “The one who was in all the papers and on the news a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah.”
“Kendra’s friend’s dad?”
“Yeah. He kinda helped me put the baby furniture together.”
“Sounds like he did more than that.” Sherilyn frowned. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing. I’m not pregnant.”
“While you’re at the pharmacy, get an e.p.t.”
Adele rolled her eyes and walked out of the bedroom. She counted back to her last period. She was only two weeks…no three weeks late. But she’d been late before and wasn’t worried.
“Did you get it?” Sherilyn called from her bedroom.
“Your pills?” She set the bag on the counter and called back. “Yeah I got ’em.”
“No.” Sherilyn waddled, hunched over with one hand low on her abdomen, into the kitchen. “The pregnancy test.”
“Sheesh. Be quiet. I don’t want Kendra to hear you.”
“William came by and picked her up.” She carefully sat down on a barstool. “Did you get it?”
“Yes, but I only got it to shut you up.” She still wasn’t worried. “I have an IUD. He used a condom.” It had broken once, but what were the chances?
Sherilyn reached into the sack and pulled out the box. She ripped it open and read the instructions. “Hold it in your urine stream for five seconds.” She handed Adele the plastic stick. “It says not to put it up your vagina.”
“Gee. And I was all set to.”
Adele took the stick, went into the bathroom, and came back out a few minutes later. She set the stick on a napkin on the counter across the kitchen and got Sherilyn a glass of water.
“Did you wash your hands?” Sherilyn asked as she eagle-eyed the stick.
“Yes, Mom,” Adele answered as she made toast.
“Eat this and take these,” she said, and handed Sherilyn the toast and medication. She held the stick behind her back for the full two minutes, pulled it in front of her, and stared at a plus sign.
“What does it say?” Sherilyn asked around a bite of toast.
Adele grabbed the instructions and read them. “This one is obviously defective. He wore a condom.”
“Every time?”
“It broke once.”
“Once is all it takes.”
The blood rushed from Adele’s head, and she grabbed her coat and her purse.
“Where are you going?”
“To get another test.” Forty-five minutes later, five more e.p.t sticks were lined up on the table. All of them had positive plus signs in the round windows. Adele’s fingers and toes felt numb, and she felt sicker then she had in days. Her face was hot, and she sat down next to Sherilyn so she wouldn’t pass out and fall on the floor. She still couldn’t believe the results. There had to be a mistake.
Sherilyn waved a hand in front of Adele’s face. “Are you in there.”
“What?” Her voice sounded weak and like it was coming from a long, dark tunnel.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you’re seeing anyone?”
“Because I don’t know how serious it is.”
“It just got real serious.”
“You’re not helping.” She covered her cheeks with her hands. “This is a nightmare. I cannot be pregnant.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know! I just found out.”
“You have to tell him.”
“Maybe I’m not pregnant.”
Sherilyn pointed to the tests. “You flunked six tests.”
“Maybe that was a bad batch,” she said desperately. “It could happen.”
“No, it couldn’t.”
Her mind raced and tumbled and thoughts slammed into each other. “Maybe Zach won’t notice.” She didn’t have to wonder how Zach would react. She remembered the night of the broken condom and she knew.
Her sister looked at her like Kendra did sometimes. Like just the sound of Adele’s voice was painfully robbing her of IQ points. “He’ll notice. You have to tell him.”
“He won’t be back until Wednesday. I have until then to figure out what I’m going to do.”
Sherilyn reached for her hand and squeezed her cold fingers. “How do you feel about him?”
“Zach?” She shook her head like she didn’t know, but she did. “I love Zach,” she whispered, saying it out loud for the first time. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with him, but I did. I could feel it happening, and I knew I should stop it. But I couldn’t.”
“Maybe everything will work out.”
“No.” Tears stung the backs of her eyes. “It won’t. He doesn’t love me.” And he definitely didn’t want a child with her. She shook her head again as tears slipped down her cheeks. This couldn’t be happening. Whatever feelings he did have for her were not going to change.
She wiped her cheeks and her hands fell to the table as a thought popped into her head. Good Lord, was this part of the curse? A bad date that ended in pregnancy? And how crazy was she for thinking it?
Sherilyn stood and patted Adele’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of you like you took care of me.” She took a deep breath and her eyes rounded. “Wow, that pain pill just kicked in, and I’m feeling funky.”
Chapter 17
Zach rang the doorbell, then rocked back on his heels. He’d told Adele he’d be back in town on the second, but he’d packed up Tiffany and all her crap and returned last night. Tiffany had pouted most of Christmas Day, and he’d missed the quiet calm he always found with Adele. Tomorrow was New Year’s Day. If she could find someone to stay with Kendra, he’d like to take her to the big party in the new Radisson downtown. He knew she was weird about dating, but she needed to get over it. What was between them was more than just sex.
The door swung open, and a woman in a blue bathrobe stood before him. She had blond hair, and she was hunched over.
“I’m sorry.” He started to leave, looked up at the house number, then turned back. “Is Adele around?”
“She ran Kendra to the hospital to meet up with her father. You must be Zach.”
“Ah, yeah.” He looked into the woman’s tired face and turquoise eyes. “And you must be Sherilyn.”
She swung the door wider and he followed her inside. “Adele will be back in a bit.”
“And you must have had your baby.”
She shut the door behind him. “Yes.”
