Magnus ran his hand around the back of his neck. He would enjoy catching up with Rolf and Nell, but he wasn't sure that this was a good time. He looked at his watch. Kate had been in there for over twenty minutes. Sighing in frustration, he walked down to his bedroom.
Sobbing was coming from the bathroom. He tapped on the half-open door, and when he got no answer, he put his head around the corner. Kate was sitting on the toilet, tears running down her face as she looked at the stick in her hand.
"I'm so sorry, Magnus," she whispered. "It wasn't intentional, believe me."
He glared at her, unwilling to believe it was an accident that she would become pregnant after he'd specifically asked if she was using protection. "Not as sorry as I am, believe me," he said. He turned and left her alone, betrayal once again the only word that ran through his mind.
* * *
The fatigue Kate was feeling only got worse as the weeks wore on. She tried to work as hard as she normally did, but even she knew that it was getting impossible. Tilly hovered over her like a mother hen and had cried when Kate finally told her the news.
"Don't you think he should take responsibility for this?" she demanded.
"No, I don't," Kate replied. "I made the mistake, not him. I won't lay any of the blame at his door. This is my baby, and I can manage without him if I have to."
"It's a disgrace is what it is," she said clucking her tongue. "He needs to be made to see reason and do what is right by you and the babe."
"Not now, Tilly, please," Kate begged, exhaustion and nausea taking over.
Tilly fussed over her, making sure she was eating properly and slowing down on her work.
The contract Kate had signed with Magnus still had about eight weeks to go, and she refused to think what might have happened if she hadn't fallen pregnant. She would have gladly taken another term as his mistress. Her emotions ran from wanting the baby to wanting the relationship more. It was her hormones raging uncontrollably because of the baby growing inside her that had her mind spinning back and forth. She knew that but still hated the out of control feelings that swamped her.
She stood staring at the farm vehicle coming down her driveway and was shocked to see Nell not Magnus open the door.
"I had to come and see how you are for myself," Nell said as she slammed the door and came over to Kate.
"Why? Did Magnus send you?" she asked, her mind racing.
"No, he didn't. I came because I wanted to. What happened Kate, and don't say nothing. I know my cousin, and he's royally pissed about something, and I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with you."
"That's between us, and I really don't want to talk about it." Kate kicked the dust with her boot, refusing to meet Nell's eyes.
Nell threaded her arm through Kate's and guided her along the fence line, gazing at the horses grazing in the paddock. "Don't give up on him, Kate, please."
"It's just a little bit complicated, Nell," Kate replied. She looked at the horizon and back to Nell. "Who is Adele?" she asked.
"Was, not is," Nell replied. "She was Magnus's wife, one of my best friends funnily enough. She died running from him."
Kate looked at the cool, confident women beside her. "I don't understand."
"She was beautiful, rich, and cultured. Everything we thought he deserved. She was also very self-centered and mean, and it didn't start to show until after the wedding." Nell paused to look at Kate. She grimaced and shrugged her shoulders. "It became all about her, and he couldn't see it. I mean, honestly how dense can some men be? We figured out what she was like, and we accepted her because he was so besotted, but he could never see it until it was too late. It was hard for Magnus, and he tried to make it work when she really started digging her heels in. They wanted different things. He wanted to move here; she didn't. He wanted children; she didn't. He loved to be with his close friends and family; she didn't. Need I go on?"
Nell picked a piece of long grass and tore at it, running it under perfectly manicured fingernails. "If it made her the center of attention, then she was happy; if it didn't, forget it. Magnus talked her into having a child. You should have seen him. He was ecstatic when she got pregnant. He showered her in diamonds and anything else her little heart desired. She treated him terribly. It was as if she was a different person from the one we all knew. It became all about the baby for Magnus. He was besotted with the thought of becoming a father. Adele hated the whole pregnancy thing, and when her body started to change, it was just horrible." Nell shuddered at the memory and glanced at Kate holding her stomach protectively, a sudden question in her eyes. Kate dropped her gaze, waiting for the question.
"She couldn't accept what was happening, how her stomach was swelling with the new life they had created and how Magnus was more interested in the baby than her. She started drinking and going out without him." Sighing deeply, Nell looked over the fields. "The police called him at work one day. Luckily Rolf was with him at the time. We thought he would lose his mind. They found her car at the bottom of a cliff. They suspected that it was a suicide. Magnus knew she had done it deliberately, but they could never prove it. He was devastated at the loss of the child."
"Didn't he care about his wife?" Kate was horrified with his callous attitude.
"Of course he did, but by the time
