"I need to sleep on it," Magnus said, knowing that if he went over now when he was feeling vulnerable he would offer her anything to get what he wanted. "In the morning I'll go over. That should keep Nell happy."
Magnus tossed in his bed, trying to come up with the right words to explain to Kate why he was acting they way he was and how he saw their future. The sad thing was, none of the words sounded genuine to his ears. None of them sounded like a man in love about to have a child. He was terrified he was going to lose them both, and that was something he was ill equipped to go through again.
* * *
Kate made it to the bathroom before the retching started. She gripped the sides of the porcelain bowl. Laying her head on her hands, she closed her eyes, willing the nausea to subside. She breathed deeply, fighting the next rush sweeping through her body. Kate reached up and grabbed a hand towel. She wiped her face and sat on the cold linoleum floor waiting for her head to stop swimming. Voices coming from the kitchen made her struggle to her feet. Kate held onto the door frame and leaned out into the hallway to hear Tilly growling at someone.
"It's just despicable. That's what it is," she heard. "Fancy treating her like that, just because you are some big, rich, city man and she's just a small-town country girl don't mean you can use and abuse her, you know. What are you going to do about the baby, hey, tell me that."
"It's all right, Tilly," Kate said as she entered the room and leaned on the kitchen wall for support. "I can take it from here. What do you want, Magnus?"
"Can we go for a walk outside and talk?"
"I really think that you've said all you needed to say."
"Please."
Kate took a shaky breath, brushed past Magnus, and walked outside on unstable legs over to the tractor shed. Sitting down on a bale of hay, she shaded her eyes from the sun. "Talk."
"I've come to apologize," he said, jamming his hands in the back pockets of his jeans.
"Fine. You can go now if that's all you wanted." Kate stretched her legs out in front of her, willing her head to stop swimming so she could stand up.
"No, not yet, I want to discuss…this situation we have here," he said, avoiding her gaze.
"There is no situation, Magnus. It's called a baby. I'm having a baby, yours—but don't let it worry you," she said unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice as she let the hurt rear its head. "I told you I don't want anything from you, and that won't change. If you only wanted reassurance, well, you have it, so now you can go. Just don't expect me to sign any more papers. I'm done with contracts that involve you."
Kate stood with her hands out for balance as stars swam before her eyes, dangerously throwing her off kilter. Magnus grabbed her before she fell and held her tightly against him.
For a few moments she fought with her heart. "Let me go. I'm fine."
"I want you, Kate," he said hanging onto her. "I've thought about it, and I realize that I was just running scared. I want a life with you and the baby."
"No, you just want to control my life and make sure that I don't put any pressure on you," she snapped, pushing him away. "I think expose you and bleed you dry was the expression you used. I've changed my mind. I will sign another agreement with you, one saying that I revoke all rights to any money for myself and my baby. Furthermore, I won't leak anything to the press. Your name will be kept out of it."
"No, I didn't mean it, Kate. I'm sorry. I should have given you more credit and taken some of the blame myself."
"It's too late," she said, brushing him off as he reached for her again, even though her heart was breaking. "You've shown me your true feelings, and you can keep them. Just leave me alone."
Magnus watched as she walked away from him. He cursed under his breath and kicked at the bale of hay. The door slammed behind Kate and still he stood where she had left him, unable to go after her for fear of further rejection. Should he go after her and tell her why he was so terrified, or would she laugh in his face and shoot the price of her silence up? She would probably go to the trashy magazines with her story. Others had tried it and even though he knew deep down that she was different, years of ingrained wariness niggled at him.
This time it was different. He knew she was pregnant; it wasn't a ruse for money. He had stood over her while she cried at the news with the proof in her hands. There was no denying that she was carrying his child, and he was at a loss as to what to do.
He shook his head and looked toward the house. Me, the big businessman, letting a small-town girl win. It was laughable. It was tragic. It was a new chance to have the life that I want with the child that I would hopefully get to know if it lived. Am I going to let her get away with keeping me out of their lives?
He turned from the house
