The next time he could think straight, however, he and Win faced each other across the width of the tiny galley kitchen, both of them breathing hard, his heart racing in his chest.
“I thought you weren’t coming back,” he managed to say.
“I know.” Win’s hair was down around her shoulders, her eyes huge. When she’d walked into the ballroom at the manor, his heart had expanded until he thought it would burst out of his chest. He still couldn’t believe she was standing here, looking at him like she wanted to memorize every inch of him—the same he was probably doing to her.
“What happened?” Was she back for good? Could they possibly be together after everything he’d gone through these past few months? Angus could hardly allow himself to imagine it.
And—the baby.
He reached out to put a hand over her belly. They’d made a baby together—
“I found out I had no idea who my parents are.”
The Regency gown she wore had a fitted bodice that ended just below her breasts. The gown’s long skirts were gathered there, emphasizing the slight curve of her belly. Win’s face was thin, her eyes shadowed. He wondered if she’d been crying.
Was she ill?
“You’ll have to tell me more than that, lass.” He pulled away from her, took a step back and raked his gaze over her, trying to understand how this woman he’d thought he knew so well could have behaved the way she’d done these past months.
A corner of her mouth quirked. “I missed that. The way you call me lass.” She gathered her thoughts. “I want to tell you everything. I’m just not sure you’ll believe it. I can hardly believe it myself.”
“Start at the beginning.” He had to know how long she’d known about their child. How long she’d kept it a secret from him. He wanted to step forward, take her in his arms again and keep her there until all the sorrow of the past few months drained away, but he also needed to keep his head. Why had she left if she was having his baby?
He never would have left her.
“The day before I went home, I went into town to run an errand.” She stopped. Bit her lip. “I went into town to get a pregnancy test.”
Angus stilled. She’d known—before she left?
“I didn’t think it could be true, but I was late, and I figured I might as well… I went to Linda’s Diner, took the test in the ladies’ room. When I saw it was positive, I was so thrilled.”
Her eyes pleaded with him to understand, but the more he heard, the less he could comprehend. “If you were thrilled, why’d you leave?”
“I was still in the bathroom when my father called and told me my mother had cancer. That she might be dying and she needed me. You have to understand how I felt when I heard that. My mother—my rock—might die, and she wanted me with her. How could I turn her down?”
“Didn’t you explain—” he began, but she was already answering.
“I thought I could go and be with her, then come back and marry you, but my dad told me that wouldn’t work, that my mother’s treatment could take months or more. That’s when I knew what I had to do.”
“What?” He wanted to stop time. Freeze it right here, before her words built a wall between them he wouldn’t be able to scale. She’d just found out she was pregnant—how could she have thought of anything but to come and tell him?
“I had to make you think I didn’t love you anymore,” she explained. “Because if you knew how much I did, and that I was pregnant, you’d have wanted to come to California with me.”
“Would that be so bad?” What was she afraid of? That he’d embarrass her in front of all her rich friends?
“If you lost Base Camp over it? Yes, that would be bad, Angus!” Win exclaimed.
Understanding dawned, but it didn’t assuage his anger. “You dumped me to save Base Camp?” That didn’t add up. “Why couldn’t you come back to marry me, even if it was just for a day or two?”
“Do you think Fulsom would have allowed that? He wouldn’t even allow us women to stay at the manor when you started filming Base Camp. You know as well as I do he would have said no, and then you would have had to choose between me and them. I couldn’t let that happen.”
One of the crew members pounded on the door again. “Let us in, Angus. I promise, you won’t know we’re here.”
“They always say that, and I always know they’re there,” Win joked feebly, but Angus noticed her hands were trembling. “Don’t open the door yet, okay? I have to tell you something, but you have to keep it a secret.”
“Everyone knows about the baby now, if that’s what you mean.” He’d seen the looks, the pointing fingers.
“Angus, please.”
Her tone propelled him forward, but he stopped short before taking her hands. He had to hear all of it before he decided what to do next. What she’d said about not wanting to force him to choose between her and Base Camp rang true—to a point. Except what kind of mother would force her daughter to choose between her and the man she wanted to marry?
As if she could read his thoughts, Win shook her head. “I thought I owed my mom; she’s been there when I desperately needed her, but it turns out I didn’t know her at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mother—she lied about the cancer, Angus. It was a ploy to get me home and back in the family
