Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Well, the good news is that you are going to be just fine. Other than the visible contusions, there is no sign of a concussion of any other trauma. I’m going to give you a prescription for the weakness, and the nausea will pass in its own time.”
He was scribbling as he spoke, handing her a piece of paper with a large smile. Jo was not smiling. She stared at it in disbelief and perhaps a bit of horror.
“Prenatal vitamins?” she said aloud.
“That’s right. Barely far along enough to even register, but definitely pregnant,” he replied.
Jo and King looked at one another, both speechless.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“How did this happen?” King said incredulously once they were out of the doctor’s office.
“I have no idea. Maybe he’s wrong.”
“He didn’t seem to think he was wrong,” King countered.
“I guess anything is possible. I’m not on any birth control and we didn’t use anything. I’ve been led to believe I was sterile for years.”
“Apparently, that is incorrect,” King said.
Jo had expected him to be angry, really angry, but he didn’t seem to be. They were both a bit bewildered by the news, but it was as if they were willing to accept it if they could only wrap their heads around it. He had not wanted kids, he had told her as much. She had given up a long time ago on having them, resigned herself to it. This was a huge shock.
Still, he had been clear on his thoughts about children and she didn’t want to be unfair. She took a deep breath and spoke.
“Listen, King. I know you don’t want children and I understand that. The doctor said I am barely pregnant, so it will be months before I begin to show, and I can still hide it under loose clothes for a bit after that. No one has to know. We can continue with our deal and once you’ve secured your place, I’ll disappear, raise this baby alone. I can’t hold you accountable. You trusted me when I told you I couldn’t have kids.”
“Do you think I’m angry with you over this? That I think you did it on purpose?”
“I don’t know what you think. I’m just explaining that I don’t blame you if you want nothing to do with it all.”
“You really can be silly sometimes. I’m going to forgive you because I know you women get crazy with the hormones and all, but you are completely wrong about how I feel about this.”
“You said yourself that you didn’t want kids.”
“I did say that, and I meant it, but what I realize now is that it was only because I hadn’t come across a woman who I cared enough about to share that sort of responsibility with. I can honestly say that has changed since I met you.”
“What are you saying then? You want to co-parent when all this is said and done here?”
“No, you dope. I’m trying to say, I want to stop pretending to be in a relationship with you.”
Jo looked at him, uncertain. Was he saying he just wanted to be a part of the child’s life, but not hers? She looked at him with confusion all over her face.
“Jesus, woman! I’m trying to say that I love you and want to be in a real relationship with you. I want to give this an honest go.”
Jo smiled, finally, and reached up to touch his face. “I love you too,” she told him.
“That’s a good thing,” he replied.
“I think so too,” she told him.
In the following weeks, Jo refused to step foot through the doorway of the house she had once loved. Some of the club members had gone to the house and brought all of her things to King’s cabin, and Trey had arranged to sell the house at whatever loss it incurred.
“I think it’s cursed,” she had told Saul Turner over the phone, some time later.
“I don’t know if it’s all that bad,” he laughed.
“Think about it. It sucked you in. You walked into that house and it made you feel like it was your dream home. You had to have it, right? Then what happens? Your wife wants out of it and then she wants out of your marriage. Bad juju, that is.”
“Well, maybe just bad timing.”
“Then I come along and find it just as magical. I buy it and it’s just one catastrophe after another, then I get attacked in it and can’t stomach the sight of it. It’s like a bad relationship. You’re in love and then you hate one another. That house lures people in and then sucks all the love out of them.”
“I’m sure Paul would still take it off your hands,” he told her.
“Probably. I know he’s your brother, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction after all he has done. I could forgive him trying to con me, but he almost got me killed, along with King.”