Paradise Valley Read Free Page B

promising fidelity or there would be no alimony. When the divorce was final, he’d also left her with a hefty pile of credit-card bills and she needed his money to pay off his debts. If anyone found out she’d conceived the twins before the divorce was final, she’d be in a deep financial mess.
    Cameron was trying to take it nice and slow. Abby had lots of reasons to fear rushing into a serious relationship. The first time she did that, she ended up married to an unfaithful jerk who tied her up with a binding prenuptial agreement. The second time she’d thrown caution to the wind, she’d gotten pregnant. With twins.
    So Cameron had called her and said, “Mel would like you to have an ultrasound and meet Dr. Stone, the OB in Grace Valley. I thought maybe I could take you and then, if you’d like, we could have dinner in Fortuna. Something simple and quiet. Just a chance for you to get out. And for us to spend an hour or two together.”
    And she had said, “That’s a very nice offer, but why don’t I just take myself to Grace Valley, meet the doctor, have the ultrasound and come back home?”
    “Because, Abby, I’d like to see the ultrasound.” When that statement was answered with silence, he said, “It’s typical for Mel to take an OB consult to meet John Stone—he won’t think there’s anything unusual about me taking you. This can be our secret as long as that’s what you need, but really—we have to spend a little time together at some point. Talk, like we did before all this happened. Get to know each other. Again.”
    He could hear the reluctance in her voice when she finally accepted. What the hell? He’d backed her into a corner. He knew the babies were his and he wasn’t going to give them up. He couldn’t force her into a romantic relationship, he wouldn’t force her to acknowledge the relationship that produced the babies, but he wasn’t going away quietly. They were his children. It meant a lot to him.
    She meant a lot to him. But he couldn’t make her fall in love with him.
    Cameron arranged for the ultrasound to be scheduled for the end of the day, when John was done with his appointments. It would be logical to go have dinner after that. He picked her up at 4:00 p.m. and conversation was a little lumpy and strained on the way over. He’d prepared a script: Tell me about growing up. I’d like to hear about your flight-attendant years. What are your plans for after the babies are born?
    But none of that worked out because she took the conversation in another direction right off the bat. “I need to tell you something, Cameron. Vanessa has guessed about our secret. She remembered that I slipped away from the reception and of course she knew you lived in Grants Pass. It must have been something in the way you looked at me or spoke to me, but she knew. She was very direct. She told me you were a good man and deserved a chance.”
    He was speechless. “God bless Vanessa,” he finally said in a breath.
    “Yes, well, I trust her and I know she has good judgment, but that doesn’t eliminate certain difficult facts. One, even though I slept with you, I don’t really know you. We’re probably highly incompatible. And two, I’m still hung out to dry by a nasty little prenup. An unfair, diabolical prenup that was the closest thing to a swindle I know. And three, Vanessa is sworn to secrecy because I don’t want anyone to know about us. I’m pretty embarrassed about what I did. I can’t afford to risk word leaking back to my rotten ex.”
    “Well,” he said. “That certainly spells it out for me.”
    “I intend to protect these children to the best of my ability.”
    He reached across the front seat and gave her hand a pat. “I really appreciate that, Abby. That’s courageous of you.” She looked at him and saw that his eyes had grown very dark, almost navy blue. And dead serious. “So do I.”
    And from there all the way to Grace Valley they traveled in silence.
    John Stone was