Unforgiven Read Free Page B

the rape and spin it into some sort of payback.”
    Samuel listened as he saw Jill round the corner, wearing a short black trench coat, open to show a blue and pink striped sweater. Her dark eyes were already watching him, and she slowed her steps. “Good point, Erin,” he said. “Listen, I’ve got to go.” He heard Erin start to say something else as he hung up, squeezing the cell phone in his hand.
    Jill shoved her hands into her coat pockets and stepped up to him. She didn’t lean in and kiss him or try to hug him, and he wondered why he was only noticing that now, as it had been so long since they’d been close, since they’d made love. Since he’d touched her.
    She stood with only a few inches between them, but the walls they had erected put them in separate universes.
    “How long is this going to take?” he asked.
    “I don’t know, Samuel. I told you you didn’t have to come.” She sounded irritated.
    “Look, I have a deposition, and I’m cutting it close now.” He checked his watch again. Of course, she’d given him an out, but he couldn’t take it. He’d done that once, and it hadn’t helped him sleep any better. “Come on.” He held up his hand as if to guide her, not touching her. She stared at it, so he started walking and pushed open one of the double glass doors. He gave her a look, as he really didn’t know what else to say to her, and she seemed to pull away from him further as she stepped around him and into the doctor’s office. She didn’t stop but walked up to the reception desk.
    “I called Doctor Watts earlier today,” she said. “My name is Jill Robertson. He asked me to come right in.”
    The woman behind the desk had her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. She reached for a file. “Yes, of course. We’re going to squeeze you right in.” She glanced up at Samuel, who was now standing beside Jill. Maybe she didn’t recognize him, but he had a great memory for faces. “Would you like to have a seat?” she said as he shoved his cellphone into his coat pocket.
    “No, I’ll tag along. That’s why I’m here.”
    “It’s fine,” Jill said to the nurse.
    Jill Robertson was her maiden name. She wasn’t his, not really, not in the way he wanted—the way he’d thought he wanted. Maybe that was the source of some of the hurt she’d been holding on to, too, but then, she’d been the one to not go through with the wedding. He’d been willing, she hadn’t. It had been a wasted trip to Vegas and an even more stressful trip home, all because he’d waited for at least one of his brothers to show up for his wedding and not one of them had, not Ben, Joe, or Logan. He hadn’t invited Jake.
    Samuel followed Jill into the boxlike exam room. She took the gown the nurse left and turned her back to him, undressing and folding her clothes as she pulled it on. He noticed her rounded belly. At twenty-two weeks, she was really starting to show. She left her socks on and put her folded clothes over the arm of the chair, then scooted onto the exam table and waited. Samuel could have taken the chair and sat, and he could have helped her onto the table, too, but he found it easier to stand, to watch.
    “So what’s going on, Jill? Why is this the first time I’m hearing you haven’t been feeling well?” Him starting in on her certainly did nothing to break the icy tension between them.
    Then the door opened and the doctor walked in. He wore tan dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a tie, and he glanced first to Samuel and then Jill as he closed the door. He was a short man compared to Samuel’s six feet, but he was solid, young, with short dark hair. “Samuel, Jill, thanks for coming right in.” He shut the door and put Jill’s file on the counter beside where Samuel stood, then stepped closer to Jill and flashed a penlight in her eyes. “Tell me again, Jill, about your symptoms.”
    “I haven’t felt well, like I’m coming down with the flu. I was dizzy today, and I just