Bound by Their Love (11 page)

‘You ran errands? What was so important that you had to do it straight after being discharged? What did your husband say?'

Sheree laughed as she got up and walked over to the hall table. She picked up a package and came back to Greta. ‘He was with me and agreed this needed to be done.' She held out the package toward Greta. ‘Saying thank you seems so inadequate for what you did a couple of days ago. I wanted to get you something.'

Greta could feel heat warming her cheeks. She wasn't used to being given spontaneous gifts. She accepted the brightly wrapped gift. The little girl in her wanted to rip at the paper. Instead she slowly removed the ribbon and then started on the paper, this time ripping it. She lifted the lid off the box and stared at the contents. All thoughts left her mind. Sound faded and she was transported back to the stuck lift. Back to the moment where she'd experienced one of life's miracles.

Sheree had captured the exact moment when the baby had lifted her tiny hand and patted Greta's cheek. But it was the look on her own face that made speech impossible. She'd never considered herself a maternal person; but looking at the picture, seeing the way she was looking at the baby, she could almost imagine being a mother. Holding her own child.

‘Are you okay, Greta?'

‘It's beautiful, Sheree.' Greta looked up, knowing her eyes were brimming with tears. ‘Thank you for giving it to me.'

‘You're welcome. I thought I'd missed getting the shot. I know my little girl was saying thank you to you.'

Greta got up and did something she never thought she'd ever do. She gave Sheree a hug. In the space of a few days, her life had changed so much.

‘Would you like a drink? Coffee or juice or wine?' Sheree asked.

‘I'll take a juice thanks.' Greta didn't think she was up for wine just yet and she never drank coffee in the afternoon.

‘Okay, I'll be right back. I put the coffee machine on just before you arrived.'

Sheree disappeared into the kitchen and Greta looked around the apartment. It was a similar set-up to hers, but bigger. Which it needed to be for a growing family.

Sheree returned and handed Greta her juice. The aroma from the coffee cup reached Greta. Immediately her stomach protested the smell.

Sheree sniffed appreciatively from her mug. ‘I couldn't stand the smell of coffee when I was pregnant. I'm savouring it now.'

‘It does smell strong,' Greta said, breathing out of her mouth in an attempt to settle her stomach.

Sheree gave Greta a quizzical look. ‘You're not pregnant, are you?'

Greta laughed at the absurdity of her question. ‘Why would you ask that?'

‘My coffee isn't that strong. I always know when I'm pregnant because my stomach turns at the slightest smell of coffee. So are you?'

Greta's mirth at Sheree's question died as the realisation struck. She hadn't had her period recently.

No. No.
Her mind screamed.

No she couldn't be pregnant. Could she?

‘I, don't, umm,' Greta stopped and took another sip of juice. hoping it would dislodge the lump that had developed in her throat. ‘No, I don't think so.'

‘Are you sure? I've got a test, if you want to take it?'

The more the thought floated in her mind the more it took root. It had been over a month since she and Jeff had first slept together. They'd used a condom. Though she knew that wasn't always a guarantee.

‘Yes,' she whispered. ‘I think I may need to.'

Greta hoped the test came back negative. There was no possible way she could handle a baby. No way at all.

Chapter 12

Sitting at the bar at Palazzo Regent was not how Greta had imagined spending her evening. She checked her watch again. It was now close to eight-thirty. She should've sent Jeff a text to let him know she was going to meet him after all. It was so stupid to turn up without letting him know. He could already be on the way back to Broome and her opportunity to talk to him was gone.

Her brain hadn't formed a sensible thought since those two blue lines had shown up on the pregnancy test. At that moment her life had taken a major turn. One she hadn't counted on. But one she would have to face head-on. And that meant telling the father of her child as soon as possible.

‘So you decided to turn up after all?'

Greta jumped at the sound of the gravelly voice. Had her thoughts conjured him up? She turned to face Jeff. The man standing in front of her was a remote stranger. There was no warmth in his eyes and she couldn't understand why he'd be so cold toward her.

Perhaps the middle of a bar was not the place to have this conversation.

‘Hi. I, um, hadn't planned on turning up. But,' she shrugged her shoulders. ‘Something's come up that we need to talk about. Can we go up to your room?'

‘I've checked out. I only came back to collect my bags. My flight leaves in a couple of hours so I need to get to the airport soon.'

Okay, so he wasn't going to make this easy for her.

‘How about we get a table then?'

Jeff nodded and Greta hopped off the stool. Weaving through the tables, she found an empty one tucked away in the corner. The noise from the other patrons of the bar didn't seem so loud when she sat.

He crossed his arms as he took the seat opposite her. ‘So what do you want to talk about?'

How did she tell him? Did she just blurt it out? Would he believe it was his baby or would he think it was someone else's? The questions crowded through her mind at maximum speed.

‘There's no easy way to say this.' Her voice trailed off. She wished she had a drink. Something she could put her hands on to ground her to reality. Everything seemed to be happening in a dream. ‘I still can't believe what I'm about to tell you.'

‘What is it, Greta? I don't have all night.'

The man sitting in front of her wasn't the man who had worshipped her body so thoroughly the other night. Her refusal can't have upset him that much?

Greta took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then opened them, looking straight at him. ‘I'm pregnant.'

Jeffrey looked at Greta, trying to take in what she'd just said. ‘Did you just say you're
pregnant
?'

At her nod, he sat back running his fingers through his hair. No, it was impossible; they'd used protection.

‘I know what you're thinking. We used protection, how could it possibly be true?' she said quietly, leaning forward to rest her hands on the table. ‘I don't know what happened. All I know is I now have a baby growing inside of me. This is not what I had planned for my life.'

His blood cooled as his mind took in what she said. She couldn't possibly mean... ‘Are you telling me you're going to get rid of the baby?'

She reared back as if he'd slapped her across the face. ‘No. I could never do that! You obviously don't know me at all.'

‘Well, that's the problem, isn't it? I
don't
know what sort of person you are. We haven't spent a whole lot of time together. Now you're telling me we're going to have a baby.' He stood. ‘I need time to think this over. I need to go.'

‘Really? You need to go? Without letting me know how we're going to deal with—' she stood as well and placed her hand on her stomach. The gesture an instinctive protective manner; he ached to placed his hand over hers, ‘this situation?'

‘Greta, please, this has come as a shock to me. I need some time to process it.'

‘And you think it's not a shock to me? I was flying high this morning over how great my career was going after I landed my biggest account so far. By the end of the day I find myself pregnant to a man I've slept with twice. I'm just as shocked as you.'

Jeffrey was floundering. He didn't know what to make of the whole situation. He'd seen Greta sitting at the bar. The first thing he'd wanted to do was stride over and kiss her. Tell her he was glad she'd come to see him. But then he remembered her short message to him, her brush-off. He felt foolish, rejected, unsure if his text to her was a step too far, considering they'd be working together, and he'd put up his guard. He knew she felt the connection between them. It was there in the way she touched him. The way her body responded to his every caress. The way she moaned his name as she orgasmed.

Hell, he'd spent a month dreaming about her. Creating the best jewellery collection of his career with her front and centre in his mind. He'd wanted to talk to her tonight about exploring the possibility of a short-term relationship. He thought the arrangement would suit them both.

‘Would you have come to the bar tonight if you hadn't found out you were pregnant?'

Her shoulders slumped and she deflated before his eyes. ‘No. No I wouldn't have come to see you.'

‘Well, then we have a problem, don't we?'

‘Yes.'

Every instinct in him wanted to reach out to her. To hold her. Tell her everything would be all right between them. That they would sort through the situation they now found themselves in, together.

‘It's more my problem than yours, Jeff.'

‘Why do you say that? We were both in that bed when the baby was conceived. It wasn't like you deliberately set out to fall pregnant.'

‘Yes, but it's my life that changes, isn't it. I'm the one who will have the most upheaval. And my career, oh God, what is my father going to say.' She sat back down. ‘This is hopeless, I can't do this. I can't be a mother.'

Jeffrey squatted in front of her. His scarred flesh protested the movement. He took her hands in his. ‘It's not the end of the world, Angel. We will work something out.'

‘It's so easy for you to say those things. You're career won't be affected. Mine will.'

‘I think you're making too much of this right now. I mean, things happen. We don't know ... how things will go.'

The moment she snatched her hands away he knew he'd said the wrong thing. ‘Are you wishing for me to have a miscarriage?'

‘No! Hell, that's not what I meant at all. I was just say—'

‘Forget it, Jeff. Forget we even met. Forget I even told you that I'm pregnant. My child and I don't need you. Goodbye, Mr
Court
. Have a nice life.'

Greta stood and walked away from him, her spine rigid with anger. He looked around the room, positive everyone had been watching them. But everyone was lost in their own conversations.

Jeffrey went to go after her. Tell her she'd misunderstood what he'd been trying to say. He knew she wouldn't listen to him.

Instead he went to the concierge to arrange for a car to take him to the airport. He would catch his flight and return to his isolated hideaway among the bush of Broome. He knew the isolation wouldn't be as calming as it used to be. He needed to think everything through. Make some decisions. Work out what he was going to do with the news Greta had just told him. In a matter of a few days his life had changed. He couldn't go back to the way he'd lived before. He had no choice now. He had to come out of the shadows of his life and into the sunshine of an uncertain future.

Chapter 13

The beeping of Greta's phone signalling an incoming message echoed around the examination room. Her first instinct was to grab her phone, but lying on a hard bed with her belly exposed made it impossible to move. Work would have to wait. It was unusual for her to push business aside. However, it was becoming easier and easier and that scared her a little.

‘So are you ready to see your baby?' the technician asked, oblivious to the turmoil Greta was going through.

‘Umm, yes. I guess so.' Even Greta could hear the uncertainty in her response.

The technician laughed as she spread cool gel over Greta's belly. ‘First baby?'

‘Yes.'

‘Nothing beats the first scan you have. The first time seeing your baby and hearing their heart beating is something you will always treasure. You'll probably have one more scan. That scan will be able to tell you the sex of the baby, if you want to know.'

Greta's mind swirled with thoughts of did she want to know the sex of her baby or not? Would Jeff want to know?

Taking a deep breath, she pushed those thoughts aside. There was plenty of time to before she had to make that decision.

The technician didn't say anymore as she fiddled with the machine and then started to move the sensor across her tummy.

Greta watched the screen. All she could see was black and grey lines. It looked like an untuned television.

‘Are you sure there's a baby there?'

The technician laughed. ‘Yep. Let me show you.' She pressed a button and the screen froze. Using her finger she traced the outline of the blob in the middle of it. ‘There's your baby. Right here.'

The longer Greta looked at the screen, the more the blob took a form she recognised. Her breath caught at the tiny being on the screen.

Realisation hit her square in the stomach. That was
her
baby growing inside of her. A little soul she would be solely responsible for.

‘Oh my, he's so tiny,' she whispered, not really noticing the gender she'd placed on the baby.

‘Trust me, the baby will grow. Would you like a picture?'

‘Yes please.' In that moment Greta wished Jeff was with her. ‘Actually, can I have two?'

‘Sure.' She pressed a button and the machine started to print out two pictures. The screen then unfroze and a
whoosh whoosh
sounded around the room.

‘What's that noise?'

‘Your baby's heartbeat.'

Tears trickled out of the corners of her eyes. The technician was right. It was a sound she'd never forget.

Before it had seemed like a nightmare. Pregnant and alone. Now it was her reality. It wouldn't just be her anymore. She was going to have a baby. She was never going to be alone again.