Having Gabriel's Baby. Kristin Morgan
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Ames was obviously the kind of woman who had been able to put their one-night stand into its proper perspective, just as he had. Some women he knew would’ve had trouble being that open-minded.
He was surprised that he hadn’t heard something— anything—by now from her or her attorney. Under the circumstances, he had felt certain that he would have, if for no other reason than to touch base and clear the air between them one final time. In some ways, maybe he’d been wanting to hear from her.
In fact, one day last week, he’d got to thinking about her—about their night together—and almost picked up the telephone to call. But then he’d decided that maybe it was for the best if he didn’t. Certainly he didn’t want to stir up any unnecessary trouble for himself. Besides, if she wasn’t worrying about any legal problems that might result from their time spent together, then why should he?
Well, in all reality, he did have his family inheritance to worry about. The last thing he needed was for some woman he hardly knew thinking she had some legal claim to it.
But he didn’t think that Joelle Ames was that stupid.
Still and all, right now his inheritance wasn’t the biggest problem concerning him. She was his biggest problem—period.
Damn her, anyway. Why couldn’t he simply forget about her?
Suddenly renewing his strong determination to put an end to his thoughts of her—Gabriel set his cup down on the railing that surrounded the porch and headed down the steps toward the fertile fields behind his house. This was the land of his ancestors, the land his father had left him. Located on the western edge of the Atchafalaya Basin in south Louisiana, it was rich, prime soil for toiling sugar cane. But even with all the modern technology and equipment, farming was still a hard way of life. It still took his total commitment, and then some.
But he wasn’t complaining. Not really. This was his way of life; it was all he’d ever known, and it was more important to him than anything in the whole world. And it always would be.
Forever.
Therefore, his memories of Ms. Joelle Ames, citywoman personified, could just back off.
Pregnant! Joelle closed the door to her doctor’s office as she walked out and stepped into the bright light of another typical California day. She didn’t smile, or breathe deeply of the crisp, clean breeze as she normally would have. Instead she got into her car and drove straight home. Once inside, she wandered aimlessly from room to room, her nerves too fidgety for her to think of sitting down for even a moment.
Oh, God, how could something like this be happening to her? She, of all people, who as a dutiful daughter had never once forgotten her moral upbringing when dealing with the opposite sex. It wasn’t fair that she was going to have to pay such a high price for her one failure in doing so.
She was suffering from a form of shock, she knew. Her doctor’s unexpected diagnosis for her malaise had come as a real blow. Actually she supposed that she should’ve considered the possibility that she was pregnant all along. But, the truth of the matter was, she hadn’t. Or, rather, she’d had her suspicions deep, down inside but she hadn’t wanted to believe them. But now she had no choice. According to her doctor, she was four weeks pregnant with Gabriel Lafleur’s child.
It was just so difficult for her to believe.
A real life shocker.
She was absolutely terrified.
How could she, of all people, be carrying a child, when, in fact, she was the last woman on earth meant for motherhood?
Maybe her doctor had made a mistake.
No—actually, she thought a moment later, the mistake was all her doing. No one had forced her into sleeping with Gabriel Lafleur. Therefore, it was up to her to deal with the crisis that had resulted. And, needless to say, she would do it alone. Without help from anyone. Not even her father.
Especially, not her judgmental father.
Still, Joelle knew her own limitations and was terrified at the prospect of being a single mother. How would she manage to juggle her time between her career and a baby? The fact was, right now, she didn’t even have a job. But even if that wasn’t a part of the problem, her lack of knowledge about kids and motherhood was. She didn’t know an iota about what it took to be a good parent. Her mother had died soon after giving birth to her, and her strict, disciplinarian father had raised her without ever remarrying. Therefore, she’d never had a female role model in her life. Not only that, but her continuous efforts to achieve leadership in a competitive business world had long ago forced her to program out that part of her feminine nature. She had never allowed herself to feel as though she needed a husband and children to be fulfilled as a woman. All she’d ever felt she needed was to have her father’s undying respect and had known instinctively that the only way to gain it was by being totally committed to her career.
But now all that was changing.
Now she was going to have a baby.
Dear God, what in the world was she going to do with a baby?
That night, Joelle went to bed and worried herself to sleep. She dreamed of Gabriel and Acapulco and woke up feeling worse than ever.
For the next several days, Joelle thought of little else. But in the end she knew that there was only one option for her and that was to have her baby, and that’s all there was to it. Later on, in the coming months, she would deal with what was the best solution for raising her child while still maintaining a fulltime career. But for now, her mental plate was overflowing. Though her decision to have her baby had settled her emotions down somewhat, they still weren’t anywhere near normal. The truth was, she still had several immediate problems facing her. San Diego was her hometown. She knew lots of people here. Her father was the social climber of the century and worried continuously about his spotless reputation, as if he were an old mother hen. Her pregnancy was going to be an embarrassment for him—and for her, too, no doubt about it. Somehow, she was going to have to find a way to keep her delicate condition a secret from him and everyone else in San Diego, although, deep down inside, she knew that it was going to be virtually impossible. Worse, not only was her father going to be shocked and embarrassed by her pregnancy, but undoubtedly he was going to ridicule her judgment in wanting to keep her baby and she simply couldn’t deal with that kind of criticism from him right now.
Which was exactly why, she supposed, that she had automatically tossed aside any thought of telephoning Gabriel Lafleur to tell him about the baby. Like her father, she didn’t want him to think that she was needy—clinging—and expecting him to assume responsibility for her problem. After all, she still had her goal of proving to her father—and to the entire world—that she was quite capable of taking care of herself.
Besides, what good would it have done her to call Gabriel? She knew for a fact that he didn’t want a wife any more than she wanted a husband. At least, he’d said as much in Mexico, several times, in fact. And according to her attorney, Smith Jamison, thus far, he hadn’t been able to find any documented proof that she and Gabriel had gotten married on her last night in Acapulco. She had absolutely no reason in the world to think that Gabriel Lafleur wanted to hear from her, again, under any circumstances. Therefore, it was ridiculous of her to want to call him simply to appease some deep down need in her to hear his voice, again. Absolutely ridiculous.
Still and all, several nights later, in a moment of extreme weakness, when a sudden loneliness swooped down on her and the thought of carrying her child for nine long months without having anyone on her side became unbearable, Joelle found herself dialing his telephone number. Of course, she had no intention of telling him about the baby. She simply wanted to hear his voice, make small talk for a while and then hang up. That would be enough to fill the sudden emptiness in her. She was sure of it.
His telephone rang once…twice…three times.
By now, Joelle was having second thoughts about what she was doing. Maybe it would only make things worse.
Suddenly someone