A Camden's Baby Secret by Victoria Pade Read Free Book Online Page B

to apologize to you for that.”
    For the night they’d spent together? Or for leaving?
    She raised her chin and gazed at him.
    â€œMy phone was on vibrate, so it woke me but not you a couple of hours after we fell asleep.”
    Livi had thought yesterday was awkward, but this had it beat.
    â€œI definitely didn’t hear anything,” she said with accusation in her voice, thinking that he was just making up some excuse.
    â€œThe call was to let me know that Greta’s parents, J.J.—John Jr.—and Mandy, had been in a car accident here,” he said, knocking some of the wind out of Livi’s sails. “Mandy had died on impact. J.J. was still alive but in critical condition. No one was giving him much time...”
    Callan’s deep voice got more and more ragged as he spoke, and Livi could see that even now this was difficult for him.
    And she’d thought that she was the one entitled to the emotions...
    For the second time today she had to make an adjustment, suspend her own feelings and just listen.
    â€œI had to get to J.J.,” he went on. “I had to make sure everything that could be done for him was being done. I had to see him...”
    Callan cleared his throat, and realizing how hard-hit he still was somehow made Livi feel guilty for all the nasty things she’d thought about him and his impromptu departure from that hotel room.
    â€œMandy, J.J. and I grew up here together,” he explained. “We were close. And always stayed close. They were more family to me than my own...”
    As if he needed a diversion, he looked down at his hands and pulled off his gloves, slapping them against his thigh.
    And Livi hated that her brain was once again thinking about how glorious those hands and thighs were. What in the world was wrong with her?
    â€œSo when I got that call,” he continued, “I was only thinking about getting to J.J. Everything went to that. I was in the air an hour later, and halfway here before I realized—”
    That not even a thought of her had entered his mind? That fact still stung, even though he’d had a good reason to be otherwise occupied.
    â€œâ€”that I’d just rushed out on you without a word,” he was saying. “By then, when I called the hotel, you were out of the room. And since I didn’t even know your last name, I didn’t have any way to track you down. I did try, I swear to you...” He paused, then added, “Anyway, I’m sorry.”
    Livi raised her chin a second time, accepting the apology that way because she couldn’t not accept it when it came with that explanation.
    But it wasn’t easy to let go of the humiliation she’d felt at his vanishing without a trace. It was hard to move past thinking the worst of him.
    Instead she chose to say quietly, “I’m sorry about your friends.”
    He nodded solemnly. “Yeah. Me, too. They were good people.”
    Again he didn’t seem to want to make eye contact with her, instead turning to toss the gloves onto a hay bale. “Anyway,” he repeated, “here we are.”
    â€œHere we are,” Livi echoed.
    â€œAnd I thought maybe we should talk about...you know...where we go now.”
    He did meet her eyes then and Livi didn’t allow herself to look away. But she didn’t say anything, because she had no idea where they should go now—especially factoring in that pregnancy test she had in that bag in the trunk of her cousin’s car.
    â€œHow about we just put it behind us?” Callan suggested. “Forget it happened. Start fresh.”
    Easy for him to say.
    â€œYou want to help Greta,” he went on, “and now she’s kind of my job—her and the Tellers—so we’ll be seeing each other. But Hawaii was...well...”
    A one-night stand? A vacation fling? Pure stupidity on her part? Yes, what exactly should they call it?
    As bad as the last two months