His Brand of Passion by Kate Hewitt Read Free Book Online Page A

for a baby
. No, it wasn’t. She lived on a shoestring budget and her savings were virtually nil. Her apartment wasn’t suitable for a baby, no matter what she’d told Aaron. She knew she could ask for help from her parents, or Millie and Chase, but the thought of their disappointment and censure—no matter if it was unspoken—made her cringe. Millie was the one who had got married, had a real job and lived an exemplary life. Zoe was the screw-up.
    ‘Hey, Zo.’ Violet put a hand on her shoulder. ‘You know I’ll help you, right? And so will lots of people, I’m sure. You can do this.’
    Zoe blinked back sudden tears. Pregnancy hormones were clearly making her stupidly emotional. And while she appreciated Violet’s offer, she wondered how much help a brokepart-time college student could really give her…compared to how much she needed.
    Two days later the morning sickness really hit and Zoe went from feeling a little nauseous to barely being able to get out of bed. She dragged herself to work and back again, and the rest of the time she curled up on her sofa and nibbled dry crackers, feeling utterly miserable. She thought about calling Millie, just to have someone to share this with. She knew she’d have to tell her sister as well as her parents some time, but for the moment she couldn’t bring herself to admit her dire state
of
affairs.
I’m pregnant by your brother-in-law and he has no interest in this baby. He offered me fifty thousand dollars to get rid of it
. It was all just too, too awful.
    And then one day it all changed. She went to the ladies’ during a break at the café and there was blood in her underwear. Zoe stared at that single rusty streak in disbelief. Could she actually be having a miscarriage? After all she’d endured already, to have it end before it had even begun?
    Tears pricked her eyes and her heart lurched. she realised in that moment just how much she wanted this child, despite the awful nausea and Aaron’s horrible rejection.
    ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost,’ Violet said when she came back into the café. ‘What’s going on?’
    Numbly Zoe told her. ‘You should see a doctor,’ Violet said firmly.
    ‘Can they even do anything at this stage?’
    ‘I don’t know, but do you want to take that chance? And it might give you some peace of mind.’ She paused and added somberly, ‘Either way.’
    Duly Zoe picked an obstetrician from the internet—she had no friends who could recommend one—and made an appointment for that afternoon.
    The OB, Dr Stephens, was a brisk grey-haired woman with a practical but friendly manner. ‘Bleeding in early pregnancycan be perfectly normal,’ she told her. ‘But it also can indicate miscarriage. There’s really no telling at this point. If you experience more bleeding, with any accompanying cramping, then you should come back.’
    Zoe nodded dully. ‘And is there anything I can do?’
    ‘Nature generally takes its course at this point,’ Dr Stephens told her gently. ‘But of course staying off your feet and resting as much as possible couldn’t hurt.’
    Of course. Yet both of those were virtually impossible with her work.
    As she walked back to her apartment, Zoe felt even worse. Going to the doctor hadn’t reassured her; it had only made her aware of all the uncertainties, the impossibilities. She was only seven weeks’ pregnant and already it was so unbearably hard…and lonely.
    She sniffed, then took a deep breath. ‘Pull yourself together,’ she told herself as she unlocked the door to her building and kicked aside the drift of takeaway menus that always littered the floor. ‘You can do this. You’re strong. You’ve survived a lot.’
    She thought of Tim and how devastated she’d felt then. Nothing, obviously, compared to what Millie had been going through at the same time, with the loss of her husband and daughter. Yet the aching loneliness of his betrayal and her inability to tell anyone reminded her of how