LOST AND FOUND HUSBAND by Sheri Whitefeather Read Free Book Online

be okay. She would do whatever it took to get through it, even if she bordered on falling apart.
    Struggling to stay strong, she mentally prepared herself to call Eric and arrange a meeting with him. Relaying her news over the phone didn’t seem right. She needed to tell him face-to-face that he was going to be a father.

Chapter Four
    E ric couldn’t fathom why Dana had called and insisted that he come to her house to see her. She’d claimed it was extremely important. In fact, she sounded nervous, even a little frantic, not at all like the easy-breezy bohemian girl he knew her to be. Her tone of voice had worried him. But this whole thing worried him. He didn’t want to see her again. No, that wasn’t true. He’d been thinking a lot about her since their date, and he’d been tempted to go back to the diner. But how could he do that without wanting her again? And if they got together again, then a relationship might ensue that he wasn’t ready for. So he’d stayed away purposely, retreating to his cautious shell.
    But now here he was, after work, parking his car in front of her house and hoping this wasn’t a ploy on her part. A ploy for what? To seduce him back into her bed? No, he doubted that was it. Dana wasn’t the game-playing type. Something was wrong, something she obviously felt the need to share with him.
    He took the side gate to her place and found her sitting outside at her patio table, waiting for him. She looked pale and anxious. Fragile, he thought, his breath jerking from his lungs. She reminded him of Corrine when she’d first discovered that she was ill. Was Dana ill? Was that why she’d called him?
    He wanted to turn and run, but he moved forward.
    “Hi,” she said softly.
    “Hi,” he replied, and noticed that she had a pitcher of ice water and two glasses on the table. Obviously she wasn’t inviting him inside. Whatever she was going to say would be spoken here.
    He sat across from her, and she poured him a glass of water. She poured one for herself and sipped it. Eric didn’t reach for his. He wasn’t thirsty.
    “Tell me what’s going on, Dana.”
    “I...”
    His fear and worry increased. “Tell me, please.”
    She scooted in her chair, as if she were buying more time. “Okay, here goes.” A slight pause, then, “I’m pregnant, Eric.”
    A haze of white flashed before his eyes. Was she suggesting that the baby was his? No . No way . They’d used protection. They’d been careful. It just wasn’t possible.
    Was it?
    God, he hoped not. He prayed that the baby belonged to someone else. But if it did, then why was Dana telling him about it and not the other man?
    He grabbed his water and swigged, afraid of what she was going to say next.
    “The condom we used was expired, so I think that’s how it happened. It probably had a tear in it or something. I didn’t even think to check the date until...” Her words drifted into the breeze.
    Eric just sat there, his mind spinning. His heart was palpitating, too. “It was me? It’s mine?”
    “Yes, of course it was you. Who else would it be? I haven’t been with anyone since we were together. Or before that night, either.” Her voice hitched. “I’m five weeks along.”
    He drained his glass. Their date had been five weeks ago. “And you’re going to keep it?”
    “Yes,” she said again. “I haven’t told my mother and grandma. I just haven’t been able to bring myself to do that yet.”
    He nodded numbly. He didn’t know what to do or say. He was forty-two years old and was having a baby with a girl nearly half his age. He didn’t want to tell anyone, either.
    Finally he managed, “I’ll give you child support after it’s born. I’ll pay the deductible on your health insurance, too.” Then he stopped to consider the type of job she had. “Do you even have insurance?”
    “No, but I’m going to apply for state aide and see if I fall within the guidelines.”
    That sounded iffy to him. What if she didn’t