“Are you kidding me? And I didn’t see a single familiar face.”
“I wish you had,” she sniffed. “It would have saved us both a world of trouble.”
“I didn’t force you. It wasn’t a bad night for you. Not bad at all. And you already know—for me, it was wonderful.”
“It was a huge misunderstanding,” she said. “I’ve just been through a horrific divorce, complete with tabloid pictures.”
“I know. I read all about it. I was looking for you. I wanted another chance with you,” he said.
She turned toward him, desperately grabbed the front of his jacket in both hands and said, “If you know who I am, where I am and that I’m pregnant, and if you tell anyone those details, it could be very, very bad for me. You have no idea how bad.”
Cameron wanted to know everything, but there was no mistaking panic. If he backed her into a corner, even slightly, she could get away from him again. “I think you’re okay here, Abby. I don’t think anyone in Virgin River will make the connection.”
“But you did,” she said, letting go of his jacket.
“Yeah. But I was looking for you. And not for a bad reason.”
“I don’t even know you!”
“Well, that’s arguable. But we’ll go with your perception for now—you don’t know me well enough to give you peace of mind, but I’m pretty easy to check out. Probably lots easier than you were. So—you’re hiding? From him or from me?”
“I didn’t even think I had to hide from you. I had no idea you were here. Really, this can’t get out. Please don’t ask me why.”
“A sticky prenup, I gather…”
“Oh God! Who told you about that?”
“I read it in People magazine.”
“Oh my God! How many people do you think know about that?”
“I don’t know, but no one here will realize you’re that woman. I recognized your face on the cover and read the story because I was hungry for details. Not that I got any—just the bare facts, which struck me as disgraceful. He left you after a few weeks, moved in with another woman and filed for divorce. There was mention that a prenuptial agreement might be a reason the divorce was delayed, but I have no idea how that plays into your drama. All I know is that the shit bag married you and left you. And I consider him scum of the earth for doing that. Not to mention a fool.”
“And I’ll be in a huge mess if you share that with anyone.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be sure and not write home about you.”
“Funny,” she said. “This is serious.”
“All right, we’ll get serious. You’re not my patient, but anything that happens in that clinic is confidential. Mel and I have access to all the records and they’re protected by privacy. Even if I wanted to gossip about you, I can’t. But there’s no rule against talking to you—and I have a personal stake in this. I have a feeling this has everything to do with me.”
“They’re not yours.”
He smiled patiently. “Yeah, they are, but don’t panic. Right now making sure you’re all right is the only thing that concerns me. I’m not going to get pushy—I understand how you must feel about it being just one night, unplanned, accidental. Abby—I’m sorry. This is my fault. I talked you into it, I had the condom accident…”
“I had the pill accident,” she relented. “I was taking antibiotics.”
“Well, that explains it. You didn’t know about the contraindication?”
She shook her head and sniffed. He produced a handkerchief and she wiped at her eyes and nose. “I’m not even sure they told me at the clinic. If they did, maybe I wasn’t paying attention—I was getting ready to go to that wedding and my own marriage was over. It was a stressful time and I had an ear infection. Really, I was half-deaf.”
“So why are you here?”
She shrugged. “I have to go real low profile right now. Oh hell, you’re going to find out anyway. I hope you turn out to be someone I can trust because—”
“Didn’t I show you that?” he asked as gently as he could. “I tried to.”
“Yeah, well, Ross showed me that, too. For at least a couple of months he was the sweetest man I’d ever known. A couple of months later he was back with the band, using drugs, his life a train wreck.”
“Okay, point taken. But I don’t think I have much in common with him. I don’t have a long history of infidelity and drug use, for one thing…”