Mia

Mia stood in front of the ranch house and took a deep breath. The smells of hay and clean mountain air filled her lungs, and she tried to steady herself. Today was the day. Today she was telling Carter.

The kids were at school, and she'd told her boss she was taking the rest of the day off, so there weren't any distractions. Today, she wasn't getting sidetracked by cars or kids or anything. Today, she was telling him that he was the father of her baby.

Just thinking the words made her heart stumble. She still wasn't sure how he was going to react, and that uncertainty gnawed at her. She loved him, and she was terrified that he might push her away because of this.

He didn't want children. He'd said it in interviews and even to her directly. She wanted him to be in her life, to be in their child's life, but she understood if he didn't want to be. This was something he had been very clear on not wanting. She wasn't sure how he was going to respond.

Mia glanced around the ranch. It seemed quieter without the kids here. She realized it wasn't just the lack of kids, but that security wasn't as present. There always seemed to be a uniformed presence haunting around the house and grounds, but today she couldn't see anyone.

She shrugged. It was odd, but she was kind of glad for it. The last thing she wanted was an audience for this. The security teams were usually very discrete, but this was between her and Carter.

Mia tipped her chin up and set her shoulders. This was happening. It was time.

She walked confidently up to the front door and opened it. She was expected, so she didn't feel the need to knock. The alarm system beeped twice as the door opened and once more when the door shut.

“Carter?” she called out. The house appeared empty.

“Upstairs,” came the reply. Her heart did a somersault in her chest, and she had to try her best not to throw up. For a moment, she considered running back out to her car, but that would only delay the inevitable.

Mia paused for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, trying to center herself. She closed her eyes and tried to think positive thoughts. She wanted this baby, even if he didn't. She could do this.

It took more courage than she cared to admit to take the first step. Her hands shook on the wooden railing as she ascended. She walked past the big bedroom and down the hallway to the room he used as his study when he wasn't in the barn or the garage.

The room was masculine and warm. Leather furniture sat before a heavy wooden desk and books of all shapes and colors filled the walls. Carter sat at the desk working on his laptop, his head and shoulders framed by the big picture window behind him. The sunshine enveloped him like he was wearing a blanket. He looked so handsome sitting at his desk that she let herself just stare at him for a moment. He had on a long sleeved collared shirt today that looked good on him. It was pale blue, and it accented his eyes and showed off the broadness and strength of his shoulders.

Focus, she reminded herself as she wondered how the shirt would look on the floor. No using sex to get out of it this time. Sex is how you got into this mess.

“Mia,” he greeted her warmly, looking up from his computer. “You look beautiful.”

She blushed. She'd worn her favorite dress pants and her best button-up long sleeved shirt. She'd hoped that looking professional would give her more courage, but it didn't seem to be working. What she really wanted was a stiff drink, but that was definitely out of the question. The work outfit would have to do. “Thank you.”

“You said you wanted to talk to me about something? Did you get more ideas for the car?”

Mia shook her head and took a tentative step into the office. Her palms were sweating. “No, but I do need to talk to you about something important.”

He smiled and nodded. “Of course. Let me just finish this email, and we can talk. Have a seat; this will just take a second.”

He motioned to one of the big leather seats in front of the desk and then quickly began typing. Mia sat gingerly on the edge of the seat. Her whole body was in knots. She placed her hands in her lap, fiddling with her nails. There was a rough edge on one, and she couldn't help but play with it while she waited.

“Okay,” Carter announced. “I just hit send and--”

That was when the lights flickered, and the power went out. Downstairs, the alarm system chirped once before going silent. The usual hum of electricity through the house went dead.

“What kind of email did you send?” Mia teased.

“It wasn't that big,” Carter replied with a frown, pushing a button on his computer.

“That's what she said,” Mia chirped. Her nerves made her laugh a little too loud at her own joke.

Carter gave her a strange look for a second and checked his computer before trying to turn on a desk light. Nothing changed. With a frown, he picked up the landline telephone on his desk. For a moment, Mia chuckled that he had a landline. It made sense for him to have one since he used this for his business, but she had to get her nerves under control.

“It's dead,” he said, hanging it up with a frown.

“Good thing for cell phones,” Mia joked, pulling hers out. Except there was no signal. It was strange because she usually got good reception on her phone at the ranch. Her thoughts shifted away from what she was going to tell him to what was going on. “I don't have any bars.”

“Me neither,” Carter said, looking at his own phone.

A chill went through Mia. She rubbed her arms as Carter stood and looked out the window. She could see the tension mounting in his shoulders despite the easy way he moved. Something wasn't right, and they both knew it.

“There should be a security guard out there,” he said quietly, peering out the window and frowning. The bright sunshine in the comfortable room felt strange. “Where is everyone?”

They were both silent and heard the front door open. There was no beep of the security system, just the sweep and the whoosh before a wooden click. Mia held her breath, waiting for security to announce themselves. There was no sound. Mia and Carter's eyes met. His eyes went big for a moment before going firm and into business mode.

Carter held up his finger to his mouth. He hurried from the window and carefully closed the door to his office, being as careful as possible not to make a sound. Mia tried not to breathe. She was sure that Carter could hear the pounding of her heart.

He slid the lock into place on the door and stepped away back to his desk. Without saying a word, he held up his phone to the window, attempting to get service. The way his mouth thinned told her that it didn't work. She got up to join him and try her phone, even though she didn't hold out much hope.

Even next to the window, the reading on her phone didn't change. Carter went to his desk and pulled out a keypad and pressed a button. Nothing happened. Mia recognized the symbol on it as the same one as the security system. She figured it was an alarm trigger just for his office. He pressed it again. Nothing happened. There was no way to contact anyone. Their cell phones had no reception, the landline was down, and even the security system wasn't working.

“Did it work?” she whispered, coming closer to him. She felt safer the closer she was to him.

He shook his head. “No, but on the upside, security will be here in five minutes anyway.”

“Really?” she asked, feeling just a little relief trickle through her. “How come?”

“If there's ever a power outage and signal stops coming in from the security system, security is to head directly to my last known location,” he explained, his voice so quiet she could barely hear him. “So, they'll come here.”

“That's good,” she said with a small smile. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head.

“We'll be fine,” he promised, giving her a squeeze. She leaned into him, glad that he was so confident.

The floorboards outside the office door creaked, and they both froze like rabbits. Mia had never held so still in her life, and she was sure that Carter had stopped breathing he was so statue-like.

“I know you're in there, Carter.”

The voice was male and deep. Mia didn't recognize it, and from the way Carter tensed, he didn't recognize it either. There was an angry quality to the voice that made her blood run cold. The tone promised violence.

“You killed my daughter. Now, I'm going to kill you.”