CHAPTER ELEVEN
After slapping her alarm into silent submission, Ivy groaned and snuggled deeper under the covers. “Five more minutes,” she whined.
Keeping up the constant pace of long days and short nights was catching up with her. She sat up and scrubbed the gritty sand from her eyes. Averaging four hours of sleep a night, she was finding it harder and harder to dredge up the will to crawl out of bed each morning.
It had been nearly two weeks since her grand opening, and customers were still clamoring for her baked goods. Sales were soaring, putting to rest her initial fear of failure. If only she could put her obsession with Noble to rest, all would be grand in Ivy’s world.
So far that hadn’t happened. The ghosts of incredible sex past came to haunt her every time there was a lull in customers. Even when she plucked out her credit card to order more supplies, there was Noble, spilling heat down her back and whispering sexual innuendos in her ear as he helped unlock her hotel room door.
The sinful specter was even invading her dreams every damn night, seducing her over and over until she woke in the throes of core-clutching orgasms.
She couldn’t escape him.
Thinking about him now filled her with frustration and turned her body into a throbbing, weeping mass of need.
Ignoring her lonely, dripping pussy, she groaned and tossed the covers back.
The minute her feet hit the floor, her stomach began bubbling up the back of her throat…again! Racing to the bathroom, Ivy dropped to her knees and dry-heaved for several long minutes.
“This is crazy,” she mumbled.
Her angst about opening the bakery had long passed, yet her morning purge-fest was getting worse. As she stood on shaky legs and rinsed her mouth, Ivy looked down at her stomach. She was visibly bloated.
Like a flashfire, her imagination started running wild. Something was seriously wrong. Could it be an ulcer? What if she had stomach cancer? A blast of fear zipped through her and Ivy quickly shoved it away. Maybe some weird microorganism she’d picked up somewhere was wreaking havoc with her digestive system. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew it was time to see a doctor. Hopefully, she’d only need a round of antibiotics. Taking an entire Monday—the only day the bakery was closed—to drive to her doctor in Dallas was a waste of time. Since she’d planted her roots here in Haven, Ivy decided she’d make an appointment with the local doctor, after she talked to Gina.
Over the past few weeks, the spunky bar owner had grown to be a good friend, one Ivy trusted would tell her if the local physician was competent or not.
After filling the display cases, Ivy unlocked the front door and spied Gina across the street sweeping the sidewalk in front of the bar.
“Hey,” Ivy called, leaning out the door. Gina jerked her head up and smiled. “When you get done, can you come over? I’ll buy you a cup of java and a chunk of that coffee cake you love so much.”
“Will do, but I still owe you a drink.”
“I know. I’ll come over when I’m not so busy.”
Gina scoffed. “Honey, you’re a business owner. You’re always going to be busy. You gotta make time. All work and no play makes Jane…pent up and bitchy as hell!”
Don’t I know it.
“I will.” Ivy grinned.
“Damn right you will, or I’ll drag your skinny ass over here and get you shit-faced myself,” Gina threatened, grinning. “Be there in a few.”
Ivy waved and was about to close the door when she noticed Emmett Hill plodding past the post office. “Are you coming to see me this morning?”
“You betcha, beautiful. I’m not sure what drug you’re putting in my coffee, but I’m mighty addicted.”
She laughed. “It’s only beans and water. I swear.”
The old man grinned before glancing over at her busily sweeping friend. “Heard you jawin’ with Gina. She’s good people.”
“Yes, she is.” Ivy nodded, holding the door open for the man.
“Whatcha got good in that case, besides everything?” Grinning, she stepped in beside the man and studied the goodies with him. “Those strawberry cheesecake deelie-bobs you always give me are good, but I’m gonna live dangerous today and try something different.”
“How about a cinnamon roll? I can warm it up for you and slather it in butter.”
Emmett’s rheumy blue eyes widened. “Any chance you’d consider hooking up with an older man?”
Ivy schooled her grin and cocked her head, pretending to ponder his question. “How old are we talking?”
“Ninety-seven next August, if I’m still on the upside of the grass, that is. I might not be a spring chicken, but you wouldn’t want for anything. I got a slew of savings accounts, I get a damn good pension, and I have more life insurance than you could spend in three lifetimes.” He winked.
“Hrmm. You’re giving me a tempting offer, Emmett, but I’m not the kind who likes to hook up. I’m independent, hardheaded, and way too busy to add a man into my life.”
He nodded and winked. “Can’t blame a guy for holding on to a pocket full of dreams, can you?”
“Never. Let’s let you start living dangerous. I’ll fix you that cinnamon roll and a large cup of coffee and hold the perfume.”
“You know me too well, pretty missy.”
Emmett sat at the table near the window, devouring his breakfast as he watched the customers come and go. A short time later, Gina entered, wearing an expectant smile, and arched a brow at the butter crumb coffee cake in the display case.
“Grab a seat. I’ll bring it out to you in a sec.”
After carrying over two coffees and a massive wedge of Gina’s favorite indulgence, Ivy plopped down in the chair beside her.
“You always get up at the ass crack of dawn to start baking all this stuff?”
“No. I usually stay up past one, then I get up at the ass crack of dawn and fill the display cases.”
“Jesus. That’s some long hours. Makes dealing with drunks almost a vacation. You need to hire some help. You’re going to get sick if you keep this pace up.”
“Funny you should say that. I’ve got some kind of stomach thing going on.”
“You mean like the flu?”
“No. It’s not the flu. I thought it was stress…you know, wigging out about opening up the shop. But it hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s getting worse. I’m throwing up almost every morning.”
Gina shot her a blank stare. “Any chance you’re pregnant?”
“No. I’d actually have to have sex in order to get pregnant. Besides, I have an IUD.”
Gina frowned. “Sexual dry spells suck donkey balls. I feel for you…been there done that, used to collect the damn T-shirts. I can’t fix your gut, but my boyfriend’s got a slew of sexy brothers I can fix you up with.”
Ivy shook her head. The thought of having sex with any one besides Noble was last place on her bucket list. “Nah, I’m good. But I did want to ask you about the town doctor. What’s he like?”
“Doc Knight? Oh, he’s one of the kindest souls on the planet. He’s always been so gentle with me when…err, when I’ve gone to see him,” Gina stammered, quickly averting her stare as if hiding something.
Ivy wasn’t going to press her about it and upset their new friendship. When and if Gina wanted to share, Ivy would be glad to listen.
“Give Doc Knight a call and make an appointment,” Gina continued. “He’ll figure out what’s going on.”
Her praise of the doctor sent relief settling over Ivy. “I’ll do that. Thank you.”
Gina took a bite of her coffee cake and moaned. “This is so good it’s sinful. Get your ass over to my place tonight so I can fix you something that will make you dance and lose your pants. We’ll find a stud to give your IUD a hell of a workout, sister.”
Ivy chuckled. “Don’t hold your breath about finding me a stud, but I will come over tonight. Just don’t let me get too toasted. I still have to work tonight.”
“I’ll take good care of you. That’s what friends are for…well, that and to help you bury the bodies.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s only one body I want help burying, but that’s a discussion for another time,” Gina announced before draining her coffee cup. “I need to get back to the bar. Thanks for the goodies. I’ll see you tonight.”
When four o’clock finally arrived, Ivy locked the door. All she wanted to do was climb upstairs, wash the flour, sugar, and sweat from her body, then crawl into bed. She’d never felt so completely tapped out before, not even after the marathon sex-fest she’d had with Noble. She’d been deliciously sore and spectacularly sated, but nowhere close to the kind of exhaustion screaming through her now.
Maybe Gina had been right. Maybe she did need to hire an assistant.
It was clear that burning the candle at both ends had caught up with her.
Maybe she wasn’t seriously sick at all but suffering from exhaustion.
She’d find out Monday morning when she went to her appointment with Doc Knight.
After cleaning the shop, Ivy trudged upstairs and peeled off her clothes before taking a long, hot shower. With her batteries semi-recharged, she took the time to dry and curl her hair before applying a bit of makeup. She dressed in a pair of soft, faded jeans and pulled on a cuddly cashmere sweater that hugged her boobs, just in case a handsome cowboy or two happened to drop into the bar. After grabbing her purse, Ivy headed across the street.
When she entered the bar, she smiled at the rustic ambiance, the dim lights, and the scent of wood and whiskey. But Ivy was taken aback at the lack of customers. How did Gina make a profit from this place?
It’s a Thursday night, barely past six. Later on it’ll probably be filled to the rafters with rowdy cowboys, loud music, and raucous laughter.
“Oh, my god! Somebody please call Ripley’s. She’s here! She actually turned off her fucking ovens and strolled her bony ass across the street. It’s a miracle,” Gina called out dramatically from behind the bar.
As the three older men seated at a table in the rear of the room peered up at her, Gina burst out laughing, causing Ivy’s cheeks to grow hot. She jerked her chin up and sent her a playful grin. “Ha, ha. I told you I was coming over.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve fed me that line for weeks now. Come on up and grab a seat. I’ll get you fixed up proper.”
Ivy sat down and watched her friend pour several different kinds of liquor together before rimming a crystal flute in sugar and pouring the concoction into the glass.
Gina added a plump cherry and orange slice, then set the light amber-colored drink on the bar. “Voila!” She grinned.
“What exactly is this?”
“I call it the guaranteed hangover.”
Immediately, Ivy’s mind flipped to the brain-blasting headache she’d woken with the morning after Noble had left her sated and sore. Blocking the memories, she swallowed tightly. “You do remember I have to bake my buns off tonight, right?”
“Aw, you’ll be fine,” Gina assured, waving her hand absently.
“Easy for you to say. I don’t drink very often. This will probably knock me on my ass.” Ivy brought the rim to her lips and took a tentative sip. Her taste buds exploded as the sweet and slightly tart liquid slid over her tongue. “Oh, wow! That’s…too good.”
“I was hoping you’d like it. Go on. Drink up. I’ll make you as many as you can handle.”
Ivy chuckled. “If I drink more than one, your crumb cake’s liable to taste like dirt in the morning.”
When she lifted the glass for another drink, movement on the stairs to the left of the bar caught Ivy’s attention. She skimmed her gaze up a pair of muscular thighs encased in well-worn denim. Coasting her gaze higher, she swallowed down the liquid in her mouth with an audible gulp. The sight of defined, masculine abs and broad, rugged shoulders outlined beneath a black T-shirt jolted her system. But when she settled on the man’s face, shock and disbelief ripped through her like an atomic bomb.
Noble?
Her heart sputtered.
Her stomach pitched.
The room began to sway.
Gaping at the man who’d left her in a perpetual state of frustration for months, she wanted to weep. Noble looked as virile and knee-knocking arousing as he had in Vegas.
What the hell is Noble doing here? Confusion charged her brain, while fragments of elation and anxiety splintered her soul.
The floodgates holding back her memories ripped open.
Tingles and tremors assaulted her body as every kiss, every touch, every thrust skipped beneath her flesh.
Butterflies dipped and swooped in her stomach.
Each breath she struggled to suck into her lungs felt like sand.
Her body ignited in hunger and longing.
And all the while, the same question circled her brain…
What the hell is Noble doing here?
Of all the places on the planet, how had she found him here…in Gina’s bar? In Haven?
Ivy didn’t have a clue, but she intended to find out.
Nibbling her bottom lip, she felt anticipation spike as she willed him to look her way. Each second ticking by felt like an eternity as she waited for those glorious green eyes to land on her…waited for the first flickers of recognition to morph into shock and disbelief before pure unadulterated happiness lit up his sexy face. She could already see him flash her that toe-curling smile before he plucked her off the barstool and wrapped her in his rugged arms again.
But Noble didn’t even realize she was there. His attention was fixed, no, it was riveted on Gina as he swaggered off the last step and strode behind the bar.
Ivy’s heartbeat tripled when the seductive grin she knew all too well kicked up one corner of his mouth. But he wasn’t granting her a peek at that sexy smile, he lavished it on Gina as he clutched her in a lover’s embrace.
Like a bloody, torturous massacre, denial screamed through Ivy as she mutely watched the man who’d drowned her in mindless orgasms press his magically talented mouth to Gina’s.
The torrid, passionate kiss they shared sent the walls to close in all around Ivy.
Suffocating beneath a swell of panic, Ivy felt the ground beneath her crumbling away. Her heart sank to the pit of her churning stomach as a barrage of envy, rejection, and bitterness warred with heartbreak, pain, and overwhelming embarrassment.
I’m such a fucking fool.
Trembling like a leaf, she mentally begged herself to wake up from this brutal, flesh-peeling nightmare, but Ivy knew in her heart that she wasn’t sleeping.
The man who held the staring role in her masturbation fantasies was kissing her new best friend with the same passion and possession he’d branded to Ivy’s soul over four long months ago.
In that moment, Ivy realized that Noble was as unattainable now as he’d been when she’d left Las Vegas.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes.
Acid boiled in her belly.
The sweet, citrus remnants of the drink staining her tongue turned toxic.
“Did you enjoy your shower, baby?” Gina asked after Noble finally ended the kiss.
“It was okay. It would have been a hell of a lot more fun if you’d been with me.”
Noble’s familiar whiskey-smooth voice flowed over Ivy’s flesh. But instead of coating her in a balm of reassurance and security, sharp blades sliced deep ribbons to bleed into her soul.
As the bittersweet longing that had fluttered up inside her shattered into a million pieces, an anvil of guilt flattened her to the ground.
I fucked my best friend’s boyfriend.
Ivy didn’t have a clue how long Gina and Noble had been together, but woman’s intuition told her their relationship wasn’t new. But on the other hand, Haven was a small town. There was no way Noble could have been living across the street from her for very long. Ivy surely would have run into him someplace…the grocery store, the café, the post office…hell, how had she not seen him walking down the sidewalk, for fuck’s sake? There was no way he could have been living under nose all this time, was there?
“Baby, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Gina announced, flashing Ivy a wink and a grin.
When Noble finally turned Ivy’s way, time slowed. She held her breath as the listless nanoseconds ticked by. When he finally locked those emerald-green pools on her once again, a shiver slid through her.
But instead of the anticipated look of recognition, shock, or even an awkward grimace, Noble simply sent her a polite, blank totally emotionally void smile.
It was definitely not the kind of greeting she expected him to give the woman who’d taken his thick cock to the back of her throat, sucking him to climax, while filthy, erotic, provoking words rolled off his tongue.
Noble wasn’t looking at her but rather looking through her as if he’d never laid eyes on Ivy in his life.
The anxiety singing through her veins immediately bled out, replaced by indignation and fury.
“Do you know who this pretty young thing is?” Gina smiled up at Noble.
“No clue,” he replied with such conviction Ivy nearly gasped.
“This is the woman who makes all those goodies I bring home to you from the bakery.”
Noble’s face lit up and that clit-throbbing grin spread over his mouth…the same mouth that had laved, kissed, and nibbled every inch of her skin as he taunted her with hours and hours of oral bliss. Even now, she could still feel his talented mouth as it laid siege to her weeping pussy.
“Nice to finally meet you. Welcome to Haven. Your butter crumb cake is totally addicting. I’m like a junkie,” Noble said with a chuckle.
Seriously? Welcome to Haven? Nice to finally meet you? Is he fucking kidding?
Clearly, the prick had missed his true calling. Noble should have been a damn actor, because Ivy had never met a more convincing liar in her entire life.
So the son of a bitch wants to pretend he’s never met me? Fine. I can play that game, too…asshole!
“Trust me, baby. She already knows.” Gina elbowed Noble in the ribs. “I’m over there two or three times a day buying it for you.”
“True.” Noble grinned. Then he turned his focus on Gina once more. “Sawyer’s coming by for a couple of games of pool. I’m gonna head back and grab the table, love.”
Love?
His declaration of love ripped through Ivy’s heart like a well-honed blade, eviscerating all the foolish hope Ivy had clung to all these months.
“Have fun, and try not to take his last penny, baby. You know how grumpy he gets when you do that.”
Noble laughed and nodded.
Like a hopeless moron, Ivy’s arms broke out in goose bumps at the sound of his laughter.
“I’ll try not to,” he assured. Pausing an extra second, he sent Ivy a purely platonic smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same to you,” she somehow managed to push past her lips before Noble turned and walked away.
“God, I love that man,” Gina gushed. “He owns my whole damn heart. I don’t know what I’d do without Nate.”
Nate? Well, that sure as hell wasn’t the name he’d used in Vegas. Fucking liar!
In light of all the revelations that had already unfolded, finding out that Noble…or rather Nate, had used a fictitious name wasn’t all that surprising, but it certainly made her feel like a bigger fool. So did seeing the love written all over Gina’s face.
“Nate, huh? Nice name,” she murmured, biting back a caustic scoff.
“Oh, shit. I’m such an idiot.” Gina smacked a hand to her forehead. “I didn’t introduce you two properly. Dammit. Well, that’s my man…my Nate.”
“He’s very handsome.” And fucking phenomenal in bed. “You’re a lucky lady.”
“Oh, I know it. I count my lucky stars every day. He’s not just great eye candy, he’s kind and gentle and loving, too.”
Ivy forced a smile. “How long have you two been together?”
Smooth…real smooth. Dammit!
She hadn’t planned for the question to fall out of her mouth, it’d just…happened.
“Nine months, now,” Gina answered dreamily.
Nine months! Nine fucking months?
Guilt, like a wrecking ball, slammed every cell in Ivy’s body.
Shit! How could she have been so stupid…so naïve in Vegas?
The answer was easy… Noble/Nate was hot as hell, had showed interest in her, and her girl parts had been close to shriveling up and dying from lack of use. Still, none of those reasons absolved her guilt and shame. If Gina ever found out Ivy had done the nasty with her man, it would crush her and destroy the friendship they’d built thus far.
“Don’t go away. I’ll be right back. I just need to grab these folks’ orders,” Gina announced, nodding toward the customers now seated at various tables.
Ivy had been so focused on processing the colossal clusterfuck unfolding around her that she hadn’t even noticed others had come into the bar.
As Gina scurried over to take their drink orders, Ivy casually glanced toward the pool table. Nate/Noble didn’t even lift a brow. He simply lined up shot after shot with the long pool cue, totally engrossed in his game. Obviously the man was a pro at playing games.
You prick-assed son of a bitch!
She was letting her anger get the best of her. Ivy knew she had to leave before she did something even more reckless than she’d done in Vegas. Something like stomping up to the bastard and demanding that he acknowledge her and the night they’d spent fucking each other’s brains out. While forcing him to confront his sins might give her satisfaction and a whole lot of closure, it would gut Gina. Ivy didn’t have the heart to do that to her friend.
Forcing a calm she didn’t feel, she tipped her drink back and drained the glass. When Gina returned, busily mixing booze and filling beer mugs, Ivy plastered on a tight smile. The sheer effort of acting as if all was right with her world made her feel like a total fraud…an even bigger one than Noble/Nate was.
But she was out of options.
She needed to get the fuck out of here now.
“I’m going to head back over and get to work. Thanks so much for the drink. It was delicious.”
“What the fuck? You can’t leave now.” Gina frowned. “You need to stay so I can introduce you to Nate’s brothers. I wasn’t kidding when I said I could help end your sexual drought.”
Ivy’s heart pounded like a drum. She’d rather be waterboarded and drown than fuck one of that bastard’s brothers. “Maybe next time. I’m still not feeling a hundred percent.”
“You make an appointment with Doc Knight, all right?” Gina’s concerned tone only made Ivy feel guiltier.
“Already did. I see him on Monday.”
“Good. You’ll like him. He’s a great guy.”
Ivy could use a great guy, instead of the lying, cheating pricks she usually hooked up with. Her trust in the male species was at an all-time low. Even if she accepted Emmett Hill’s offer, he’d probably end up popping Viagra and banging all the old ladies at the nursing home behind her back.
With the exception of her father, all men were pigs. Since junior high, every guy she’d ever dated had consistently let her down.
No more! This is the last straw!
Ivy was through letting pussy-chasing, man-whores sweep her off her feet. Her hormones would surely balk at the long, bleak dry spell ahead, but she’d find ways to cope. She’d simply pour all her pent-up frustrations into baking and making Sweet Flours a success. If that didn’t work, she’d buy stock in a battery company and spend the rest of her life burning out vibrators before burying them in a shallow grave behind the shop.
“Thanks again for the referral and the drink. I’ll see you in the morning, right?”
“Damn straight you will.” Gina smiled and waved.
Ivy headed toward the door, fighting the urge to glance back at Nate/Noble. Logically, she knew self-preservation kept the man from openly confirming he knew her. No way he’d risk trashing his relationship with Gina over a one-night stand with Ivy.
Still, it stung like a bitch.
No, it devastated her.
God, she’d been an idiot spending months obsessing and growing hopelessly infatuated with a man she knew she’d never see again. Now that she’d come face-to-face with him again, the reality that she’d meant dick to him, that she’d been nothing more than a convenient hole to plug his big, fat glorious cock into, annihilated her. Tears stung her eyes. Obviously the amazing sex—stop calling it amazing, he’s nothing but a sexually gifted, lying man-whore—they’d shared was just an easy way to kill time.
Stepping from the bar as a barrage of embarrassment, hurt, and anger pinged through her. Ivy quickly checked for traffic and darted across the street as tears began to flow.
Once inside the bakery, she ran straight to the kitchen, cursing and swiping at her eyes. Refusing to cry one more tear over that lying sack of shit, Ivy cranked up her music before slamming metal bowls on the counter and vented her anger by measuring, mixing, kneading, and baking.
Like a woman possessed, she raced around the kitchen in banshee mode and shoved all thoughts of Nate/Noble down deep the second they started to surface. At one thirty in the morning, she climbed the stairs and crawled into bed. But the minute she closed her eyes, Noble/Nate was right there…kissing her, touching her, saying all those naughty things that enticed her to scream and shatter for him.
“Stop!” she screamed into the darkness before she fell apart completely.
Mournful sobs tore from her throat. Ivy hugged her pillow and sobbed until sleep finally claimed her.
When her alarm went off, she sat up and rubbed her sore, swollen eyes. Acid, caustic and burning, bubbled low in her belly, but thankfully, when she rolled out of bed, she didn’t have to race to the toilet and drop to her knees. She quickly showered, dressed, and hurried downstairs.
As she prepared to open for business, she was already running on fumes. She needed caffeine more than air, so she pumped enough coffee through her system to keep her awake for a week. By the time customers started filing through the door, Ivy almost felt human again.
Several hours later, when Gina rushed through the door, Ivy’s heart tripped in her chest, and an inky film of guilt ascended.
“You got time to sit and chat this morning?” Gina asked happily.
“A-ah, I can’t this morning. I’ve got some things in the oven I need to keep an eye on. Sorry.” Ivy forced an unhappy frown.
“Oh. Damn. We didn’t get to visit last night before you had to leave and I was… Oh, never mind. It’s okay.” Gina gave a wave of her hand. “I’ll just take a couple pieces of coffee cake then, and let you get back at it.”
As Ivy filled the order, she could feel Gina’s scrutiny. Dammit. She’d have to learn how to be a much better actress, and fast. But it was hard when guilt and shame were pulsating so thickly through her veins.
Over the next three days, Gina visited each and every morning. Their conversations went from uncomfortable to stilted and then awkward. The woman didn’t pry or quiz Ivy about the wall she’d erected. Gina simply smiled, waved, and walked out the door, leaving Ivy alone with the elephant in the room. Remorse was eating her alive, but there was nothing she could do or say to pardon her unforgiveable sin.
After finally sleeping in an extra three hours, Ivy sat in Doc Knight’s tiny waiting room, mindlessly thumbing through a magazine. None of the articles or pictures even registered in her brain. She was too focused on her worries…worries about her deteriorating relationship with Gina and the unknown medical malady running rampant through her system.
Ivy thought it strange she didn’t have to fill out sheets of medical history but shrugged it off as a quirk of a small-town doctor. She figured the man probably didn’t want his staff sitting at a computer all day inputting medical records.
“Miss Addison, Doc is ready for you,” a gray-haired nurse called from the doorway.
Ivy set the magazine aside and followed the woman down a hall into an exam room. After the nurse took the usual blood pressure, weight, vial of blood, and urine sample, Ivy sat on a paper-covered exam table in a thin, cotton hospital gown.
There was a soft tap on the door before Doc Knight—a balding, late-sixty-something man—entered the room. He wore a crisp, white lab coat and a warm, friendly smile.
“Ivy Addison.” He grinned, extending his hand. “Doc Knight. It’s a pleasure to meet the woman who’s responsible for my expanding waistline.”
Ivy softly laughed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”
“My wife, Iris, is forever bringing something decadent home from your shop. Not that I mind. You can certainly bake, young lady.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you enjoy them.”
“So what brings you in to see me today?”
Ivy explained her stomach issues and the stress she’d been under. Doc Knight listened, jotted down several notes on a clipboard in his hand, and nodded until she was through.
“What date was your last menstrual period?”
Ivy strained to remember, but couldn’t.
The tiny hum of anxiety singing through her body suddenly roared like a chainsaw.
“I-I don’t know… But I’m not pregnant. I have an IUD,” she said in a desperate tone.
Doc Knight nodded calmly. “So I take it you are sexually active with your husband or boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a husband or a boyfriend. So see? I can’t be pregnant. It has to be something else,” Ivy explained trying to tamp down the panic rising inside her.
“We’ll definitely check everything with a fine-tooth comb after I rule out the more obvious symptoms.” His expression was so filled with sympathy that Ivy wanted to weep. “When was the last time you had sex?”
That was the first easy question he’d asked since walking into the exam room. Ivy quickly whipped off the date she and Noble/Nate had all but busted up the furniture in Las Vegas.
“All right. I’m going have my nurse, Harriett, join us while I give you a pelvic exam. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Ivy nodded, fighting the urge to beg him to stay and not leave her alone with the monstrous fears racing inside her head, as she struggled to remember if she’d had a period since returning from Vegas.
Panic had wrapped its icy hands around her throat by the time Doc Knight returned…alone. Where was his nurse? Confusion tore through Ivy’s head.
“I asked Harriett to give us a few minutes to talk.”
“Okay,” Ivy replied softly.
“She’s running a blood test to confirm your urine result.”
“Urine result? I-I don’t know what you mean.”
Doc Knight took her hand in his before cupping his other hand over her fingers. “Your urine test came back positive, dear.”
A UTI?
All the mornings she spent barfing her toenails up were from a urinary tract infection? Oh, thank god! All she’d need was a round of antibiotics and she’d be good as new in a few days.
“Thank goodness.” She exhaled in relief. “My mind was going everywhere but a UTI.”
“A UTI?” he repeated in confusion. Suddenly, his expression softened to one of sympathy. “No, dear. You don’t have a urinary tract infection…you’re pregnant.”
The air froze in her lungs.
The room began to spin.
Black splotches swam behind her eyes.
Oh, god…my best friend’s boyfriend knocked me up.
Ivy’s limbs grew numb. And as the darkness swallowed her up, she heard Doc Knight call out, “Oh, dear. Harriett!”
When Ivy opened her eyes, she was lying flat on the exam table. Both doctor and nurse were leaning over her, concern stamping their faces. Panic swelled with the force of an F-5 tornado.
“Just lie still and take some deep breaths, Ivy,” Doc Knight instructed. “I know you’re scared and probably a little unsure of what you’re going to do. You passed out and I don’t want you doing it again. All right?”
She nodded as tears stung her eyes. “I-I’m really pregnant? Are you sure?”
“Yes, dear,” he replied in a tone suffused in understanding.
“I don’t understand,” she said, voice cracking. “I thought the IUD…”
“No form of birth control is one hundred percent. But after you’ve rested here for a bit, I’ll do a pelvic and see what’s happened with your IUD. If the device is still inside you, I might need to send you to a specialist over in Abilene or Dallas.”
“What do you mean, if?”
“Sometimes those devices migrate out, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Just try to relax now.”
Ivy wasn’t focusing on specialists or anything else the doctor said, she was spazzing out with dread and fear. “When…when’s the baby due?”
“Based on the information you gave me earlier, you’re seventeen, going on eighteen weeks now. So, that’ll put your delivery date somewhere around July twenty-sixth.”
Oh, god…Noble/Nate really knocked me up. Oh, Gina…I’m so sorry!
Her life felt like a bad episode of Jerry Springer. Tears filled her eyes. Ivy tried to blink them back but they rolled out as a sob spilled off her lips.
“Oh, honey,” Harriett cooed. “Don’t cry. It’s going to be all right, and don’t you worry about what the people in town say about you being pregnant and unmarried. Some just like to talk trash for the sake of having something to say.”
Gossip? Oh, hell…
The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind until now. Once again, scandal was going to surround her, not for being Eugene McMillian’s victim but for being an unwed mother. Like she’d done the night she discovered Noble/Nate was in love with Gina, Ivy sobbed, loud and long.
“Harriett,” Doc Knight scolded. “She doesn’t need to worry about all that now.”
“I’m sorry. I-I was only trying to help.” The sweet old woman patted Ivy’s hand gently. “It’s going to be all right, dear. It really is.”
“No, it’s not!” Ivy wailed. “Oh, god…how could this have happened?”
“Well, when two people love each other—”
“Harriett!” Doc Knight barked. “Why don’t you go file some charts for a few minutes. When I get Miss Addison calmed down, I’ll call you.”
“Fine,” Harriett said with a huff before turning and storming out of the room.
Doc Knight shook his head, then inched his backside onto the edge of the examination table and opened his arms. “Come here, dear.”
He reminded her so much of her late grandfather that Ivy sat up and threw her arms around his neck, soaking his pristine lab coat in snot and tears. The kind doctor simply held her and patting her gently on the back while he murmured reassuring platitudes.
Twenty minutes later, after Ivy had gained some semblance of control, Harriett entered the room and held her hand while Doc Knight performed a pelvic exam. In the end, there was no trace of her IUD. He explained how the device could have migrated out, either attached to a tampon or simply during urination. If Ivy had known such a thing could have happened, she would have asked her OB-GYN in Dallas to super-glue that damn IUD inside of her.
Numbed by the shock of finding out she was pregnant, she worked to suppress her fear of trying to run the business while caring for a newborn. How the hell was she supposed to handle such a feat? Ivy was already running on so little sleep she could barely function. But adding a newborn who’d be up at all hours of the night into the mix was beyond overwhelming.
When she was dressed and ready to leave her appointment, Doc Knight returned with a sack of prenatal vitamins.
He took her hand once again with a paternal smile. “Professionally, the less stress the better for the little person growing inside you. Personally, I’ve been alive long enough to know that life has a funny way of working itself out, so don’t try to come up with all the answers today. Relax as much as you can, and if you ever need an ear, or a shoulder, I’m here for you, sweet girl.”
His kindness was a much-needed balm for her fractured soul. Tears of gratitude swelled in her eyes. She sent him a watery smile. “Thank you.”
After making another appointment, as Doc had instructed, Ivy took her vitamins and left the office. The late February sun warmed her skin but didn’t touch the icy unrest assaulting her system. Numbly strolling down the sidewalk to the bakery, Ivy found it ironic that she’d chosen Haven to escape attention and find a sense of anonymity. But she’d lived in the south long enough to know those along the Bible Belt didn’t lend much sympathy to a girl who’d gone and gotten herself in trouble. There was positively no way her out-of-wedlock pregnancy would go unnoticed in a few more weeks.
Once more, I’m dragging the Addison name through the mud. Priceless.
She knew she’d have to break the news to her parents, but not today. Ivy wasn’t ready to shove another knife of disappointment straight into her mom’s or dad’s heart. No, today, she simply needed to find a way to come to terms with the curve ball life was throwing her.
Fresh tears stung the backs of her eyes as worries swirled in her head like the leaves fluttering around her feet.
But she continued on, putting one foot in front of the other, just like she’d have to do to survive the changes ahead. Somehow, someway, she’d manage to be a good mom and run her business. And through it all, the only thing she had to do was keep Gina from finding out she was pregnant with Noble/Nate’s baby.
That was one secret Ivy vowed to take to her grave.