It had been a day since I was back at the ranch, and already I was regretting coming back. It was early, and I was in the kitchen making myself something to eat because I’d been too out of it to make myself anything when I got in the night before and I was starving.

You were so fucking stupid, I berated myself. The fuck were you even hurrying back for?

At the moment, I didn’t know.

After I found out I was pregnant, I’d hurried back to the ranch, back to Curt. Because he was the father, and we needed to have the talk we had been putting off. A part of me had been afraid, while the other part just didn’t know how to feel.

I’d been annoyed to get back only to find Curt had gone out. But then, to go out and look for him, only to find him with that woman hurt like hell, and I wasn’t entirely sure why.

“Curt, you’re a fucking jerk,” I muttered.

“Well,” a voice came from behind me, startling me. “I’ll admit that’s not wrong, but it’s still not nice to say.”

My jaw dropped in shock before I tightly closed my lips and narrowed my eyes at him. “You know it’s fucking true, Curt, and I call things how I see them.”

There was silence behind me, then I heard his footsteps as he walked towards the table, and the slight creak of the wood as he pulled a chair out and sat down. I was very aware of his presence, and I almost felt as if his gaze burned into me.

I finished making my breakfast, and moved to the table with my plate of food, avoiding meeting his eyes.

He sighed. “Come on, Hope. At least look at me, would you?”

I lifted my eyes up to his and glared as hard as I could. It faltered a little when I saw his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked a little gaunt—not unlike how he’d looked when he appeared for the will reading, like he hadn't been sleeping well.

But I shook it off, and growled harshly, “What, Curt?”

He quirked a small smile, though it looked anything but happy. “I just wanted to talk to you. When did you get back?”

I shrugged and looked down to devour my food. “I got back into town yesterday. But if you mean, when I got home after I saw you leaving the bar,” I said with a sneer. “Then I got back after you did, and that whore you brought back with you.”

He sighed, the sound heavy. “I didn’t bring her home with me, Hope.”

I froze my fork half way to my mouth, and slowly lowered it down to my plate. I looked up at him with another glare and felt satisfaction curl in my stomach when he flinched back from me.

“You liar,” I whispered. “I saw you, Curt.”

“And I wanted to apologize for that,” he said quickly. “I should have come after you, I’m sorry. But I swear I left her at the bar and came home by myself. I didn’t sleep with her, I swear.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes, leaning back in my seat as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Like I can trust you not to lie to me, Curt. Or to cheat on this marriage, considering what you think of it.”

His lips tightened, lines of stress appearing at the edges of his eyes, making him look older than he was.

“Look, I know I haven’t been the best….husband. But the wedding was something we both agreed on, Hope.”

“And what if I said I didn’t like what you did?” I retorted. “We might not get along well, and we never discussed being allowed to see other people, but what if I said I didn’t want you to see other people?”

“I’m fine with that,” he said, a little too quickly.

I narrowed my eyes at him because I didn’t believe him. And it was all I could do to keep the hurt I felt out of my face. I knew what Curt was like, though, so why did I even feel hurt when it was all to be expected?

“Hope, please—” Curt started, a hand reaching out for me with desperation in his tone, but I cut him off.

“I’m pregnant, Curt,” I said bluntly. I’d worried about how to tell him the news, but after yesterday, it didn’t even matter. “I took a test, though I guess if we’d like to be sure, I could go to a doctor.”

Curt was frozen, his hand still poised to reach across the table. I tightened my arms around myself defensively, though I didn’t physically try to move away from him. After a moment, his hand dropped on the table.

“You mean…”

“We’ve had sex twice, and in case you’re wondering, I haven’t been with anyone else,” I said cruelly, feeling gratified when he flinched, though my chest still ached. “I’m pregnant, Curt. And in eight months or so, I’ll be giving birth to a baby.”

He was still for a few seconds, his eyes staring into mine. Then he looked down on the table top.

“That’s… good,” he muttered after a moment. “With this… we can keep the ranch, right?”

His voice was small and quiet, but I heard him just fine. There was a sharp pain in my chest that was quickly replaced with anger and hate as I got up from the table with my plate.

“You disgust me, Curt,” I growled at him.

He looked up at me, alarm in his face. “Hope, wait—”

“For what,” I snarled. “Tell me that, Curt. You hear I’m pregnant, and the first thing that occurs to you is the ranch?” I barked out a harsh laugh, and Curt flinched again. Only, I didn’t feel any satisfaction from it this time. “I think you’ve said and done enough, Curt.”

“It’s what we wanted though, isn’t it?” he argued. “The both of us, Hope, don’t fucking tell me I was alone in this.”

My breath hitched in my throat, and I stepped away from the table, away from him. “You’re right,” I muttered, voice low. “It was a double effort, wasn’t it? We finally got what we wanted.”

He made to stand up. “Hope—”

“No, Curt. It’s fine,” I said quietly. “It doesn’t even matter.”

I left, chiding myself as I walked away for ever thinking, even for a moment, that me being pregnant would mean anything to Curt besides this. He would get what he wanted, wouldn’t he? Once all the conditions were met, we could keep the ranch in our name, and Curt would be free to do as he wanted.

We could have a divorce after the baby was born, and Curt would have some money to go off wherever he wanted. Because why would he stay? He didn’t love me.