Temptation Ridge

“I’m good,” Abby said. “I brought a big supply from my last OB.”



“Good, then.”



At the exact moment Abby’s eyes grew round and startled, so did Cameron’s. They locked eyes. Cameron was sitting behind the reception counter at the desk, looking at the computer. He’d been with a patient in an exam room when she came in and hadn’t seen her.



Mel noticed they were looking at each other and said, “Abby, meet Dr. Michaels. Cameron, Abby MacCall.”



He stood. “Hello,” he said.



“Nice to meet you,” she said.



He came around the desk and put out his hand, which she took after some hesitation. “Abby…MacCall, was it?”



“Yes. Hi.”



“You’re staying here in Virgin River?” he asked.



“I’m visiting friends,” she said.



“I’m new here myself,” he said. “You’re going to like it.”



“Hmm. Well, I’m not staying long. I’d better get going.”



“See you around,” he said.



“Sure.” And she nearly ran out the door.



Cameron’s eyes were locked on her departure. When the door had been closed a few seconds, he pulled his eyes back to Mel’s.



“I thought she was here for the duration. Something weird just happened there.”



“Yeah,” he said. “How far along is Abby?”



“Four months. Why?”



He dropped his gaze, looking briefly at his feet. Then he lifted his eyes to Mel’s. “I know her. I know her pretty well, but I haven’t seen her in about…four months.”



“I’m a little confused.”



“Four months,” he repeated.



“You’d better clarify yourself.”



Cameron had had an indoctrination with Mel, training in this clinic so to speak, and knowing that she kept everything about patients strictly confidential, he said, “I think I might be the father.”



Mel’s eyes grew round and her mouth hung open. It took her a moment to recover.



“Where’s she staying?” Cameron asked.



“Vanni and Paul’s.”



“Oh fuck,” he said. “That baby’s mine,” he said, shaking his head.



“Babies,” she corrected. “It’s twins.”



He straightened abruptly, shocked. “Double fuck.” He took his coat off the rack inside the front door, picked up his medical bag, which would be like an extension of his arm from now on, and said, “I have to step out for a while. I don’t know how long I’ll be. I’m not expecting patients.”



“Um, wait,” Mel said. “Just one second.” She dashed behind the desk and got into the supply cupboard. She pulled out a couple of large plastic bottles of prenatal vitamins. “Here,” she said, tossing them to him one at a time. “If you find yourself in a delicate spot, you can always pretend you’re delivering these.”



“Thanks, Mel. Hey, I’m sorry…”



She smiled. “Can I assume you two don’t have a…relationship?”



He returned the smile, but his was hurt. Melancholic. “Don’t assume anything right now. Except—we’ve got a…situation.” And then he was gone.



The knock on the Haggertys’ front door came not ten minutes after Abby returned from her visit with the midwife. She ignored it and kept folding her things to put into a suitcase. She had come home to find the house deserted. The doorbell rang, then there was more knocking, but Abby didn’t respond.



Rather than being worried about another confrontation with Cameron, the thing that occupied her most was what excuse she’d give Vanni for leaving so abruptly. She wasn’t prepared to say, “The man who knocked me up lives here!” Next, she worried—where would she go now? Nikki and Joe in Grants Pass was out of the question—too close to the scene of the crime. Cameron knew Nikki was Abby’s friend. Maybe some anonymous little town down the coast where she didn’t know anyone.



The knocking had stopped. Seconds later she heard, “You don’t have to run.”



She jumped in surprise and whirled around, her face ashen. “How did you get in?”



“The key under the flowerpot,” he said. “Same place I always kept mine. Pretty unimaginative. And pretty rare, this door locking in Virgin River. Abby, it’s too late for you to run.”



She lifted her chin, but her eyes were moist. She put a protective hand over her tummy.



He stepped into the bedroom doorway. “What are you so afraid of, Abby? You think I’d do something to hurt you? You know better than that. If I meant to hurt you, I had a perfect opportunity in Oregon.”



“Cameron, look, this is real complicated, and I can’t let it get more complicated. Please.”



He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. He leaned against the door frame. “Catch me up a little—tell me why you’d be so damn afraid of me making your life more complicated. And stop packing, for God’s sake. I’m not the enemy.”



She crumbled to the bed and, putting her face in her hands, began to weep. Cautiously, not making any fast moves, Cameron sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “I’m not going to say or do anything to make you nervous or afraid,” he murmured. “If you don’t want anyone to know about us, about that night, I’ll never breathe a word,” he said softly.



“I never meant that night to happen,” she said, lifting her head to turn teary eyes to him. “I wasn’t waiting for you in front of the elevators. I was going to my room. I wasn’t about to spend the night with a stranger.”



“How did that night happen? How does a good friend of Vanessa’s end up in my town?”



“We were all there—it was our best friend Nikki’s wedding. Joe is Paul’s best friend. Even Jack and Mel were at the wedding.”



“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….”



“But see, I don’t really know that.”



“Like I said, I’m real easy to check out. You could start with Vanni.”



“Vanni?” she asked, surprised.



“Yup. Her first husband’s mother tried to fix us up and we dated a little, before Paul. I had a practice in Grants Pass for several years—ask the doctors there. Check with Mel—she hired me. I’m here for a year.”



“What are you doing here?” she asked.



“Their doctor, a man I knew briefly, died a few months ago. They needed help and I happen to love this place. You’ll see—it’s kind of special. Now, tell me about this problem you have. Not the pregnancy, that’s not a problem. What has you hiding out in Virgin River, afraid someone will recognize you?”



She sighed deeply and let it out. Her choices were few at this point. At least if he knew why she was so afraid he might keep his big mouth shut.



“And that’s what has you so wound up? Abby, that’s only money.”



“Only money? It’s a ton of money! I didn’t stick him with any debt, but I feel lucky it was only a fortune in credit-card bills! I suppose a rock star can run up a big tab.”