"Jenny," he said breathlessly, "you're going in the wrong direction. Didn't we say the Wagon Wheel?"
His broad smile collapsed when she turned and gazed up at him with vacuous eyes. Instantly alarmed, he caught her upper arm and shook her slightly. "Jenny, what's wrong?"
"Cage?" she whispered faintly. She blinked her eyes and looked around her as though only then realizing where she was. "Oh, Cage."
"God, don't scare me like that," he said, worry wrinkling his brow. "What's happened? What's the matter? Are you sick?"
She shook her head and lowered her eyes. "No. But I don't feel like going to lunch. I'm sorry. I'm very happy about the well, but I don't feel like—"
"Will you stop with all that apology crap. To hell with lunch. Tell me what's happened to you." She reeled against him as though she were going to faint. He caught her against his chest, cursing and feeling inept and stupid. "Come on, love. Let's go into the drugstore. I'll get you a Coke."
They walked half a block to the drugstore, where there was a soda fountain in back. At least Cage walked. Jenny stumbled along with his support. She virtually fell into the green vinyl booth as he called out, "Two Cokes, please, Hazel," to the waitress behind the counter.
Cage didn't take his eyes off Jenny, but she didn't look at him. She stared down at her hands where they were locked together on the Formica tabletop. Hazel set the icy fountain drinks on the table. "How're things, Cage?"
"Fine," he muttered absently.
Hazel shrugged and ambled back to the cash register. Folks were saying that Cage Hendren had undergone a change since his brother had gotten killed. They said he'd been hanging around the Fletcher girl like a fly around a jar of honey. Well, that just went to show that some gossip was true. Hazel could always count on Cage for a good half hour of bawdy joking. Today he was so taken with Jenny Fletcher, he was staring at her like she might go up in a puff of smoke if he took his eyes off her.
"Jenny, drink your Coke," Cage said, sliding it closer to her. "You're as pale as a ghost." Obediently she sipped through the straw. "Now tell me what's wrong."
Her head remained bowed for what seemed like hours to him. He was just about ready to lose control when she finally raised it.
Her eyes were glossy with tears. Two escaped simultaneously and rolled down her cheeks. "Cage," she whispered hoarsely, pausing to draw in a shuddering breath, "I'm pregnant."
* * *
Chapter 7
«^»
Cage felt like he had just been punched in the gut. His tawny eyes went blank. Except for swallowing hard, he remained perfectly still, his eyes trained on Jenny's face.
"Pregnant?"
She nodded. "I just came from the doctor's office. I'm going to have a baby."
He swiped his damp palms over his thighs. "You didn't know?"
"No."
"Aren't there signs?"
"I guess so."
"Hadn't you missed periods?"
Her cheeks were stained with hot color and she ducked her head. "Yes, but I thought that was because of Hal's death and all the turmoil afterward. I just never thought… Oh, I don't know," she said, wearily resting her forehead on the heel of her hand. "Cage, what am I going to do?"
Do? She would leave with him that very minute and get married, that's what. They were going to have a baby! Sonofagun! A baby!
Joy pumped through Cage's body. He wanted to stand up and whoop, to rush out in the streets, stop traffic, and tell everybody that he was going to be a daddy.
But he saw Jenny's dejected posture, heard her quiet weeping, and knew that he couldn't let his true reaction show. She thought the baby was Hal's. Cage couldn't acknowledge that it was his because she would despise him, just when she was coming to trust him.
Was this to be his punishment for all the sins he had
tallied up beside his name? He had always taken precautions to see that none of the wild oats he sewed produced an unwanted child. He had made certain every woman he slept with knew of those precautions so she couldn't frame him later for an accident that wasn't his.