Page 61 of Harper

She pushes the ignition button and reaches for the steering wheel, clenching it tightly.

“Harper, you just bought a pregnancy test, and we were—we were together two weeks ago. Are you…I mean—”

She turns to me. “Get away from the car, Joe.”

“Talk to me!”

“Get away from the car!”

I step back as she reverses out of the parking lot with a screech of tires and cloud of dust. Then, I jump into my own car, push the ignition button, and follow her toward Dyea.

She’s driving way too fast, which scares the shit out of me—especially in her possible condition—so she leaves me no choice but to put on the lights and siren. Thank God she pulls over by the airport. I pull over behind her, stopping my car just as I see her jump out of the Jeep and stalk toward me, a look of pure fury on her face.

“That’s an abuse of power!” she yells.

“You’re driving like a lunatic!”

“I was trying to get away from you!”

“Why?” I demand. “Why—Why did you buy that—that test? What’s…I mean…” I glance at her stomach, then back up at her face. “Is it mine?”

She crosses her arms over her chest, her expression lethal. “I don’t sleep around.”

“I know,” I say. “I know that. So, I just…I mean…”

My brain isn’t working right. I’m shocked out of my skin. I don’t know what questions to ask. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“I’m tired. And nauseous. And emotional,” she says. She drops my eyes. “I’m probably just working too hard and drinking too much.”

“You’ve been drinking?”

“Of course I’ve been drinking!” she bellows. “I don’t even know if I’m pregnant, Joe! I’m probably not! Jesus Christ!”

“When are you taking the test?”

“When I get home.”

“Can I come?”

“No,” she says. “Absolutely not.”

“Harper,” I say. “This is big, darlin’. This is bigger than us.”

She clenches her jaw as her eyes slowly close. “Please stop.”

“Oh my god,” I say. “But Harper, you might be having our—”

“I need you to back off,” she says, stalking back to her car.

“Please talk to me!”

“No,” she says, opening the car door. “If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll be in touch. Otherwise…”

She shakes her head, then gets back into her car. After slamming the door shut, she turns on the car and drives away at an appropriate speed. I watch from the roadside until I can’t seeher anymore. Leaning against the trunk of my car, I finally let the facts catch up with my heart.

Harper might be pregnant. With my baby. With our child.

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