Page 85 of Hero's Heart

Her lower lip trembled, but she squared her shoulders. “I was going to tell you today, before the rain started. I swear, Callum.Besides Dr. Annie, you’re the only one who knows other than my family. And that…that didn’t go how I planned.”

He frowned, momentarily distracted from his own swirling emotions. “What do you mean?”

She took a shaky breath. “They didn’t know about…about us. What happened between us. So, when I told them I was pregnant, they assumed…” She swallowed hard. “They thought I’d been raped while I was kidnapped.”

Ice flooded his veins. The thought of someone hurting her like that, violating her… He would forever be thankful that hadn’t happened. But right now, that wasn’t the issue. He forced himself to focus.

“They wanted me to terminate the pregnancy,” she continued, her voice cracking. “They even tried to trick me into taking the abortion pills. That’s why I ran away. I didn’t know if they’d…” A single tear tracked down her cheek. “If they’d force me.”

Callum dragged a hand over his face, struggling to process everything. His protective instincts warred with the lingering sense of betrayal, all underscored by a burgeoning anxiety.

A baby.Jesus.

“I don’t understand,” he said finally, grasping for some semblance of logic, of reason, in all this chaos. “We used protection.”

She swiped at her damp cheeks. “The doctor said condoms are only, like, 97% effective. They don’t work all the time.” Her hand drifted to her still-flat stomach. “Apparently this was one of those times.”

97%. He’d staked his entire future on a mere 97%. A hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat, but he tamped it down. This was unbelievable. Impossible. And yet, undeniably real and happening, whether he was ready for it or not.

He paced the small room, his mind reeling. He whirled to face Sloane. “What are you going to do?” He raked a hand through his hair again. “I mean, do you want this baby? Are you going to keep it?”

“Of course I’m keeping it. I literally climbed out a window to get us somewhere safe, Callum.” She shook her head, hugging herself tightly. “I’m not giving up this baby.”

“Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you got here?” Once again, the words came out harsher than he intended. Butfuck’s sake, he just didn’t know how to deal with this.

She flinched but lifted her chin. “I wanted a little time to figure out if you were interested in me. Me forme. Not just because I’m pregnant.” Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “I didn’t want you to feel trapped.”

Trapped. The word reverberated through Callum’s skull.

Was that what this was? Some cosmic twist of fate shackling him to a responsibility he never asked for?

He resumed his agitated pacing, vaguely aware that he was handling this badly. Interrogating her like a suspect, when all she’d done was try to protect herself. Protect their…

No. He couldn’t go there. Not yet.

He halted abruptly, a new, terrible thought crystallizing in his mind. He turned slowly to face her, hating himself even as the words spilled out. “How do I even know it’s mine?”

The color drained from her face, and Callum felt like the lowest form of scum. Her eyes swam with fresh tears, devastation and disbelief mingling with hurt and anger.

“Wait, I didn’t mean…” He reached for her, but she jerked away, arms curling protectively around her middle once again.

His phone erupted with a shrill chime, shattering the terrible silence. Callum hesitated, part of him wanting to fling the device against the wall. But the ringtone indicated the sheriff’s department. He had to take it. Wordlessly, he connected the calland lifted the phone to his ear, never taking his eyes off Sloane’s pale, stricken face.

“This is Webb.”

The voice of one of his deputies crackled through the line, strained and urgent. “We’ve got a situation, Sheriff. Massive multivehicle pileup just outside Jackson. They’re requesting all available units for assistance. It’s bad, sir. Multiple casualties.”

Jackson was about ten miles from Oak Creek, and the two towns helped each other as much as possible. Callum tightened his grip on the phone, a second sick feeling swirling in his gut, this one having to do with dead people rather than Sloane’s revelation.

“I’m on my way. Call in off-duty personnel, and notify the hospital to prepare for incoming wounded.”

He ended the call, shoving down the emotions roiling inside him. He had a job to do. People were counting on him. He met Sloane’s gaze, seeing his own turmoil reflected back at him.

“I have to go.” His voice came out harsher than he intended. “There’s been an accident. They need me on the scene.”

Sloane bit her lip and nodded, wrapping her arms more tightly around herself. “I understand.”

Callum hesitated, knowing he should say something more. Apologize. Reassure her. But the words stuck in his throat, trapped behind the mess of emotions he couldn’t even begin to untangle.

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