Page 113 of Sugarloaf Ridge Lies

Chapter Thirty-Six

Liv

Jerry brings me a serveof apple pie by the fire. After both attending a routine appointment with a midwife at the Birthing Centre, we’ve spent Wednesday afternoon naked, working up a sweat. We’ve earned dessert. Since Sunday, we haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other.

I take the bowl, drinking in the aroma of the sweet fruit laced with cinnamon and spice.

“So, this thing, tomorrow,” Jerry says. “At the imaging place.”

“Yeah?” I shuffle the cushions to better support my back.

He sits beside me, presses a swift kiss to my temple and crosses his legs. “Do I have to like, do anything?”

Oh, you gorgeous man.

“Just be there for me.” I sweep my hand over my stomach. “For us. That’s all.”

“Okay.” Jerry smiles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. His brows pull tight. He takes a mouthful of pie and stares at the flames dancing in the open fireplace. They hold his attention for far too long. There’s definitely something on his mind.

“Can I ask what happened that night? About the father?” The muscles in his jaw clench as he waits for my response.

Yep. I was dead right.

We’ve been tiptoeing around this conversation. To move forward he needs to know the truth.

I set my dessert aside and roll onto my side to face him.

“It was at a party. Kind of like a belated farewell for me leaving Canberra.” I sigh. “There was a lot of alcohol.”

His Adam’s apple bobs. “Did he hurt you? Because if he did—”

“No.” I reach up and cup his jaw. “He didn’t. It was one night. After the crap with my ex, and everything with the accident, I wanted to let loose. Do something for me, no strings.”

“Who is he?”

I drop my hand and rest it on Jerry’s leg. “I don’t remember his name. He was justthere. He’d been chatting to me and a couple of the girls. I think someone from Uni had met him before, but I don’t recall who.”

“Does he know you’re pregnant?”

I shake my head. “No.”

Jerry shifts his focus back to the fire. “Hmm.”

Does that reassure him, or the opposite?

“Jerry, he didn’t sign up for this.”

Silence stretches painfully between us.

“When I found out, I made a decision to have this child. As scary as the idea was, I was going to do it on my own.”

He turns his head and searches my face.

“But I’m not alone in this, Jerry. I have you.”

A soft smile teases at his lips as he lies on his side to face me. He tugs my hair behind my ear. “My oath you do, but don’t you think he deserves to know? As much as I hate the idea, if it were me, I’d wanna know.”

I close my eyes and blow out a breath. When my eyes meet Jerry’s, his frown and the tightening of his jaw tell me he’s conflicted.

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