Page 26 of Chance

“Does your side still hurt?” he asked softly.

She pulled her hand back. “I think I may have had a broken rib, but it’s better.”

“How long ago was this?”

“I left a month ago. One month to this day.”

“And you came here.”

“Yeah, because it was a good memory. Of Grandma and Grandpa and … you.” She couldn’t look at him.

“Yeah, it was.” He took her hand. “When I decided to come here and look for the gold, all I could think about was that week we spent here as kids.”

She found such relief in his eyes. “I suspected I might be pregnant, but I wasn’t sure until yesterday.”

“So that puts you at …”

“Around fourteen weeks. I’m scared, and I’m not sure I’ll keep the baby.” She blinked furiously, more emotion welling inside her, and she didn’t want to cry. “Please don’t try to convince me of anything. I can’t handle it.”

Chance hesitated, then pulled her into him. She wanted to push him away, but she let him hold her. It felt good to be in his arms.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, but then he let go and stared down at her. “And you think Brian might be watching you?”

“I hope not.”

“Hope is for losers,” he muttered. He turned away, running a hand through his hair.

“What?”

“My dad used to always say, ‘You don’t hope; you make things happen. Because hoping is the thing losers do.’”

“That sounds harsh.”

“I guess it is harsh, but I take your security seriously. If you just hope you’re not being stalked by your ex, that’s not comforting to me.”

She sucked in a long breath. Chance Cross was a lot to take, for good and for bad. “I don’t know for sure. It might just be my own anxiety about the situation. Please don’t worry.”

“Right.” After a minute of quiet, he sighed and said, “Listen, I have a proposition for you. You mentioned that your gallery opening is pushed back because of the plumbing issues. Why don’t you help me on my gold hunt?”

She jerked out of her worries. “What?”

“I understand you have a lot to figure out. It’s difficult, and I know you don’t want to talk to me about it, but you could get your mind off everything by helping me out. Remember what your grandma used to say about serving others?”

Kelly remembered the cross-stitched quote on her grandma’s kitchen wall. “Matthew 20:26. ‘But whosever shall be great among you, shall be your servant.’” The thought made her eyes mist again.

“Right, so help a friend out.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. Chance made it sound like she was in a position to help him. “Really?”

“Really,” he said, nodding vigorously. “I need help figuring out where this gold is, and I think a fresh pair of eyes that I can trust is just the thing.”

“And it has nothing to do with the fact that a distraction is just the thing I need? Or the fact you want to keep an eye on me?”

He shook his head. “Hey, those are just perks. Right? You get a distraction, and I get some help and … to keep an eye on you. Plus, it gives you time to pray about this little one growing inside you.”

She would have been ticked off if anyone else besides Chance had said that. She pulled in a cleansing breath. “Okay. But I’m not sure about praying.”

Chance cocked an eyebrow. “Praying is easy.”

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