Page 47 of All in with the Maverick Montana

Amy slumped against the bathroom wall. She was pregnant. This whole time she’d been pregnant. She was going to have a baby. A million thoughts raced through her mind. A baby? She couldn’t have a baby. She hadn’t been taking care of herself properly these past months. She tried to think back to every potentially foolish decision. Had she had a drink these past four months? She’d definitely been horseback riding. And she obviously hadn’t been to see a doctor. Weren’t there vitamins she was supposed to be taking? Or like…things she was supposed to be planning for? Birth? Lamaze classes? She didn’t know how she was supposed to be breathing!

She was sort of hyperventilating now and that clearly wasn’t right. She was also thirty-five. Did that make her a high-risk pregnancy?

“What are you thinking?” Faith asked.

“A really bad word,” Amy said.

Faith chuckled softly and leaned against the wall beside her. “That’s fair. I probably would be too.”

“I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“You weren’t though. You did the things you were supposed to do. Used protection. Checked. It’s just one of those flukes. You know, the zero point one percent chance or whatever it is.”

“Of course it would happen to me.”

“I know you haven’t had long to process this news, but do you know what you’re going to do now?” Faith nudged her shoulder. “Whatever it is, just know I support you and Caleb and I will be here. And all of your sisters will.”

Amy had no idea what she was going to do. Of course her family would be supportive. She wouldn’t expect anything else. But there was so much more to this. Tru-shaped complications that she hadn’t ever considered. Having his baby would mean that she would be forever tied to that man.

The corner of Faith’s mouth twitched uncertainly, and she took Amy’s hand, squeezing it. “Amy, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I did my best to stay out of the relationship when it was happening, and I don’t mean to pry now, but is the baby Tru McCoy’s?”

Amy nodded miserably. “The movie star and newlywed,” she said with a dramatic flourish. “And I’m now apparently his baby mama.”

“Wow,” Faith said under her breath. “We suspected maybe you two had a thing.”

“Who?”

“Oh, me, Tori, Elizabeth, Carly. We used to talk about it all the time. But I never expected this to be the result.”

“Yeah. You and me both.” She could only imagine how he’d respond to the news when he found out. How was she going to tell him? Did she even want to tell him? She hadn’t spoken to Tru in months. He’d likely already forgotten who she was, and maybe that was for the best. Maybe there was no need to drag him back into her life.

Besides, there was something haunting her more than the thought of confessing she was pregnant to Tru and that was telling Josh. Where did she even begin? As she sat there, she pictured his face and tried to imagine how he would take the news. Would he feel lied to? Betrayed? Worst of all, would he look at her differently now?

Amy couldn’t shake the feeling that she was about to lose him and everything they’d been building together.

It was all over, wasn’t it? Horseback rides around Split Valley Ranch and lunch at the Silver Spur Café and sunsets wrapped in each other’s arms.

It was all about to change.

What a mess she’d made.

Chapter Twelve

“Okay, let’s talk this out logically,” Faith said, clapping her hands together. She paced in front of Amy, fingers drumming against fingers as she buzzed her lips together, clearly at a loss.

“Not sure there’s much logic to it,” Amy muttered, staring down into her mug of now lukewarm tea.

They’d relocated to the kitchen table around midday as Faith had tried to get Amy to eat something. The only thing she could stomach at the time was toast, especially with the news swirling through her thoughts, and that made her think of Josh and the tea and toast he’d made for her the last time she was sick. At that memory, she’d immediately broken down in a bout of uncontrollable tears which had sent Faith into a panicked scramble, and she’d whipped up a loaf of chocolate walnut banana bread.

Amy had a little chuckle about it now—her tears, Faith’s anxious baking. What a pair they were. She wasn’t sure there was anything particularly funny about realizing you were having a baby months into the pregnancy, but she was two slices of banana bread deep now, and the chocolate seemed to have improved her mood slightly. Either that or she was finally going into shock.

“Why are you laughing?” Faith asked. She stopped pacing.

“I don’t know. Sugar rush, maybe.”

Faith frowned, sitting down next to Amy. “Do you want anything else? I can make… I don’t know, whatever you’re craving. Or I can go pick something up.”

“How about you just go back to December and tell me not to sleep with Tru. Actually, go back to the Golden Buckle Rodeo and don’t even let me talk to the guy.”