The Job Offer - By Eleanor Webb Page 0,68

She’ll just keep at me, and I really don’t want to discuss him." She knew she sounded like she was pleading, but she did not care. She just was not ready to talk yet.

"Ok, Sweetheart. I won’t say anything. But if you ever want to talk, Anne, just call me. I know what it is like to have a broken heart."

"Ok, Mom. Let’s go get something to eat. We have a long drive ahead of us if we plan on getting you back to the inn before tomorrow."

"I know, Anne. With the holiday and a wedding on Saturday, there is no good time to be away from the inn during the summer. You’ll spend the night with us, tonight. Are you planning on staying through Saturday?"

"No, I’ll come back tomorrow and finish setting the house up. Thanks for coming out, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, Anne. Let’s get cleaned up and go get some food. I’m starving." They both used the bathroom to wash the dust and grime from the trip and unpacking from their faces and hands. Then after locking up the house, they walked up the street to Carla and Gary’s house for a Fourth of July barbeque. After they ate, they once again climbed into Anne’s SUV hybrid and took off north on Interstate 5 until they reached the inn well after dark.

Chapter 18

Anne waited the required time before she checked the second stick. The results were the same as the first time. She sat down heavily and looked out the window at the rainy Seattle day. She felt numb inside. Fitting that it would be raining on today of all days, she thought, because it mirrored her life. Out the window, she could see the gas barbecue grill her landlord decided to leave on the deck. It was still covered with the grill cover. She had not used it once since she arrived. She had left her bicycle on the deck last night after her ride, too tired to put it away in the garage. She watched as the rain water dripped from the frame. She sat there until the numbness began to start to wear off. Then she put her hand on her belly and looked down feeling both a mixture of awe and panic. What was she going to do, now?

She was pregnant.

Two tests both showing the same results could not be wrong. She took several deep breaths to calm herself and looked at herself in the mirror. She did not look any different, but everything about her was going to be different from now on. Well, sitting here won't make any difference on her current state, she thought, and she stood back up to go into her bedroom to dress for work. A wave of morning sickness struck her, and she fought it down until she could reach her bedside. There she grabbed a saltine cracker and ate it to settle her stomach. It did not work and she ran back into the bathroom and lost her meager breakfast. Once she emptied her stomach, she felt better and stood to brush her teeth again. That was the first time she actually vomited. Usually eating something or munching on crackers helped stem the nausea.

She was beginning the fourth week of working at Stanford Enterprises today and her seventh week of being late with her monthly flow. When she did not get her period when she was due, she thought it was just the stress of her breakup with Ben, the move, and starting a new job that was causing the delay. But they were not the reason she was late, and she finally stopped at the pharmacy last night because she had to be sure. Now she was sure that it wasn’t just stress causing her symptoms.

It was easy to see why she was at first confused. After all, there was a tremendous amount of stress in her life right now. She moved, started a new job, and every single day she tried to work herself to exhaustion so that she could sleep at night and forget that she loved Ben and that he did not love her in return. It did not work.

It was not difficult to stay busy during the day, though. She was thrown into the deep end at work once her first week was completed, and she loved it. Dr. Scott Rudolph, her new boss, put her in charge of a team to begin searching for a new