with her. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around. I—”
“It’s okay,” Alana said too quickly. She brought the mugs to the table and poured the tea. “How’s work?”
Emma told her about her move to the geriatric ward and the master’s degree she hoped to be starting soon. She was trying to lead up to her big news but now that she sat across the table from Alana it was surprisingly hard to say. Emma was afraid her sister wouldn’t approve of her having a baby on her own. Her worry must have shown through.
“You’ll manage,” Alana assured her, misunderstanding. “You’re so organized. You’ll have every day of the week blocked out and color-coded—time for work, for study, for the gym—”
“For the baby.”
Alana choked on her tea. She swallowed and stared at Emma. “The baby?”
Emma nodded, anxiously studying her sister’s reaction. “I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” Alana repeated. “That’s...great. Isn’t it?”
“Yes! You know I’ve wanted to have another baby for a long time.”
“I do...but, Emma, you’re on your own. Or are you? I’ve seen so little of you lately. Is there a father?”
What, no, “Congratulations, Emma, I’m thrilled for you”? She couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. She and Alana were estranged, true, but they were still sisters. Alana had supported her when she was trying to convince Darcy to have a baby. Now she seemed ambivalent.
“I haven’t gone through IVF if that’s what you mean.” Some of the tension she’d felt around her sister in the past year crept into Emma’s voice.
“It’s not.” Alana huffed. “Do you know who the father is?”
Emma drew back. “Of course. I don’t sleep around.”
“Don’t be so defensive. The first thing you said wasn’t, I’ve met a wonderful man and we’re having a baby. All you said was, I’m pregnant. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be happy for you, or not.”
“Fair enough. Let’s both take a breath. It’s been so long since we’ve shared personal stuff, we’re bound to be rusty.”
Alana refilled their cups. “Are you in a relationship with the guy?”
“No.” Emma chewed her lip. “I’m not even sure I’m going to tell the father about the baby.”
“What’s this about a baby?” Dave asked, coming into the room. He set the foot pump on the floor next to the door to the garage.
“Can I tell him?” Alana asked.
“Sure, what the heck. Just don’t go spreading it around until I’ve had a chance to tell Mum and Dad. Even though they’re away, gossip spreads.”
“Emma’s pregnant and is going to raise the baby on her own,” Alana informed her husband. “She won’t tell me who the father is.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t tell you. I just haven’t told you yet. Sheesh.”
Dave straightened and adjusted the silver metal-framed glasses on his narrow nose. “Even if you plan to be a single mother, it’s a father’s right to know his children.”
Emma knew he was fervent about the issue. He’d been married before and had had to fight for access to his two kids with his first wife.
“I agree fathers have rights but...” Emma glanced at Alana and braced herself. This time she knew how her sister would react. “It’s Darcy.”
“Darcy.” Alana exchanged a shocked look with Dave. “After all you went through, I can’t believe you slept with that jerk. Please don’t tell me you two are getting back together.”
Sometimes she wished she’d hadn’t told her sister how Darcy not only blamed her for Holly’s death but had also flatly refused to have more children. Not that she wasn’t still angry with him herself. But when Alana attacked him so vehemently she had to fight the urge to defend him. And that confused the hell out of her.
“No, it was a one-night stand. We both agreed on that. In hindsight, even that much was a mistake.”
“Fathers have rights, yes, but Darcy doesn’t want to be a father,” Alana said. “Don’t tell him. He doesn’t deserve a child. You definitely don’t need any more crap from him.”
Crap like being swept away on the dance floor. Crap like being kissed breathless on a silver moonlit sea. Crap like being made love to as if she were a sex goddess.
Emma sighed. Making love with Darcy that night had been wonderful. But it was only a fraction of who they were together, not the whole. As well as being her closest friend and soul mate, he also had the power to hurt her more deeply than anyone else. Not that he did so on purpose, but she would have to be nuts to