Billionaire's Second Chance (Billionaires #16) - Jennifer Hartley Page 0,41

you swing by tomorrow after you’re done with your attorney, and we’ll take a day to just hang out and spend some time together?” Scott offered. “I know you’re probably going to need to head back to the city soon, so let’s hang out for a bit like we used to before you have to go.”

“That sounds great,” I said with a smile. We could use some guy-time to make sure there’s no rift in our friendship before I leave town.

I paused for one more moment to see if I could still hear the water running from the shower. I could still hear it, and it seemed like she’d been in there forever. I hoped she was feeling better.

On my drive back to the hotel, I thought about some of the things that I’d been putting off. In the morning, I’d have another meeting with the estate attorney. This one would probably be the final one before I left. My parents’ house had been cleared out, and it was ready to be put on the market. I was pretty sure that all I had left to do was sign a few papers, and then it would be time to go. I could maybe drag out my stay here for one or two more days, but I really did need to get back to my company after that.

The last time I had spoken to my secretary on the phone, she had sounded a bit frazzled. I knew I had pushed my absence for about as far as I could. I pulled up to the hotel and went up to my room. When I got inside, I tossed my keys onto the desk and flopped down onto my back against the plush mattress. This room was the biggest, highest room in the hotel. Granted, Amarillo wasn’t an urban city, so even the hotel's best room wasn’t that grandiose. But it made me think of what Scott had said and how he was right about me swooping into town and peeking my head into their farm like I knew what their life was about now. I only knew what I had remembered when we were younger. I didn’t know first-hand the struggles they were going through now, which made me feel a bit like an outsider. For the first time since I’d gotten back into town, I felt like I didn’t belong here anymore.

17

Clara

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I walked around in a complete haze, from the bathroom to my bedroom, and then back again. I must have done it at least several times. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t.

I needed a doctor's appointment. I needed a second opinion. Hell, maybe I just needed a second pregnancy test. This one had been wrong—it had to have been wrong.

I tossed the test into the bathroom trash can and then carried that one out to toss into the large trash can outside the house. There was no way that either of the guys could see this. When I opened the lid, the smell of the trash made me feel like I was going to be sick to my stomach again. Right after I had dumped the can, I heard Scott’s truck pulling up the drive. I scrambled to get back inside and ran up the stairs into my bedroom before they saw me. I couldn’t face either of them right now. They both knew me too well, and they would be able to tell by the look on my face that something was wrong. I could feel the stress pulling at the sides of my eyes and making me clench my jaw. There was no way I’d be able to hide it. I quickly tried to think of what to do that would let me avoid them for a while and ended up running back into the bathroom and turning on the shower.

I stood in the middle of the bathroom as I listened to the running water and felt my thoughts all blur together. I was in a complete haze. What on earth was I going to do?

I undressed and looked at myself in the mirror for a minute, then a feeling of panic gripped me when I thought about being pregnant, so I quickly hopped into the shower. I stood there and let the hot water run over me as if it could just wash everything away. I didn’t want to deal with any of this, not the farm, not my brother