Penniless And Secretly Pregnant - Jennie Lucas Page 0,13

addition to the fact that he was so much older, and had obviously asked her out of pity, Daisy had no desire to marry anyone. Getting her heart broken once was enough for a lifetime.

Franck had seemed strangely disappointed at her refusal. “You’re in shock. You’ll change your mind,” he’d said. And no amount of protesting on her part had made him think differently. “But whether you marry me or not, you’re welcome to stay here,” he’d added softly, looking down at her. “Stay as long as you want. Stay forever.”

It had all been a little awkward. She’d been relieved when he’d left for Los Angeles.

But hearing Franck describe how lovely and warm it was in California had given her an idea. She’d had a sudden memory of her father, two years before.

Daisy had been crying after her first gallery show, heartbroken over her failure to sell a single painting, when her father had said, “We could start over. Move to Santa Barbara, where I was born. It’s a beautiful place, warm and bright. We could buy a little cottage by the sea, with a garden full of flowers.”

“Leave New York?” Wiping her eyes in surprise, Daisy had looked at him. “What about your gallery, Dad?”

“Maybe I’d like a change, too. Just one more deal to close, and then...we’ll see.”

Shortly after that, Patrick had been arrested, and there had been no more talk of fresh starts.

But the memory suddenly haunted Daisy. Pregnant and alone, she found herself yearning for her parents’ love more than ever. For comfort, for sunshine and warmth, for flowers and the sea.

Her mother had once been a nurse, before she’d gotten sick. Daisy liked helping people, and she knew her income as a waitress would not be enough to support a child, at least not in Brooklyn. She needed grown-up things, like financial security and insurance benefits. Why not?

Holding her breath, Daisy had applied to a small nursing school in Santa Barbara.

Miraculously, she’d been accepted, and with a scholarship, too. She would start school in the fall, when her baby was three months old.

Soon after, her morning sickness had disappeared. She’d managed to save some money, and she had a plan for her future.

But now, Franck was due to return to New York next week for good. Daisy couldn’t imagine sharing his apartment with him. She needed to move out.

Where else could she live? None of her friends had extra space, and she couldn’t afford to rent her own apartment, not when she was saving every penny for baby expenses and moving expenses. It was a problem.

If she’d had enough money, she would have left for California immediately. In New York City, she was scared of accidentally running into Leonidas. If he ever learned she was pregnant, he might try to take custody of their baby. She was desperate to be free of him. Desperate for a clean break.

But she had a job here, friends here, and—as uncomfortable as it might make her—at least at Franck’s, she had a roof over her head. She just had to hold on until summer. Her baby was due in early June. By the end of August, she’d have money to get a deposit on a new apartment, and the two of them could start a new life in California.

Until then, she just had to cross her fingers and pray Leonidas wouldn’t come looking for her.

He won’t. It will all work out, Daisy told herself, as she had so many times over the last few months. I’ll be fine.

The difference was, she’d finally started to believe it.

In the distance, dark clouds were threatening rain, and she could see her breath in the cold air. Quickening her pace, Daisy started humming softly as she hurried home. She’d heard that a baby, even in the womb, could hear her mother’s voice, so she’d started talking and singing to her at all hours. As she sang aloud, some tourists looked at her with alarm. Daisy giggled. Just another crazy New Yorker, walking down the street and singing to herself!

Reaching her co-op building, she greeted the doorman with a smile. “Hey, Walter.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Cassidy. How’s that baby?” he asked sweetly, as he always did.

“Wonderful,” she replied, and took the elevator to the top floor.

As she came through the door, her dog, Sunny, still a puppy at heart in spite of having grown so big, bounded up with a happy bark, tail waving her body frantically. She acted as if Daisy had been gone