A second image flashed in front of her. Her on the phone to her father. She could see it clearly: She’d tell him she was pregnant and he’d have her on the next plane home. By the time she arrived, he’d have a complete nursery set up in the house and a nanny on standby. He’d also probably take a whip to Rufus. The latter idea, at least, sounded very appealing.
“I hate all of you,” she mumbled against his back. The cotton of his shirt was warm against her face and smelled of him, all male and musky. Not like Rufus who had smelled of that godawful cologne she equated with flea spray. And Ben was hard, all muscle. Oh, wow, it was not a good idea for her to even think about that.
Ben’s voice broke her fantasy. “You’re just getting a fast education in small-town living.”
She hated his amused laughter. “Anyone named Pudge deserves even more than I gave him.”
“Yeah, he does, but you just can’t do it.” He put her on her feet, opened her door and pushed her inside.
“Fine, I lost another job.” Cori struggled to regain her composure. “I can live with that.” She walked into the bedroom.
Ben followed her in—and every muscle in his body went into immediate paralysis. He stood in the doorway, staring at a lilac confection doubling as a nightgown tossed across the unmade bed. The same intoxicating fragrance Cori wore on her skin lingered in the air. Perfume bottles, body lotion jars and pieces of jewelry were scattered on top of the dresser. The room had taken on a feminine air with Cori’s personal touch.
It was the shell-pink lace bra tossed over a chair in the corner that was his undoing. He felt himself start to sweat and he raised his hand to pull on his collar—but he wasn’t wearing one.
“That was a horrible thing you did back there!” Cori sat on the edge of the bed and looked up with her lower lip trembling, her deep blue eyes glistening with tears.
“I was getting you out of there before you caused any more trouble.” He looked at his two choices of where to sit—the bed or the chair. He chose to stand. Ben walked over and squatted down in front of her, taking hold of her hands between his. He found them cold to the touch and briskly rubbed them.
“Why do people have to bow and scrape to a disgusting individual like him?” she demanded.
“Because Pudge has been a bully from the day he was born.”
“Then how did someone like him become district attorney?”
He discovered by looking an inch past her left shoulder, he had a good view of her nightgown. And wondered how she looked in it. “His family owns a lot of land and a lot of politicians.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I thought small towns meant togetherness.”
“They do. Pudge is just someone we put up with.” He glanced at the clock and winced. “Look, I’ve got to get back to the clinic. Are you going to be all right?”
She nodded. “Will you do me a favor?”
His idea of a favor was rapidly turning sensual. “Anything.”
“Don’t try to find me another job. I don’t want everyone here hating you.” She leaned over to press her lips against his cheek.
Ben had the presence of mind to turn his face so her lips met with his mouth. For a moment, their mouths clung.
“You really do prefer getting your own way, don’t you?” she murmured.
“You got it.” He grinned cockily as he stood. “Just take it easy. Something will come up.”
Cori remained sitting as Ben left the cottage. She realized he had taken with him the energy that had raced through the room when he was there.
“This is crazy!” she told herself. “You’re barely out of a relationship with one man and practically lusting after another one.” Her lips curved in a smile. “Although this one certainly is a big difference from Rufus.” Her upper lip curled at the name. “The snake. The slime.” She dropped back against the pillow. As she did, her gaze fell on the phone.
The man may be a snake and slime, but he’s also the father of your baby. Call him and tell him.
Cori hated her conscience for always being right. She hated it even more that she still remembered Rufus’s telephone number. She quickly punched out the numbers and waited, hoping he wasn’t home.
“Yes?”
She took a deep breath. “Rufus?”
“Cori?” he almost shouted her name. “Where the hell are you?”
There’s was nothing more that could ruin her good mood than a demand like that. “What do you care?”
“I care when your father comes by here and threatens to take me apart unless I tell him where you are. He didn’t believe me when I said I had no idea,” the man accused.
Where had that whining come from? she wondered. Had he always sounded like that?
“I called for one reason and one only.” She took a deep breath to shore up her defenses. “I thought you should know I’m pregnant, but I don’t expect anything from you for the baby. We’ll do fine on our own.”
“You’re pregnant?” he exploded. “There is no way you’re pinning this on me. We only had sex that one time and you couldn’t have gotten pregnant then.”
“True, it wasn’t one of the highlights of my life,” she countered, “but I did get pregnant.”
“You can’t pin any paternity rap on me,” Rufus argued.
By then, Cori was seeing red. “You know, you’re right. You aren’t the father. Silly me, it must have been someone else, so I’m hanging up now.”
“Where are you if your father comes by again?”
“You don’t need to know. One suggestion, though. I’d think about moving real soon. Daddy might not be as pleasant on his next visit.” She slammed the phone down and glared at it. “I hope Daddy tears him apart.”
Cori gently rubbed her tummy. “Don’t worry, baby,” she softly assured. “I may not be the greatest mom you could have gotten, but at least you won’t have to worry about having Rufus for a father.” She stared at the phone and thought about picking it up again.
All she had to do was call home.
But, this newfound freedom was invigorating. For the first time, she was truly on her own, and she found that, regardless of the disasters, she was having fun at her jobs. Still, her fingers itched to pick up the phone and call her father, even if it meant she would be under his thumb until he found her a husband with the same domineering attitude.
“ET might have wanted to call home,” she said finally, “but personally, I think it’s a bad idea.”
*
“YOU’RE ALREADY FALLING for that girl, aren’t you?” Ella asked the instant Ben had a free moment. Being the only doctor in a hundred-mile radius meant all kinds of emergencies at all hours. This last one was Matt and Tricia Patterson’s four-year-old, Matt Jr., who answered his older sister’s dare by swallowing a rock. Luckily, it was small enough they could get it out without having to resort to surgery.
“Nope, she’s just another of those lame ducks you say I’m always helping the way my dad always did.”
“None of the other lame ducks looked like this one does. And your father’s never did, either.”
“True. I did get lucky this time.” He grinned at her.
“Is that how your mother will look at it?”
His grin disappeared just as quickly. “Mama.” The word held a wealth of meaning. “I’m surprised she hasn’t called me.”
Ella’s smile was his first warning. The pink message slip she held out was the second. “She and I had a lovely talk about Farrington’s newest resident. Mainly, I cleared up what she already heard. I think the best story had to do with Cori being a porn film star hiding from her Mafia lover.”
Ben groaned. “I don’t even want to know who related that one to her.”
“Good, because I didn’t ask. Although—” she tapped her finger against her chin in thought “—it sounds like Wilma Farris. She’s always watching those shows on criminals. Remember when she was positive Warren Tyler’s nephew was a serial killer they had highlighted on ‘America’s Most W
anted’ the previous week? It was a good thing she couldn’t convince the sheriff to arrest him.” She cocked her head at the sound of a small bell ringing in the reception area. “That’s probably your one o’clock. If I were you I’d call your mama before she hears any more stories.”
Ben didn’t reply. He was already picking up the phone.
“Hey, Mama, how’s it going?” Ella could hear him ask as she softly closed the door.
As she walked down the hallway to the reception area, a broad smile wreathed her face. “All it took for him to fall was a pair of blue eyes.” She chuckled, then raised her voice. “I’m coming, Mrs. Patton! You don’t need to wear your arm out ringing that dratted bell! I’m not deaf, you know.”
*
CORI DECIDED the rest of her day was markedly uneventful. After a nap, she straightened up the bedroom.
“He must think I’m the sloppiest person alive,” she murmured, gathering up the scattered clothing and putting it away. She looked at the clothes and realized she was going to have to keep a job long enough to pay her dry-cleaning bills. She sat down, clothes draped over her arms, and considered her problem. She snapped her fingers and picked up the phone.
“This might not be the kind of town I would ever have thought to be stranded in, but it’s what I’ve been given and I intend to make the best of it,” she murmured to herself, quickly dialing. “Yes, I’d like to make a collect call. From Cori.” She crossed her fingers until she heard the phone on the other end pick up and a woman’s voice accepting the charges. “Dina, hi!”
“Cori! Where are you?” one of her best friends asked. “Your dad has called here several times. He seems to think I know where you are, even though I told him I don’t. I think he finally believed me the last time. And why are you calling collect?”
“I don’t think you’ll believe me when I tell you,” Cori said. “And I’ll pay you back for the call, I promise.”
“I’m not worried about the call. Just you. What’s going on?”
Cori related the story to her friend, pausing each time Dina asked her a question.
“So what do you need?” Dina asked when Cori finished.
“A small loan would help. I wouldn’t be asking, but I’m down to very little money. I have no idea how, but I’m going to somehow earn the money to get my car fixed. In the meantime, I don’t have enough money for any essentials. I’d really appreciate a loan.”
“Give me the name of the bank there and I’ll wire it to you. What else?”
Cori looked at her closet. “Clothes. Just tell Esmeralda I said you could borrow a few things. She won’t tell Dad you were there. Most of the time she’s mad at him, anyway. I’ll give you a list of what I want.” She ticked each item off on her fingers as she relayed the requests to her friend.
“So what’s this town like, anyway?” Dina asked after assuring Cori she would pick up the needed items and ship them out to her care of Ben’s clinic address. “Maybe I’ll just fly out and rescue you.”
“It’s like Mayberry without the Southern drawl.”
“And what about this doctor you’re sort of staying with. What’s he like?”
Cori didn’t have to think about that. “He’s the type of man we wish we would meet and never do.”
“Really? Are there any more like him there?”
“No.”
“Too bad. Are you sure you don’t want me to fly out and rescue you?”
Cori thought of Ben. Especially that kiss. “No, actually everything is fine.” She gripped the receiver. She wanted to blurt out the news about her pregnancy, but she found she couldn’t. The sensation was still new to her and she wasn’t sure she was ready to admit it to others, even one of her closest friends. “I’m starting to learn a little bit about myself here.”
“Learn about yourself?” Dina laughed. “Cori, you are one of the most together people I know. What could you possibly learn in some Podunk town?”
“If I’m lucky, I could find out who I really am. Look, I have to go. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”
“I’ll have the funds wired to you before the end of the day,” she promised. “I probably won’t be able to get over to your house until tomorrow.”
Cori didn’t bother extracting a promise from Dina that she wouldn’t divulge her whereabouts. Her friend had never been fond of Sean Peyton, nor he of her.
“Just promise me one thing,” Dina said before they said their goodbyes. “If you have any problems, you’ll call me? I understand you don’t want to call your dad, but that doesn’t mean you can’t call me.”
“I will,” she vowed. “Thanks.”
Cori replaced the phone on the nightstand and stood. As she wandered aimlessly through the cottage she experienced a strong wave of loneliness she had never felt before. All the times she had been away at school or traveling, she never felt alone. But today, she felt very much so. She looked down at her tummy.
“Well, kid.” She gently rubbed the still-flat surface. “I guess it’s just you and me.”
*
“I‘LL NEED IDENTIFICATION,” the bank teller informed her with the supercilious expression Cori hated.
From the moment she had walked into the bank she felt the teller’s hostility. She had been grateful to her friend for not wasting any time in wiring money to the local bank for her. The moment she had been notified, she was out the door and up the street, heading for the bank.
“No problem.” She pulled out her wallet and extracted her driver’s license. She handed it over.
The woman barely looked at it. “This is an out-of-state driver’s license. We require local identification.”
“If I have a California driver’s license it would be natural to assume I don’t have a license for this state,” Cori explained. “My friend made a wire transfer to this bank for me. I was informed by phone all I had to do was come in and pick up the money after showing ID. I’m here and I want my money. I have identification that states who I am. I can’t imagine there should be a problem, can you?” She glared at the woman. She figured her reputation was already shot in the town. After what she had been through, what harm could it do to thoroughly intimidate the teller? Of course, with her luck she figured the woman would decide she was trying to rob the bank and call the police. With the district attorney already against her, she would only be in prison for a minimum of a hundred years.
Cori drew herself up to her full height. The expression she fixed on her face was the one she recalled her father using when a business deal wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. It had never failed him.
“If you cannot handle a simple transaction, perhaps we should have someone come over who can,” she said in her frostiest voice.
The teller was a good six inches shorter than Cori, and possibly a good six inches rounder, but that didn’t deter her from swelling up to her full height.
“I am the head teller.”
“Good. Then you won’t have any problem releasing my money, will you?”
The teller silently counted out the bills and handed them over to Cori after Cori signed the appropriate paperwork.
“My husband said you were one of the pushiest women he had ever met,” she commented. “Now I see he was right.”
“Oh? Who’s your husband?”
Her narrow lips curved into a nasty smile. “He’s the district attorney.”
Not by a bat of the eye did Cori show her dismay at the woman’s news. “Oh, really?” She tucked the money into her wallet. “Well, then, I must say you are a perfect match. Thank you so much. Have a nice day.” She smiled briefly at her and sailed out of the small bank. She waited until she was outside and a few buildings down before she allowed her shoulders to droop. She looked around, spied a grocery store sign and headed in that direction.
“One nice thing about small towns. You don’t need a car to go shopping.”
Chapter Six
Stop and Shop
Cori couldn’t remember
ever being in a grocery store, so this one was a revelation for her. She grabbed a cart and began strolling down the aisles, inspecting produce and buying what looked good. Every so often she noticed people looking at her curiously and a few whispering among themselves.
“Milk,” she decided, picking up a carton.
Mindful the money Dina sent her wouldn’t last forever, she was careful with her purchases, but a few nonessential items made their way into her cart.
“Ma’am, would you like us to drop that off at the doc’s cottage for you?” the checker, a young woman in her twenties, asked after totaling her order and taking her money.
“You mean you deliver?”
The woman nodded. “For some, we will. This could be a heavy load and, in your condition, you might not want to overdo it.”
Cori’s eyes widened fractionally. “Does everyone know?”
She smiled cheerfully. “Probably.”
If she planned to stay here for a while, she knew she would have to get used to it. “Any reason why everyone has to know I’m pregnant?”
The woman blinked, not understanding why news like that could be kept a secret. “But you are.”
“Silly me in thinking it couldn’t be important to everyone in this town,” she murmured, turning away. “I think I’ll take you up on the delivery offer. I admit the idea of carrying those bags back to the cottage wasn’t my idea of fun.”
By the time Cori returned to the cottage, she felt so weary she could barely drag herself inside. Luckily, within ten minutes of her return her groceries were delivered by a freckle-faced young man who reminded her of a friendly puppy.
Too tired to do much, she settled for storing the perishables, then went into the living room and collapsed on the couch.
“Where did all my energy go?” she moaned just before she fell asleep.
*
BEN ASSURED HIS MOTHER that Cori wasn’t a member of the Mafia. Explained that, no, Cori didn’t attack Elliott in the back of the pharmacy. And, yes, she did pour a pitcher of ice water over Pudge’s head. And, yes, Ben would bring her over for dinner when she returned to Farrington. By the time he got off the phone he felt as if he had been interrogated by experts.
Mommy Heiress (Accidental Dads #2) Page 9
