she heard his voice over the line, for the first time in her life, she found it hard to speak. She carried the portable phone to the sofa and plopped down.
Posey, having followed her around for days and sensing her distress, hopped up to join her.
“Are you there?” Jeff asked.
Yeah, she was here. Pregnant and struggling with how to form the words. She cleared her voice and forced herself to speak. “I need a friend.”
The simple phrase had become a code between them, letting him know she’d screwed something up in her life and needed him to bail her out.
And she’d certainly “screwed things up” this time. She rolled her eyes at the apt description.
“Jilly, I’m a bit tied up right now, but I’ll do what I can. What’s wrong?”
She squeezed the receiver until her knuckles ached. How could she tell Jeff that she was pregnant by the guy he’d repeatedly warned her about? The guy he’d never liked since grade school. The guy she should have known to avoid from day one.
Well, she certainly couldn’t keep Jeff hanging on the line, not when he was probably calling from the command post at the fire.
“I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what?” Static crackled on the line, but she had a feeling he would have voiced the same question had he been standing next to her.
I’m what? had been her initial reaction, too. It still was. Lord, would she ever get used to the idea of being pregnant?
She blew out a weary sigh. “I really don’t know how it happened, or how I failed to notice the signs. But I’m four months pregnant, Jeff.”
The line froze, or so it seemed. Not even the static responded, which led her to wonder if he’d hung up. She shook off the old insecurity. Jeff wouldn’t do that to her.
“Have you told Cain?”
Heck no, she hadn’t called that jerk. What did Cain have to offer her? More lies? More stress?
She needed a friend, someone she could depend on. She needed Jeff, like she never had before.
Jilly had never been one to wade into deep psychological waters, but Jeff was a stabilizing force in her life, and his sobering influence curtailed the rebellious streak that often got her into trouble.
And she was in big trouble now.
“I’m not going to tell Cain anything,” she said. “Even if he was inclined to offer marriage or a hand in child rearing, I’ve learned my lesson. He’s not daddy or husband material. I’m going to go through this alone.”
“Now, just a minute. That guy has a responsibility to live up to, even if it’s just sending you a monthly check for child support.”
“I don’t need him or his money.” Jilly was used to living on a budget and depending upon herself.
“You need his financial support. And he needs to face up to his responsibilities—for once in his life.”
Jeff was probably right. He always was, so it seemed. What would she have done without him?
When he left town five years ago, she was sure he was leaving her, like every other male she’d ever known. But he’d called her every week, insisting on maintaining a friendship. And she was glad he had, although their friendship did have a downside.
Jeff often took on the role of a big brother and criticized everyone she’d ever dated, saying the guy wasn’t good enough for her, which was sweet, she supposed.
It was also true, unfortunately.
Jilly never picked the right kind of guy. Her recent experience with Cain was certainly proof of that.
But Jeff was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She had to tell Cain about the baby, even though she didn’t want to.
Jilly had always dreamed of falling in love, getting married and having a baby—in that order. Guilt assaulted her, and she hated the idea of parenting a child with a man who wasn’t the white knight she’d once thought.
But worse, she dreaded raising a child in a single-parent home.
Usually able to don a tough exterior, she broke down in blubbery tears.
Jeff couldn’t stand to hear Jilly cry. She was such a tough cookie on the outside, but inside she was delicate, a tenderhearted softy.
He gave her time to cry, which is what he would have done had he been there to hold her. Still, her tears always did a number on him, and he needed time to think things through, plan his words of support.
Her call had taken him aback, not just because he was busy at the makeshift fire-fighting headquarters, but because he hadn’t liked Cain in the first place.
He supposed he could understand her attraction to the cocky fireman. Jilly had never been entirely convinced that she amounted to much—a result of her mother’s criticism and the community gossip, he’d always suspected. No wonder she’d fallen for a line of bull when good-looking, fast-talking Cain paid attention to her.
Jeff suddenly felt an overwhelming compulsion to slam a fist into the macho fireman’s face.
Maybe he was jealous of the guy, in a strange sort of way. The guy who married Jilly was going to be a hell of a lucky man. And Jeff hated to think that man would be Cain.
“Are you okay?” he asked, when he figured Jilly had gotten her tears and sobs under control.
She sniffled. “Yes. I guess so. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right.”
Yeah, that’s what she always told him when she got into trouble. But this was different. More serious. She was pregnant, for cripe’s sake.
“I know it’ll be tough for you to do, but you’ve got to tell him about the baby, honey.”
The term of endearment had slipped out, through no intention of his own. But it felt right. Jilly was a sweetheart, and she didn’t deserve any of the crap Cain had dealt her.
“Okay,” she said, her voice shaking and laced with tears she would probably continue to shed long after they hung up the phone. It killed him to see her brokenhearted, worried, alone.
“I’ll tell him tomorrow,” she said.
“It’s the right thing to do, Jilly.”
She blew out a sigh. “I guess that’s why I called you. I knew you’d see things more clearly than me. And maybe Cain will react differently than I expect.”
Jeff doubted Cain would be man enough to step up to the plate and do right by her and the baby, but she owed him the truth.
Again Jeff was struck with the urge to batter Cain senseless, but that wouldn’t help Jilly.
Jeff had been looking after her for years and would continue to
