to lose the edge of control he’d always managed to maintain. His eyes clouded; his heart pounded. A son! Oh God, a son! He tried to blink back the emotion, but couldn’t seem to stop it. He grabbed Abby’s hand and squeezed it. “Look, Abby,” he said in a whisper. “That one in front, the bossy one taking over, it’s a boy.”
Thank God she was emotional, too. It might take the focus off him. “My God,” she whispered.
“They look perfect,” John said. “And you’re on target for July second, but if we make thirty-six weeks, we’re in good shape. They look good, Abby.” He was poking her belly, trying to get them to move around, directing the wand to check their internal organs, their limbs, their skulls. “I’m going to have Mel draw some blood, check for things like Down syndrome, spina bifida, a few other genetic abnormalities. But there’s no reason for you to be less than completely optimistic.”
She looked up into Cam’s eyes, he looked down into hers. Both of them had tears on their cheeks. Cameron gently wiped hers away.
“Oh boy,” John said.
Cameron looked up. “Listen, John, whatever it is you think you might know, you don’t know anything. Am I clear?”
“Everything in this clinic is confidential,” John said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No,” Abby and Cam said in unison.
“Well then,” John said. “You have at least one boy on the way. And my lips are sealed. But damn—those are some good-looking babies.” He grinned. “I can’t wait. How about you?”
The first ten minutes of the car ride from Grace Valley to Fortuna for dinner were silent but for the sound of Abby’s completely irritated, shallow breathing. Finally, through clenched teeth, she said, “I can’t believe you did that!”
He knew exactly what he’d done. “I was overwhelmed.” No apology, no further explanation.
“And now Dr. Stone knows!”
“So what? I’m the father!”
“You gave me your word that you wouldn’t divulge! You said it could be my secret as long as I wanted it to be!”
“Vanessa knows!”
“That’s because she guessed!”
“And John guessed when I got tears in my eyes at the sight of my son!”
“It’s my son! You’re just a sperm donor who wanted a quick roll in the hay with some chick you met in a bar!”
Cameron drove a few hundred yards and then slowly pulled off to the side of the road. He turned the car around and headed back in the direction they’d come.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m taking you home,” he said.
“Fine!” she retorted. “That’s fine with me!” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared out the window into the deepening dusk. And it was a long, long ride back to Virgin River in silence.
When Cameron got to Walt’s property, he didn’t go immediately down the road toward Vanni and Paul’s. He stopped the car as the road veered around the back of the stable. He turned off the ignition and pivoted in the driver’s seat, facing her. “Do you remember the night we met, Abby? And the conversation we had before going to the room? It was about that list you had—the one about what you were looking for in a man?”
She glowered at him and nodded, grudgingly.
“An important item was manners. You might want to remember that.”
“Listen, Cameron—you got me into this mess and—”
“I had help,” he said firmly. “Lots of help.”
“Just take me home. Please,” she said just as firmly.
“In a minute. You need to listen to me now. Pay attention, Abby. If being considerate and accommodating isn’t going to work with you, I can change my approach. Regardless what nasty twist you put on things, I never intended to be a sperm donor. Nor was it my idea that we never see each other again after that night we spent together. I looked for you. I wanted more time with you. I never saw it as a quick roll in the hay. That was your doing when you disappeared on me, refused to contact me, even though you promised you would.
“It’s very important that you understand something,” he went on. “I’ll try to work with you as much as you allow me to, but if you try to separate me from my children, I’ll fight. I’ll come after you. I’ll launch a search that will make Columbus look like a novice. So don’t even think about pulling something sneaky. Whether you like it or not, we’re in this together.”
“Take me home. Please.”
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard,” she said. “Now I’d really like to go home.”
He turned back toward the road and pulled around the stable to the front of Vanni and Paul’s house, Abby’s current residence. When she went to jump out of the car to flee, he grabbed her wrist and held her back. She turned and looked at him with a little panic in her eyes. “Abby, I can’t make you like me, but I can make you allow me to be a father to my children. I know a hundred ways. Please remember that.”
Without reply, she pulled her wrist from his grasp and exited the car. Cam watched her walk up the porch and into the house. He sat for a moment, took a deep breath and turned on the dome light to look at his watch. Just after six-thirty. Mel was on call tonight until he checked in, and there were seldom any calls. Doc Mullins had managed a forty-year practice on one whiskey at the end of the day and Cam needed one. Bad.
He turned around and headed for Jack’s.
Abby walked into Vanni’s house and leaned her back against the closed front door. Vanni and Paul were in the great room, both of them on the floor with the baby. She looked at the scene of domestic tranquility and burst into tears.
Paul and Vanni were both instantly on their feet.
“Oh my God,” Vanni said, rushing to her, Paul on her heels. “Was the ultrasound all right?”
“Beautiful. Dr. Stone said they’re perfect.”
“Why in the world are you crying?”
“I had a fight with Cam,” she said, tears running down her cheeks, her words caught on a sob.
“Cam?” Paul asked, confused.
“I was upset. He got all teary when he saw the ultrasound—one of them is for sure a boy. I hated that he got emotional in front of John Stone and I lost my temper.”
“Oh, Abby…”
“He got emotional?” Paul repeated, more confused. “Cameron?”
“Vanni—I called him a sperm donor! I was so mean.”
“Oh,
