“We left my car here last night and I need to get it home anyway. I’ll see you in an hour or so.” When he gave her a short nod and started to turn to walk back down the hall to his office, she asked, “What would you like for dinner?”
“Don’t worry about anything for me. I’m not hungry.” Then without another word he disappeared down the hall.
She’d only known him for a couple of weeks, but that didn’t matter. There was no doubt in her mind that something was terribly wrong, and she had every intention of finding out what it was.
But a hangar full of people wasn’t the best place to have a heart-to-heart talk with her husband, and Callie decided that biding her time would be her best option. When Hunter came over, she’d find out what was bothering him, then tell him her news. She was going to grant his wish and ground herself, at least until after her son was born. And, unless she changed her mind, there was the strong possibility that she might give up being a flight nurse permanently.
As she drove the short distance to her house, she placed her hand on her rounded stomach. She knew it would take Hunter some time to find a replacement for her, but that couldn’t be helped. Effective immediately, she was resigning her position at Life Medevac to concentrate on becoming a mother and being there for her son as he grew up.
Parking his truck in Callie’s driveway, Hunter sat for several minutes staring at her little house. In the past couple of weeks he’d been happier visiting the cozy little cottage than he’d been in five long years, and it was tearing him apart to think that after tonight he would no longer be welcome there.
But what he was about to do was best for all concerned and he knew that Callie would eventually understand that. And even if she didn’t, he could at least sleep at night knowing that he’d done everything in his power to protect her and the baby.
When he got out of the truck, he gripped the folder with the papers he was about to give her and slowly climbed the steps to knock on the door. As soon as he got this over with, he had every intention of driving out to that spot he’d found a few days after he’d arrived in Devil’s Fork where he could stare at the stars. Maybe if he stayed there long enough, he’d come to terms with the fact that to protect the woman and child he loved with all his heart, he had to give them up.
“Why did you knock?” Callie asked when she opened the door and stood back for him to enter. “Why didn’t you just come on in?”
Standing there with her silky blond hair down around her shoulders, flour streaked across her blue maternity top and the prettiest smile he’d ever seen, she was causing his heart to twist painfully in his chest and she didn’t even know it.
Walking past her into the living room, Hunter waited until she closed the door, then turned to face her. “We have to talk.”
Her smile faded. “Does this have something to do with what happened this afternoon? Because if it does—”
“We were damned lucky this afternoon,” he said, cutting her off. He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but it was taking every ounce of strength he had not to take her in his arms and abandon the course of action he knew he had to take.
“Hunter?”
She extended her hand and took a step toward him, but, shaking his head, he moved away. He knew beyond a shadow of doubt that if she touched him, he’d lose his internal battle. And it was one he knew that he had to win.
“I think you’d better sit down for this,” he said, tempering the tone of his voice.
Sinking onto the love seat, she stared up at him with troubled eyes. “You’re beginning to frighten me.”
“I don’t mean to.” He took a deep breath and opened the folder in his hand to remove the document that Culbertson had signed earlier in the day. Handing it to her, he explained what he’d learned from the private investigator and about his meeting with Culbertson. “You won’t be hearing any more from Craig Culbertson. He’s gone back to Houston and won’t bother you or your son again.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “You paid him off?”
Hunter shrugged. “I guess you could call it that.”
“My God, I can’t allow you to do that. That’s an exorbitant amount of money.”
“Too late, darlin’. It’s already done.”
Staring at the paper for several seconds, when she looked up at him, she shook her head. “You can’t afford this and I can’t possibly pay you back.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said firmly. “Consider it a baby gift.”
“A baby gift is a set of bibs or a high chair. It’s certainly not as extravagant as half a million dollars to get someone to leave me alone.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not.”
“Hunter, please—”
When she started to rise from the love seat, he shook his head. “I’m not finished yet. Now that the threat from Culbertson is over with, you’re free to petition the courts for an annulment.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that what you want?”
It was the last thing he wanted, but he couldn’t tell her that. “I believe that was our agreement.”
Standing up, she walked over to him. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” He handed her the folder. “After you take a look at this, I’m sure you’ll agree that an annulment is for the best.”
When she scanned the termination of employment papers he’d drafted and the severance check for a year’s wages, she glared at him. “Why am I being fired? And why are you giving me so much money?”
“Because it’s the only way I can think of to keep you from flying. There’s enough money that you should be able to pay for the birth, as well as stay home with your son for several months.” He’d known she wouldn’t be happy about it, but that couldn’t be helped. It was for her own good and his peace of mind.
“This won’t keep me from flying,” she said, tossing it onto the coffee table. “I’m an experienced flight nurse. If I wanted to, I could get a job with another air-ambulance service. But I’ve decided—”
“You’d better not.” Before he could stop himself, he reached out to take her by the upper arms. “What happened today was just a glimpse of what could happen every time you climb into a helicopter to make an emergency run. Promise me you’ll find a job in a hospital somewhere.”