a child, his first instinct had been to deny the possibility. He had never been careless about birth control and he certainly hadn’t been with Olivia. But even as he’d recalled that fact to reassure himself, he’d heard the echo of his father’s voice in the back of his mind: the only birth control that is one-hundred-percent effective is abstinence. If you’re going to play, be prepared to pay.
He’d heard that same warning too many times to count during his teenage years and, although he hadn’t always abstained, he’d always been careful.
Obviously not careful enough.
Okay, so finding out about Emma had definitely been a surprise, but he would never say that she was an accident or a mistake. He believed that everything that happened in life happened for a reason, even if the reason wasn’t readily apparent. He certainly couldn’t fathom any noble purpose for the accident that had not only ended Olivia’s life tragically and prematurely but had also left an innocent child without her mother.
But even after her death, Olivia had ensured that her daughter was taken care of, and although he might wonder why she’d chosen to name Paige Wilder as Emma’s legal guardian, he couldn’t fault her choice. Because what he’d seen in the young attorney’s interactions with the child was a woman who was both attentive and affectionate, who anticipated and responded to the child’s every need. And a woman who had no intention of accepting that he was Emma’s father until he’d jumped through all kinds of hoops.
Well, he would show her that he was more than ready to jump through those hoops and take responsibility for his child. And if he had to spend time in Paige’s company in the process, well, he didn’t think that was going to be much of a hardship.
Zach came back the next morning, and the morning after that. He wasn’t obtrusive and he didn’t get in her way, but Paige was all too aware of his presence, of his eyes following her every move, of her own response to him.
She was attracted to him. It was pointless to deny that fact when every nerve ending in her body fairly hummed whenever he was near. It was even more pointless to think that anything could ever come of that attraction when their goals were so diametrically opposed. He wanted to be Emma’s father and she had no intention of letting him take the little girl away from her.
Megan had given her the name of a friend who worked at PDA Labs, and she’d contacted Walter Neville directly to inquire about the DNA testing. He’d promised to send a test kit to Dr. Turcotte’s office right away and assured her that he would give the package priority when it was returned to the lab. He was so willing and helpful that Paige didn’t know how to tell him that she didn’t want the package to be given priority, that she would actually prefer if it disappeared into a crack somewhere in the lab.
She did tell Zach that Cameron would let her know when the package was received so that they could go in for the test. He seemed satisfied with that information, but she knew that he was eager to have the question of paternity settled.
On the fourth day after Zach’s arrival in town, he called in the morning to tell her that he had some errands to run but would stop by after lunch to spend some time with Emma then. But when Paige opened the door after she’d settled the little girl down for her nap, she found Megan on the porch instead.
“This is a surprise,” she said, stepping away from the door so her cousin could enter.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Megan said, waddling in. “I was up a few times in the night with a backache and Gage was threatening to cancel a meeting today to stay home with me, but I told him I would spend the afternoon with you so he didn’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Paige assured her. “In fact, I’m grateful for the company.” And for the buffer that her cousin’s presence would provide when Zach showed up later.
“Is that coffee I smell?” Megan was already moving toward the kitchen.
“Yeah, but I thought you gave it up for your pregnancy.”
“I did, aside from half a cup in the morning,” her cousin agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t drink in the luscious scent.”
Paige smiled. “I can make you a cup of tea.”
“That would be great.” Megan eased herself onto one of the stools at the breakfast counter while Paige filled the kettle and set it on the stove to boil. “Where’s Em?”
“Sleeping.”
“Which means I’m intruding on the only quiet time you have during the day.”
“Sometimes it’s too quiet,” Paige said.
“Has Zach been here already today?”
She shook her head. “He said he wanted to come this afternoon, to go with Emma and I on our daily trek to the park.”
“I know you’re not thrilled with him hanging around,” Megan said, “but you have to applaud his effort. The man is definitely trying.”
“I know he is,” Paige admitted. “And Emma is starting to warm up to him. Yesterday she threw a block at his head.”
Megan’s brows lifted. “That’s warming up?”
“Before that, she completely ignored him.”
“Then I guess that’s warming up,” her cousin agreed.
“But enough about Zach,” Paige said, wanting to talk about anything but the man who seemed to occupy far too many of her thoughts already. “Tell me about this backache that had you up in the night.”
Megan shrugged. “I’ve had twinges for a few days. Which probably isn’t surprising, considering that I’m hauling around an extra twenty-four pounds and I’m three days past my due date.”
Paige smiled as she turned off the kettle and poured water into a mug. Her cousin’s obvious disgruntlement confirmed that she’d expected her baby to pop out precisely on schedule and was none too pleased with the delay. She set a box of lemon cookies in front of the expectant mother along with the tea.
“Didn’t I just say that I’ve put on twenty-four pounds?” Megan demanded, but she was already opening the box.
“You did,” Paige agreed. “But I happen to know that those are the baby’s favorites.”
“Which probably explains twenty-two of those pounds,” her cousin mumbled around a mouthful of cookie.
They chatted and ate cookies while Megan drank her tea and looked longingly at Paige’s cup of coffee. But before her tea was finished, Megan slid off the stool.
“Are you okay?” Paige asked.
Megan shrugged. “I can’t sit for too long, or stand for too long, or do anything without feeling restless and … oh.”
Paige was immediately on her feet and beside her cousin. “Meg—what’s wrong?”
The other woman’s face was pale, her eyes wide. Paige wasn’t sure how it was possible, but her cousin somehow looked both excited … and terrified.
“I think … my water … just broke.”
“Ohmygod.”
Megan just nodded.
Paige’s brain scrambled. She’d been through this before, when Olivia had gone into labor with Emma, but at the moment she couldn’t remember what to say or do. “Okay. Um. What are we supposed to do now?”
“I don’t know about you,” Megan said, sounding fairly calm, “but I’m going to call Gage.”
“Oh. Right. Good idea.” Paige turned to reach for the phone on the counter but stopped when Megan grabbed her arm, hard. “Contraction?”
Her cousin nodded.
“Are you breathing?”
Megan nodded