Celebration's Baby. Nancy Thompson Robards

Bia said, a little too irritably. “It’s nothing to be alarmed about.”

      Bia turned to leave but dropped her notebook as she tried to hitch her purse up on her shoulder.

      Maya swooped down and retrieved the notebook before Bia could reach it. “Bia, I’m sorry.” Maya handed it to her. Bia took it with a quick jerk of the hand. “Really. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

      “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have Nicole Harrison call you if we need anything else for the article.”

      Maya nodded solemnly. “Please forgive me if I have overstepped my bounds. But I have to say this. Please know you and the baby are going to be okay. Hugh Newman may be the father of your child, but there is another man who will love you and your baby the way you deserve to be loved. And that’s not all.”

      “Oh, yes it is,” Bia said, backing away.

      “Your family cares about you deeply and will rally around you during your pregnancy. You have absolutely nothing to fear.”

      Okay, this is the last straw. Who does this woman think she is bringing my family into this, as she spouts her woo-woo nonsense pretending like she knows what’s going on? She obviously has no idea what she’s talking about.

      But if so, how did she know Bia was pregnant and that Hugh was the father? Conjecture? A lucky guess?

      “This is none of your business,” Bia said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop with the advice.”

      Maya’s face turned scarlet. As Bia passed through the curtains into the front of the shop, Maya said, “Bia, I’m sorry. I would never say or do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose.”

      Bia stopped and whirled around, looking Maya in the eyes. “Hurt me? You don’t even know me. So please stop talking like you do. Stay out of my business, okay? Stay out of mine, and I will certainly stay out of yours.”

      Chapter Two

      “I’m pregnant, Aiden.”

      Aiden Woods sat at Bia’s kitchen table across from her, weighing his words before he spoke. He was inclined to make a joke—something about not being ready to be a father or that pregnancy was impossible since they’d never had sex.

      Ha-ha?

      Nope. Not funny.

      For once in his life the filter of good sense kicked in before he stuck his foot in his mouth. Besides, one look at Bia’s ashen face told him she wasn’t joking.

      “B?”

      She didn’t sleep around. So he had a pretty good idea who the father was. Hugh Newman, the bastard. He wouldn’t wish the guy on anyone, much less someone he cared about.

      “Are you sure?” The question sounded absurd to his own ears. But what else was he supposed to say? I’m sorry? Tough break? Princess, I tried to warn you that Hugh Newman was a horse’s ass with a pretty face, but did you listen? No, you didn’t.

      “Yes, I’m quite sure. Three pregnancy tests don’t lie.” Her eyes welled up with tears.

      Damn. Not the tears. Aiden fumbled for a minute. Then he reached across the table and took her hand. As the waterworks began to roll, she held on like he was her life preserver.

      “God, I am so stupid, Aiden. How could I have gotten myself into this mess? How could I have let this happen?”

      “Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay.” He got up and went around to her side of the table and slid onto the built-in banquette, putting his arm around her. She cried on his shoulder for a solid five minutes.

      When Bia had called him at nine-thirty that morning asking if he was free, if he could get away because she needed to talk to him about something important, he’d left the taping of Catering to Dallas, the reality television show that he produced, in the capable hands of the show’s director, Miles Mercer, and met Bia. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to meet him for coffee at the diner as he’d initially suggested. She wasn’t a drama queen, so when she’d asked—and Bia never asked, not something like this—he knew it was important, but he’d never imagined a bomb like this.

      Damn.

      “Does Hugh know?” he asked, handing her a paper napkin from the holder on the table.

      Bia wiped her eyes.

      “No. You’re the only person I’ve told. Well, you know and Maya LeBlanc guessed.”

      “Who is Maya LeBlanc?”

      “She owns the new chocolate shop that’s opening downtown. When I interviewed her yesterday, she took one look at me and asked me if I was pregnant.”

      Aiden squinted at her. “How the hell did she guess something like that?”

      “I wasn’t feeling well. I had a sinking spell and almost passed out. She must’ve put two and two together. Really, it wasn’t such a stretch. Kind of personal of her to ask, but she did. Of course, that was after we’d been talking about her being highly intuitive. Maybe she was trying to prove a point about her intuition. I don’t know.”

      “Did she guess who the father is?”

      Bia flinched. “Absolutely not.” She wrung her hands. “Well, sort of. But I didn’t confirm that she was right. Come to think of it, though, I didn’t even confirm that I was pregnant.”

      “But she knew it was Hugh? What is this woman, psychic or something?”

      Bia inclined her head to the side and pierced him with impatient eyes. “If you think about it, after all the press Hugh and I got, that isn’t such a stretch.”

      “Is she the one who tipped off the press back in March?”

      Bia blinked. “Maya? I can’t imagine that she would do something like that. I mean, what would she stand to gain?”

      Aiden shrugged. “Someone tipped them off. We don’t know who. It sure seems like she’s fishing.”

      “Well, if the press finds out that I’m pregnant, we’ll know who told them.”

      Aiden nodded. “When are you going to tell Hugh?”

      Bia took a deep breath, held it for a minute and then let it out audibly. She propped her elbow on the table and rested her forehead in her palms.

      “You’re going to tell him, aren’t you?”

      She didn’t look up.

      “Bia, you have to tell him.”

      “I don’t have to do anything, Aiden. I can’t even think right now. My head feels like it is about to explode.”

      “I understand,” Aiden said. “But he’s the father. He deserves to know.”

      She gave a little growl. “I didn’t ask you to come here to lecture me.”

      That was his cue to back off. A woman he’d gone out with a couple of times had told him that sometimes women didn’t want men to solve their problems; they just wanted them to listen. Seemed kind of ridiculous when a perfectly good solution to the problem was right there in front of them.

      “I get that, but come on, B. If I got a woman pregnant, I’d want to know. It’s as much his child as it is yours.”

      She rolled her eyes, which looked emerald green through the tears.

      “You and Hugh Newman are two completely different animals, Aiden. I didn’t tell you this, but—” She grimaced and shook her head as if she could take back the bait.

      “You didn’t tell me what?”

      She grabbed another napkin and blew her nose. “This is so embarrassing....” She closed her eyes for a moment, as if gathering her courage. “In the midst of the media frenzy, when