Snowbound by Kristianna Sawyer

girl?”
    “That was them, not you,” she said quietly,
trying to keep her tears in check. He wouldn’t appreciate the show
of sympathy and would probably mistake it for pity.
    “Oh, well, let’s get into me, should we? I
dropped outta high school at sixteen and started stealin’. Did real
good on my chosen career path ‘til I got caught. It was either join
the Army or go to jail, and I had ta’ get my G.E.D. before I could
enlist.”
    She shrugged, refusing to be shocked. “What
difference does it make now? You’re a success.”
    He snorted. “A success by your people’s
standards? I don’t think so.”
    “I don’t care about any of that—”
    “Not now, but when the illicit thrill of you
fuckin’ the equivalent of the chauffeur wears off, you’d be
humiliated. Let’s be honest. There ain’t nothin’ for us, so there’s
no reason to parade our mistake in front of your dad, except to
piss him off.”
    Heat scalded her insides, burning her lungs
and down into her stomach. The sour taste of bile hovered at the
back of her throat, and she suppressed it with effort. It was all a
mistake to him. She’d tried to prepare herself for that attitude,
having realized the day they’d discussed family that he wanted
nothing from her except her body. Fool that she was, she thought
she’d managed to keep her heart mostly protected and only let
herself love him a little. Her stupidity really knew no bounds. Or
was it her self-delusion?
    Pulling back her shoulders, she did her best
to transmit the genuineness of her words, wanting to leave him with
the truth. “I would never be ashamed to have you by my side, Reed.
Your own insecurities are speaking, not me.” He scoffed, but she
didn’t allow him a rebuttal. “I know there is no hope for us,
because that was the only option you offered from the first night I
came to your bed.” She managed a small smile. “Or you came to mine,
I guess. You don’t want a future with me, and I’m not going to
stand here and try to force you to accept anything you don’t want.
I’ve spent enough time trying to make someone love me the way I
need when they’re never going to.”
    With as much dignity as she could muster, she
got up off the floor in front of the fire, leaving him with the kit
on his lap. “The solution to sleeping arrangements is obvious. I’m
going home tomorrow when the plane lands.”
    “That’s for the best,” he snarled.
    Tears clouded her eyes, but not for the
reason he might have assumed. Huddled there on the floor, with only
the orphaned fox for any kind of companionship, he reminded her so
much of a wounded wild animal, wanting help but afraid to trust
anyone offering it, that she wanted to weep for him. He was lost
and alone, and though it was by his own choices, she couldn’t help
feeling sorry for him.
    Without another word, she returned to the
guestroom to pack her things, not bothering to emerge for dinner or
to say goodbye. Instead, she stayed in the room and spent some time
feeling sorry for herself too, because his stubbornness was costing
her a future with the man she loved.
    By early the next afternoon, when she walked
out to meet the plane, Beth was certain she was leaving behind the
man she loved and taking his child with her. After a hasty greeting
from her dad, who didn’t seem to care that she was cutting her trip
short, she got on the plane, refusing to look back. She allowed
herself one brief glimpse of Reed on the runway, wished she’d had a
chance to tell Aika goodbye, and then pulled the shade.
    As the plane took off a few minutes later,
she allowed her thoughts to turn to the baby inside her. She
wouldn’t have confirmation until she took a test, but she didn’t
really have any doubts, knowing her own body. She supposed she
should be terrified at the thought of having a baby at eighteen,
without the father in the picture. Instead, she was calm, and even
excited.
    Finances weren’t a worry, and she already
knew her mother