Read Online Ladd Haven by Dianne Venetta - Free Book Online Page B

Watching her,
Casey felt glued to the patient bed. Casey’s bad feeling returned.
Jeremiah Ladd was cursing her baby’s existence before the child was
even born. As the doctor went on to describe any one of a hundred
reasons she could be having these issues, Casey only heard trouble.
There was trouble with her pregnancy.
     
    “ I’m going to call Delaney,”
Annie declared as they walked to the car. “She’ll be able to answer
all these questions.”
    Casey experienced a blast of
heartbeat, a brief sensation of dizziness followed by a swooning
rush. Perspiration gathered beneath her dress, inside her boots.
Her feet were sweating. Her chest was sweating. The sun was hot.
She was hot. Nervous . What made her mother so sure Delaney would know anything? If
Casey recalled, Delaney and her uncle weren’t on the best of terms.
The old man hated her guts and according to her mom, Ernie’s wife
left him and never looked back. How were they going to find out a
family history from a family that was history?
    Unlocking the car doors, she went on,
“Between her mother’s history, Ernie’s and Albert’s, we should be
able to get something definitive.”
    Casey paused at the passenger door.
Staring over the car at her mother, she saw blue eyes that held
none of the confidence her lips were describing. It was like her
mother had detached from reality. She was saying things as if it
would make them so.
    What about Troy’s history? Did any of
that matter when it came to the baby she was carrying?
    She didn’t dare ask. The
doctor would probably tell her to get all the information she could
and discussing the well-being of her baby would mean revealing the
truth. Opening the car door, Casey lowered onto the seat with a
thud. What a mess .
    Her mother gunned the engine to life
and Casey pressed back into her seat. She pulled her seatbelt into
place, adjusting the straps around her belly and buckled it secure.
Troy was going to find out. Between Delaney hiring him and giving
the rundown on Jeremiah’s health history, Troy was going to find
out. What was she going to say?
    I lied. It’s not
Jimmy’s—it’s yours .
    Troy would have a fit. Nerves swarmed
her stomach. Would he leave town the second she told him? Would he
try to marry her?
    I made you a promise when I
left here and I aim to keep it.
    Troy told her he loved her
and they were going to have a future together. He was going to
prove he was worth the faith she’d put into him. Her pulse
scattered, hammered against her ribcage. But that was before she
got pregnant. It was before the added responsibility of a baby.
Pregnancy changed everything. It ruined everything. Changed
everything. Made everything different and new and exciting. Gazing
out the window as her mom backed up, she wondered, How could she feel all these things at
once ?

Chapter Seven
     
    Delaney swung into the diner, stepping
aside as a couple entered behind her. The dinner hour was upon
them, the air saturated with the rich scent of fried chicken and
steak coupled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked biscuits. Most
tables were occupied, the senior crowd reliable as clockwork.
‘Course, when Fran offered half-priced meals from four to six, who
wouldn’t take the deal? She sighed. Those who had a job. Searching
for sight of Fran, Delaney wondered what she wanted. She’d called
an hour ago and said to come quick. She had stables to run and
dropping everything to come see Fran took some doing. Extending her
search to the kitchen, Delaney was surprised to see Fran hustling
out so fast she nearly knocked over a waitress in her haste. What
could possibly be so interesting that warranted such a
hurry?
    Fran grasped her arm and corralled her
to an empty space near the pie case. Decked out in her customary
starched white uniform, red apron tied at her waist, Fran checked
for the nearest set of ears, then ducked her head close and
whispered, “Sugar, we need to talk.”
    “ So you said when you
called.