Reclaiming His Bride (DiCarlo Brides book 3) (The DiCarlo Brides) Read Online Free Page B

what was actually important. “I agree, and appreciate your journalistic integrity.”
    “Mommy, can we go yet? Daddy said we could go for ice cream.” The little girl tugged on her mom’s hand.
    “Yes, sweetie.” She glanced back at Lana. “He can’t seem to tell her no. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Sure.” Lana waited a moment for the line at the register to empty out, then took the pregnancy test to the counter. She was grateful the clerk barely seemed to glance at the box and didn’t show any recognition for Lana. She was back out to her car in two minutes.
    The house should be empty. Now was the time to do this, before her nerves drove her over the edge.

    Lana sat on her bed for a long time staring at the double pink lines on the test stick. She had suspected, but thinking that she might be pregnant was nothing like learning the truth. Her stomach rolled and she sucked in a deep breath in hopes of keeping everything she’d eaten that day exactly where it was.
    There was a baby growing inside her, and she didn’t know what to do about it. She ought to be elated—if things had been different, she would be running to tell Blake. Instead she felt numb. She would keep her child, no question about it. Beyond that, the shock was too great to consider. Maybe it would make sense when the fuzziness left her head and she had time to think about how to raise a baby as a single mom. Right now she couldn’t think about how she would handle her job and a kid at the same time.
    Not that she needed to work once her year at the resort was up. The inheritance was more than enough to live on for several generations, but the thought of giving up the job she had worked so hard to earn for the past fifteen years was incomprehensible. Then there was the issue of her baby being due when there would still be three months left on her one-year contract at the resort—another requirement of her father’s will.
    And what would she tell Blake? What would he say? Could she stand having to deal with him for visitation and having this child in common with him for the rest of her life? She thought she would be free of him… eventually. Now she never would be.
    There was the sound of a door closing downstairs and heeled shoes clicking on the tiled floors. Lana panicked when she heard the footsteps on the stairs and then Sage called out her name, “Lana, are you up there?”
    Lana dropped the pregnancy test stick on the floor and kicked it under her bed, then stood fluidly and opened her bedroom door, hoping she didn’t look as shell-shocked as she felt. “Yeah? What’s going on?” She congratulated herself for almost sounding normal. Of course, Sage could probably see through that in a heartbeat. She usually did.
    “Joel brought me by to grab a report I left on my nightstand, but we noticed your car in the garage. Are you okay? The stars this morning said you’d get a big surprise.” She studied Lana. “It doesn’t look like it was a good one.”
    It always unnerved her when Sage’s astrological readings ended up coming true. Lana didn’t believe in astrology, but sometimes she had to question her belief that all psychics were charlatans—at least around Sage. It wasn’t that Sage claimed to be psychic; she had an uncanny ability to point things out—and while she pretended that the oddly accurate things she said came from newspapers, Lana knew better.
    “I’m fine. I came home to refresh my makeup. I forgot to bring my emergency kit to work this morning.” It was a total lie, but Lana wasn’t ready to tell anyone about the baby yet.
    “You could use some blush,” Sage agreed after a moment. Clearly she wasn’t the least fooled, but she wasn’t the type to pry, either. “We’ll see you back at the resort.”
    “Yeah, I’ll be there soon.” Lana waited while Sage grabbed her papers and then left the house through the garage. Then she let a few tears fall before cleaning up her face and retouching her makeup.