Chapter 3

Deborah was so tired. Having walked six blocks so far, her feet hurt. It felt like all her energy was running out of her legs. Still, she kept trudging along. She had ten more blocks to go to get to Pastor Lex and Mysti’s apartment. Just have to keep moving till I there and hope they will let me in at least for a few minutes to rest. She thought. If not, this was Phantom Horse, not Denver; she’d just curl up on the bench in front of Mysti’s store till she rested.

Looking up, she saw a very familiar looking black sports car coming her way. She smiled. It was Heath’s car. She knew because it looked like the one from that old TV show, the one with the talking car. It even had that little red light that ran back and forth. Heath had been ecstatic the day the kit came in the mail. He’d hooked it up himself. Maybe he’d give her a ride to Mysti and Lex’s place.

The car slowed and pulled over to the side of the road she was walking on. The window came down and Heath looked up at her. “Jeez Debs. He didn’t even let you get dressed? Hurry and get in. You look like you’re about to fall over.” Then before she could do what he’d told her to, Heath was climbing out of the car and sweeping her up in his arms.

“Put me down, Heath.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so, Debs. You didn’t look like you could even make it around the car.”

Then he carried her around to the passenger side, opened the door, and put her in the seat. “Put on the seat belt. We have to keep you and the baby safe.”

She dropped her head. The only way he could know about the baby was if her dad had called and fussed at him or Mayor Hal. He shut the door and hurried back around, got behind the wheel. “Okay ... So apparently I got you pregnant, which is pretty impressive since I don’t remember us having sex or even making out.”

“I’m sorry you got accused. Daddy wouldn’t even let me talk. He just threw me out of the house.”

“Hey, you aren’t alone there. Hal wouldn’t listen to me either. Anyway, let’s go get some food and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”

“I’ll be fine if you’ll just take me over to your cousin Mysti and Pastor Lex’s apartment. I’ll see if they can help me.”

“Don’t worry about that. You can stay with me for a few days while we sort this all out. Maybe your dad will calm down in a few days.”

“I can’t stay with you, Heath. Everyone will think the baby belongs to you if I do.”

Heath glanced over at her. “Who is the father, anyway? I know it isn’t me, but I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

She shook her head. “I’m not. I don’t know if you know him. He worked for the Paranormal Encounters show.”

Heath looked at her again. “Well, I know it wasn’t Lucas, because he spent all his spare time in Leanne’s bed. Please tell me it wasn’t Vi’s stupid ex-husband before he drove into the river.”

She shook her head. “EWW yuck, he’s old, Heath. You should know I wouldn’t sleep with a guy as old as your brother.”

“Well, was it that Austin dude? I mean, he seemed to be taken with that Madison chick, but you might have been able to turn his head. You are pretty hot yourself.”

Deborah blushed. She didn’t think she was hot. Heath had said nothing like that to her when they were ‘seeing’ each other. Nick hadn’t said that either, just that she needed to experience passion to tap into it in her music. What they’d done hadn’t really done anything for her. She’d not felt passion with him, but their experiment sure got her pregnant. “No, his name was Nick. He was one of the camera guys.”

“Oh yeah, the one they called Nicknack because he bought nicknacks for his mom. I’m surprised Deborah, he didn’t really seem like your type”

“That’s him, and he wasn’t my type. He said that experiencing passion would help me be a better musician. We only had sex once, and like an idiot, I believed him when he told me I wouldn’t get pregnant.”

They pulled up into the grocery store parking lot. “I’m going to go get some stuff to make sub sandwiches for us. That’s pretty healthy, and simple too. I’ll grab some fresh fruit too. You just stay here and rest, okay?”

She nodded. She wasn’t going to argue with him. Not while he was being so kind to her. He should have run the other way, considering he got accused of getting her pregnant.

*****

Heath pulled his phone from his pocket the moment he got through the doors of his Uncle Harry’s grocery store and called his cousin Mysti.