The door opened and Honor startled. A tall, thin man with a balding head and a white beard came in. He looked scary.

  Until he smiled, and then he looked like bald Santa. “Hey, Owen.”

  “Hey, Dr. Pane.”

  “How’s it going?” the doctor asked.

  “Good. Dr. Pane, this is my wi—my friend, Honor.”

  Dr. Pane held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Honor.”

  “You, too, Dr. Pane.”

  Owen had almost introduced her as his wife. How interesting.

  “Okay, let’s take a look at your test results,” Dr. Pane said, sitting at the desk and pulling up information on the screen.

  The doctor studied, while Honor held her breath.

  “Everything is looking good, like it has been, Owen.” He went over the results, most of which sounded like a foreign language to Honor. But if the doc said it was good, she believed him.

  “Your CT scan was clear as well. I’m really encouraged by what I see.”

  Owen grinned. “That’s great.”

  “We’ll move your CT scans to every six months. I don’t see any reason to scan you any more frequently than that unless you tell me you’re having symptoms.”

  Owen blew out a breath. “That’s great.”

  He got Owen up on the table to do a physical exam, listening to his heart and lungs and having a discussion about his general health. He asked him some questions about diet and exercise, and Owen answered truthfully.

  “You’re in great shape, Owen,” Dr. Pane said. “Keep doing what you’re doing, and stay healthy.”

  “That’s definitely my intent.”

  “We’ll see you in six months.”

  “Sounds good.” They shook hands, Dr. Pane said goodbye to her, and then he left.

  “Well,” Honor said, standing. “That was so positive.”

  “Yeah, they’ve been that way lately. Makes me feel good. And hopeful.”

  It made her feel that way, too.

  “Ready for breakfast now?” he asked as they walked out of the room and headed to the elevator.

  “So ready.” She finally had an appetite. And a new appreciation for cancer survivors.

  And she was so very grateful that Owen was one of them.

  CHAPTER

  eleven

  HONOR COUNTED THE days on her calendar. She had just finished up her period prior to going to Las Vegas. Of course she had no idea when she might have been ovulating since her periods were more screwed up than usual since she’d had the IUD removed, something her doctor had told her would probably reset now that the IUD was out. Still, the likelihood of her being pregnant was pretty low. Then again, she’d always had super irregular periods and who knew what was going on inside ovary-and-egg land? Those eggs could have been free floating, just waiting for some sperm to hit the target.

  Which meant she’d just have to hold on for a while longer.

  She blew out a breath and imagined what it would be like to have a baby with Owen. Maybe a boy with his dark hair and her green eyes. Or a little girl with her auburn hair and Owen’s blue eyes. Either way, they’d make cute babies. Which would be awesome whenever—or if ever—she was ready to settle down and have babies. And that whenever was not right now.

  “Honor!”

  She jerked straight up in her desk chair, dropping the pen she’d been holding. “What?”

  Erin gave her a grumpy look. “What time is Alice due in this afternoon?”

  “Oh. One thirty. And you didn’t have to yell my name. I’m sitting right here.”

  “Are you? Because I said your name three times, and you were off in dreamland or something. Are you okay?”

  She was definitely not okay. “I’m fine. I just have a long list of things to do before Alice gets here.”

  Erin nodded. “I can’t believe her wedding is only two weeks away. And I have a lot to do since I’m in the wedding.”

  “Yes, you’re on my list, too.”

  “I am? Do tell.”

  Grateful to have something else to think about besides herself, Honor flipped to the page on her list that featured her sister. “I need you to pick up your shoes before next Friday.”

  “Oh, right.” Erin made a note in her phone. “I’ll be right by the store when I take Agatha to the groomers on Thursday, so I’ll grab them then. What else?”

  “Since the florist is also in the same shopping center, would you mind popping in and double-checking the floral order for Alice and Clay’s wedding? I spoke with them this week, but, you know . . .”

  Erin was already typing on her phone. “We like to be thorough and make sure our vendors are on the ball. Got it. Anything else?”

  “No, that’s it. Hey, you look a little pale. Are you okay?”

  Erin shifted to look outside the door to her office. “Where’s Mae?”

  “She’s out meeting with a caterer.”

  Erin got up and closed the door before coming back to sit down. “I threw up this morning. And yesterday morning. Been having a few queasy moments. And my period is late by a week.”

  Honor’s eyes widened. “Erin. Are you pregnant?”

  She shrugged. “I might be.”

  “You haven’t taken a test yet?”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Have you told Jason?”

  She shook her head. “Not until I know something for sure.”

  “We need to know something for sure. Brenna’s out running errands right now. Call her and have her pick up a pregnancy test.”

  Erin frowned. “No. Why would she—okay, maybe.”

  “Erin, do it now.”

  “Fine.” She rolled her eyes but pressed the button on her phone.

  “What’s up?” Brenna asked when she answered.

  “Hey, are you still in town?”

  “Yup. What do you need?”

  “Could you grab me a couple of pregnancy tests?”

  Dead silence. Erin looked at Honor, who just shrugged.

  “Brenna,” Erin said. “Are you still there?”

  “Are you pregnant?”

  “Well, I don’t know. Hence, the pregnancy tests.”

  “I’ll get them. And then I’ll be right home. Do not move.”

  She clicked off and Erin laughed as she stood. “I’m moving. To my office. Don’t tell Brenna.”

  Honor laughed, too, but her hands were shaking.

  She wasn’t going to think about her sister having a baby until they knew for sure. The possibility of it was so exciting, though.

  Forty-five minutes later, Brenna flew through the front door, bag in hand.

  “Where’s Erin?” she asked, a wide-eyed look on her face.

  At least Honor wasn’t the only one feeling slightly panicked.

  “In her office, I guess?”

  Honor got up and followed Brenna. Erin was on the phone, so they both waited by the door until Erin finished her call. Brenna thrust the bag at her.

  “You can just toss it on the chair.”

  “Oh, no,” Brenna said. “I did not just break the speed limit for you to blow me off like that. Go take the test now.”

  “Now? Really?”

  “Is there any reason you’d want to wait?” Honor asked.

  Erin opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and shook her head.

  “Good,” Brenna said. “Go take a test.”

  Erin got up and grabbed the bag as she walked by. “Fine. I’ll go pee on a stick.”

  She went down the hall to the downstairs bathroom.

  “She told me her period was a week late,” Honor said. “And she’s thrown up the past couple of mornings.”

  “Huh. Does Jason know?”

  “No. She said she didn’t want to tell him until she was certain.”

  “Leave it to Erin to just ignore the obvious signs. I say she’s pregnant.”

  “She has been stressed lately. It might just be stress.”

  Brenna shook her head. “Stress doesn’t usually make you barf every morning.”

  Her sister had a definite point.

  Erin came out a few minutes later and went back to her desk. “Okay, that’s done.”

  “How long do you have to wait?”

  “Oh, I already know the results.”

  Honor’s brows lifted. “So fast?”

  “And?” Brenna asked.

  Erin inhaled a deep breath, then let it out. “I’m having a baby.”

  “Oh my God, Erin.” Honor went over and pulled her sister out of the chair. “I’m so thrilled for you.”

  “Just like that,” Brenna said, coming around to put her arms around Erin. “Like no big deal, she’s having a baby.”

  They hugged like that, like they always had for their entire lives when something monumental happened, holding on to each other for a few minutes without saying a word. And then Erin looked at both of them. “I’m going to be a mom. Oh my God, Mom. She doesn’t know. Should I call her? Should I wait until after she gets home from vacation? I don’t want to spoil her fun with Dad. Wait. I should tell Jason first.”

  “I think you should sit down and take a breath before you do anything else,” Honor said.

  “You’re right.” Erin took a seat and then a deep drink from her glass of water.

  Honor and Brenna grabbed seats in the chairs across from her desk.

  “How do you feel about this?” Honor asked.

  “A little surprised. A lot surprised. I went off birth control and we knew we were going to start trying. I just didn’t think it would happen so fast. Like . . . really fast.”

  “Jason will be over the moon, won’t he?” Honor asked.

  Erin smiled. “He’ll likely be impressed that his super sperm did the job so quickly.”

  “I’m calling BS on that. I think it was your super egg,” Brenna said.

  “Yeah,” Honor said. “It’s all you, Erin.”

  Erin crooked a smile. “I like being super. I’ll tell him it was my amazing eggs.”

  Brenna nodded. “There you go.”

  Erin stood. “And there I go indeed. In fact, I think I’ll go home early today, set up a surprise dinner and tell my husband the news. Then early tomorrow morning I’ll call Mom and Dad.”

  “How exciting,” Honor said. “Mom will be so thrilled.”

  “But first,” Erin said, “we have our meeting with Alice. We will not be telling her—or anyone else—about this. I want to keep the knowledge circle small for a while.”

  “Of course,” Honor said.

  “I won’t tell anyone,” Brenna said. “Except Finn.”

  Erin lowered her head. “Brenna.”

  “But not until you tell Jason and Mom and Dad.”

  Erin nodded. “That’s fair. But no one else.”

  Honor and Brenna both nodded, and then they all dispersed to their individual offices. Honor prepped her list for Alice’s arrival, thinking about what would happen if she should turn up pregnant at the same time as her sister.

  That would be a disaster. The last thing Honor needed was to show up Erin in any way, especially by having a baby with Erin’s ex-fiancé. Talk about a catastrophe.

  But she was almost certain she was not pregnant, so she likely wouldn’t have to worry about it.

  They were going forward with the annulment. And as soon as she got her period, this whole ridiculous accidental marriage would be like it had never existed.

  So why did the idea of ending her marriage make her feel so . . . awful?

  CHAPTER

  twelve

  OWEN DIDN’T KNOW exactly what had prompted him to do it.

  Actually, he did know what the impetus had been—Honor. Except now he had this thing. A dog thing named Bettie, who turned out to be a mix of German shepherd and Labrador, a perfect dog for the ranch. She had tons of energy and loved running around barking at the chickens and the cattle and horses. From the first day she’d pranced through the backyard gate and looked around, he could see it on her face.

  Yup. This place needs me to manage it. And she’d done it well.

  She sure was cute, what with her head tilt and inquisitive expressions, and she was housebroken, too, which was a total plus. And she was a lot more well behaved than he’d expected. He’d had her a few days and they’d bonded. How could they not bond, with the way she looked at him as if to say, Okay, bud, you got me and I need exercise and food and treats and toys and a place to sleep at night. So he’d bought food and a dog bed and let Bettie pick out toys. She liked everything that was soft and squeaked. She also enjoyed cuddling—a lot. And she had a fine appreciation for attention and she didn’t care much for being left alone, which meant he was forced to bring her to work with him. He couldn’t very well leave her alone at the house, not when he’d just brought her home. After all, her last humans had abandoned her—assholes—and he wasn’t about to do that to her again.

  Owen found out the first night he’d brought her to the brewery that Bettie liked to play to an audience. The patrons at the Screaming Hawk had instantly fallen in love with her, which meant she wandered the bar like she owned the place, making her way around the tables and the outside patio. He worried at first that she’d wander off, but that girl knew a good thing when she had one.

  He’d brought her every night since, though he was going to have to watch her pretzel intake. She liked going on morning runs with him, was great on the leash and seemed to enjoy everything he liked to do. At home, she was always wandering the gates and the chicken pens and chasing the horses, so she was definitely an active dog.

  So far, so good.

  He had the day off today, so he’d gotten up early to feed the horses, cattle and chickens. Then he fixed a broken fence post and cleaned out the chicken coop, all with Bettie’s keen-eyed supervision. Then he’d run some errands, and now he had to mow the grass around the house.

  Bettie did not have an appreciation for either the lawn mower or the weed whacker. She found them to be evil things that needed to be killed, barking incessantly at them for about ten minutes, then had lain by the back door until Owen had to stop what he was doing to let her inside. Then she’d glared at the offending objects through the window until he’d finished. When he opened the door, he told her, “You might not like them, but you’ll appreciate freshly mowed grass.”

  She did, running outside to roll around in it and bark at some bugs. Since she was having fun, he went in and took a shower. He put on his jeans and went to pour himself a glass of ice water. Bettie wanted inside, so he opened the door. She went over to her food bowl, licked around to see if something had magically appeared in it, and when she realized it was empty, she got a drink of water, grabbed one of her fluffy toys and followed him back to his bedroom. She climbed into her bed and went to sleep while he finished getting dressed.

  He hadn’t yet told Honor that he’d brought Bettie into his life. But since she was coming over later for their Zoom meeting with the attorney, she’d find out soon enough.

  Still, he wanted her to come a little early so she could hang out with Bettie, so he texted her about helping him out with a project before their meeting.

  She replied a few minutes later: Doing some redecorating?

  His lips curved. He sent a text back. Sort of. How about staying for dinner, too?

  She answered with: If you’re cooking, I’m in. Also, will there be bread?

  Owen looked down at Bettie, who was now awake and staring up at him. “I think she’s using me for my culinary skills.”

  Which didn’t bother him at all, as long as he could entice her over to his place.

  He replied: There will be bread.

  After finishing up their text conversation, he went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. There were chicken thighs he’d picked up at the store, along with some fresh broccoli. He checked the pantry to make sure he had quinoa, which he did. He’d also picked up some baguettes today, intending to have them with a salad for dinner tonight, so now there’d be bread for Honor. Now he had a plan, and it would be easy to put together. He did some advance prep with the food, then began cleaning up the house.

  He wasn’t exactly messy, but he did have a habit of leaving things out rather than putting them in their rightful place, especially since it was just him living here. Bettie followed him around, her favorite blue bear hanging out of her mouth.

  “You also have a habit of just dropping things after you’re done playing with them,” he said to Bettie, who looked as if she didn’t care at all.

  He’d bought a basket for her things, so he tossed her toys in there. As Bettie watched him, she dropped the bear in there, too, so he took a minute to work with her on taking a toy out and then returning it to the basket before getting another. She was a smart dog who liked attention, so all the praise he gave her had an effect.

  After that, he took Bettie for a walk around the property. Since she was a high-energy dog, he wanted to make sure she got a lot of exercise. When they got back he threw the ball around the backyard for her for a while. Then they came inside and both took long drinks of water. Bettie disappeared into his room, no doubt to curl up for a nap, which suited him just fine. Owen went to his desk to do some financials for the Screaming Eagle on his laptop, intending to incorporate some of what he’d learned at the conference in Las Vegas.

  As he flipped through the paperwork he’d brought from the conference, he thought back to Las Vegas, to that moment he’d been at the front desk and Honor had texted him telling him she was there. He’d been surprised, and genuinely happy to see her. He was always fine traveling alone, but running into her had seemed like . . . he didn’t know. Destiny, maybe?

  And now they were married. At least temporarily. But there was something between them. Chemistry or an attraction or whatever you called it. Whatever it was, he wanted to explore it with her.