Excerpt of Trial in the Backwoods by Maggie Wells

Wetting her lips, Alicia stiffened her spine and marshaled all of the nerve she usually reserved for storming into drug dealers’ lairs. “I came here because I need to tell you something,” she began haltingly.

Placing her glass on the coffee table, she leaned forward, rubbing her palms together between her knees and searching for the right words. “Hayes, I realize we don’t know each other—”

She was called up short when he raised his hand and interrupted. “Harrison. Or Harry, if you prefer.” She looked at him blankly, and he gave a wry smile and a shrug. “We may not have spent much time learning everything about one another, but we have seen one another naked. Seems odd not to be on a first-name basis.”

“Right.” She barked a laugh. “Of course.” Alicia drew to an abrupt stop, her momentum lost. She looked up at him from under her lashes, wondering exactly how she was going to break this kind of news to a man so forthright.

But then, forthright was the answer. She simply needed to tell him straight out.

“Harrison,” she tried, then winced at the formality. “Harry,” she amended, and he smiled encouragingly. “I need to talk to you about something pretty important.”

“I figured it would take something big to bring you to my doorstep.” He took the seat opposite her, then nodded. “Go on.”

She looked up, and this time met his gaze directly. “I’m pregnant.”

He froze. She’d seen deer standing in the middle of a busy highway looking completely nonplussed compared to the otherworldly stillness of Harrison Hayes. She couldn’t blame him. She didn’t think she moved a muscle for five full minutes after seeing the plus sign show up in the tiny window on the over-the-counter pregnancy test. Then, when she did spring into action, it was to repeat the process with the two other tests she’d bought. Each time, she’d read the results with the same bewilderment currently breaking through his immobility.

“Excuse me?” he managed to croak.

“I’m pregnant,” she responded, purposefully keeping her tone even. One of them had to remain calm, and she’d already had hours to freak out. It was Harry’s turn now.

“But—” He huffed a laugh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I was going to ask how, but I have a grasp on the mechanics of it.”

Alicia watched him warily, all the while trying not to think about how unmechanical it had been between them. Explosive. White-hot. Reckless. Hungry. Those words might have fit better. But she was hip to what he was asking. Even in their tequila-fueled throes of passion, they’d paused long enough to have “the talk.” They were adults, after all, not hormonal teenagers. 

They’d left the celebration at Coulter’s former defense attorney Simon Wingate’s house and gone back to the place she’d rented for less than two full weeks. Like this baby’s conception, Samuel Coulter’s arrest and arraignment happened faster than anyone anticipated. Neither had a condom handy, but both swore they were in good health. She’d been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome in her early twenties and given birth control pills to help regulate her hormones. But even without the Pill, her condition carried a high risk of infertility.

All of this added up in her head to mean she was meant to have this baby. Driving down to Pine Bluff, informing Harrison Hayes of his impending paternity and absolving him of all adjacent responsibility seemed reasonable. Possibly even noble.

“You’re pregnant,” he stated flatly, breaking into her reverie.

“Yes.”

He blinked as if he still couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “I assume you’re here to tell me I’m the father?”

“Yes.”

“Yes,” he repeated dully. Then, he threw his hands wide, absolute incredulity contorting his handsome face into an almost comical leer. “You’re pregnant and you’re saying I am the father.”

“I’m pregnant and you absolutely are the father,” she confirmed, keeping her tone even and nonconfrontational.

“Holy—” He shot from his seat and began to pace, plowing one hand through his rumpled brown hair. He wrapped the other around his middle and swung away from her. “I can’t… Are you…? Well, of course you are, or you would never have driven all the way down here, right?”

She let him ramble, bracing herself so it all rolled off her. Words spoken in shock could and should not be held against a person.

“I took three tests,” she informed him. “I haven’t been to the doctor yet, but all three were pretty clearly positive.” She paused, then gestured toward the foyer. “I have them out in the car. I can go get them and show you,” she offered.

He held up a hand to stop her when she began to rise. “No.” He wagged his head hard. “I believe you.” Then, settling his hand on the back of his neck, he kneaded the muscle there. “God help us both, I believe you.”