“Look,” Soleil finally said, “I have to go make lunch. You’re back on garden duty until lunchtime.”

Lexie shrugged as she sat up. “Okay. So long as I’m working alone.”

Soleil didn’t see any point in arguing now that being at the farm meant working together, whether Lexie wanted to or not. She already knew that, which was why she was so upset in the first place. When she came here, she hadn’t bargained on being the only kid from a privileged background, or on being rejected by her peers for that very fact.

As Soleil went back to the kitchen, she allowed her thoughts to stray to West and the impending discussion she’d have to have with him. Her stomach knotted with anxiety.

It was only half past noon, and already she was exhausted. Being pregnant made her want to take a nap every day, and yet her work didn’t allow that luxury. So she dealt. But, God, what she wouldn’t have given to curl up in bed and shut out the world.

As she passed the rear kitchen window, she could see West walking in from the field, headed right in her direction. Yep, definitely the part of the world she wanted to shut out right now.

PREGNANT, PREGNANT, pregnant, pregnant…

The word would not leave West’s head. It loomed there, bigger than any other thought, refusing to get out of the way. Soleil. Pregnant. With his baby.

No, he shouldn’t have been getting ahead of himself. He needed to wait and hear her story, and trust that if she was really pregnant with his child, she’d have had the decency to tell him right away.

But as soon as that thought formed in his head, he hated the idea of it because it implied that she really was pregnant with someone else’s child.

Which was a stupid way to feel since she’d made it clear that she wasn’t interested in a relationship with him anyway.