Believing in Tomorrow: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 4) Read online

  After listening to make sure that there was no one else in the bathroom, Sammi left the stall and walked past the long mirror that hung over the sink without looking in it. Once outside the bathroom, she glanced up and down the hallway to get her bearings. Her gaze fell on a sign at the end of the hall which pointed in the opposite direction of the restaurant. She didn’t know if Jayden was still around, but she had zero interest in running into him, so without thinking twice about it, Sammi headed toward the bar.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Levi Weston felt movement on the stool next to him at the bar. He lifted his gaze briefly from the amber liquid in the glass in his hand to glance over to see who had joined him. He recognized her as the woman he’d held the door for earlier. Levi only meant to spare the person seated next to him a glance, but he frowned as he took in the woman’s appearance. Even from the side, he could see the smudged make-up and swollen eyes. Clearly, she’d had as bad a time of it since arriving at the hotel as he had.

  Not that it was any of his business.

  “What can I get for you?” the bartender asked as he came to stand in front of the woman, rubbing a white bar towel across the already clean smooth surface.

  The woman’s brows drew together as she stared at the man. “Whatever will make me forget for a few hours.”

  The bartender’s forehead creased for a moment before he nodded. “Do you want me to run you a tab?”

  “Uh…yes.” She reached into her purse where it rested on the bar beside her and pulled out her wallet. After handing him a card, she sat staring straight ahead.

  She looked about as shell-shocked as Levi felt. The reminder of his own circumstances had him picking up his phone and activating the display to once again see the app he’d pulled up just before coming to the bar. The one that told him that not only had his brother run off with Levi’s fiancée, he’d also drained Levi’s business bank accounts. All the money Levi had been saving to take his business to the next level. The money he’d need to meet payroll in a week’s time. The money he needed to keep his business afloat. All of it…gone.

  He drained the last of the whiskey in his glass and motioned for the bartender to bring him more. The man returned to place another glass in front of him and one for the woman as well. Levi watched out of the corner of his eye as she picked it up with a finely manicured hand. There was a slight hesitation as she lifted it, and, after taking a tentative sip, she gave a quiet cough. It seemed that this was a woman not used to hard liquor. He wondered if he should say something, but then decided that it was none of his business why a beautiful woman was sitting in a bar drinking when it was clearly not a place she was comfortable being.

  Over the next ten minutes though, he noticed that she’d managed to drain her glass and the bartender had brought them each refills. The alcohol had begun to do its job, blurring the memory of his brother’s duplicity, softening the hard, hurtful edges of Caren’s betrayal. It also allowed him to focus more on the woman who sat beside him.

  “Kinda looks like you’re having as bad a day as I am,” Levi said as he picked up his newest glass. He shifted on his seat so he could look at her more fully. Bracing his elbow on the bar, he lifted his glass and took a swallow.

  She was slow in turning her head to face him, but when she did, Levi got the full effect of the damage whatever had impacted her in the past hour, had wrought on her. Dark circles were evident beneath swollen chocolate brown eyes. She gazed at him as if trying to figure out if he was really talking to her.

  “Men suck,” she announced before turning her attention to whatever drink the bartender kept bringing her.

  “I agree.” Levi could hardly argue with her sentiment given what his brother had just done to him. “Kinda feel that way about women, too though, at the moment.”

  She glanced back over at him. “Did you get dumped too?”

  He let out a sigh, wishing it was as simple as that. “In a manner of speaking. My fiancée decided she’d rather be with my brother.”

  The woman winced at his words. “Sorry. At least my boyfriend knew better than to try anything with my sisters. Ethan and my dad would have killed him.”

  “Ethan?” Levi asked, not even sure why he was pursuing a conversation with this woman except for the fact that it was better than thinking about his own problems and trying to figure out how he was going to survive the devastating blow to his finances. Strangely, he was having a harder time with that than he was with the fact that Caren had wanted Davy instead of him.

  “Yeah. My sister’s husband. Ethan’s not a violent man, but if Jayden had even looked twice at Makayla, he would have pounded him, I’m sure.” The woman’s head bent as she stared into her glass, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “And my dad would have done the same if Jayden had looked at Danica. She’s only seventeen.”

  “Your dad must have his hands full with three beautiful daughters,” Levi said. Alcohol was clearly loosening his tongue since he’d suddenly turned chatty, which so wasn’t him. There was a reason he rarely drank.

  “He has help.” The woman tilted her head to stare at him before looking away again. “I have seven brothers.”

  “Seven…?” Levi couldn’t fathom a family of that size. One brother had been more than enough for him to handle. He’d basically stepped into the role of father for his younger brother when their dad had left them. Davy had been seven while Levi had been thirteen, and he’d done his best to help his mother care for Davy. When money had gotten tight, he’d taken it upon himself to find work wherever he could. Mowing grass in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter, along with a paper route, had been his most reliable sources of income.

  Now here he was, seventeen years later, still taking care of his brother and mother. Still doing basically the same things only on a much larger scale. But for how much longer? Without the money that Davy had taken, his business was in danger of failing completely.

  Levi drained his glass again and motioned for the bartender.

  “Do you have any siblings besides your fiancée-stealing brother?”

  “Nope. Thank goodness. After what he pulled today, he’s one too many.”

  “Is he older or younger than you?” It seemed the woman also preferred to talk about something besides her situation. He could hardly fault her for that.

  “Six years younger. He’s twenty-four.” And acting like he was twelve and entitled to the world. Davy was allergic to hard work but addicted to money and all the fine things it could buy him. It was at times like this that Levi resented how his mom had coddled Davy through the years. His resentment toward his mom felt wrong considering the situation she was in, but maybe if she’d taken a firmer hand with Davy instead of spoiling him, none of this would have happened.

  They both fell silent again, draining drinks then accepting more when the bartender brought them.

  “What do you do?” Levi asked, desperately wanting to not think about Davy and Caren and the money. If she didn’t want to talk about her situation, then maybe she’d be happy just talking about herself.

  “I’m a nurse.”

  “That’s cool,” Levi said. After all his mom had been through, he had a huge sense of appreciation for all those in the medical profession.

  “How about you?”

  He didn’t really want to talk about his business, but turnabout was fair play, he supposed. “I own a landscape company.”

  “You design yards and gardens?”

  “Yeah. Although most of my business lately has been focused on snow removal. That will change soon though, and we’ll begin to get gardens ready for planting and bring lawns back to life after winter.”

  “My mom likes doing yard work. I never really got into it myself, but I do enjoy seeing a nice yard or garden.”

  Silence lapsed between them again for a few minutes before it was broken, this time by the woman. “My name is Samantha, by the way.”

  “Levi.”

  She looked over at him, the
corners of her lips lifting slightly. “Nice to meet you, Levi.”

  ‘You too,” Levi said, though he was sure that they would both have preferred to have avoided the circumstances that had brought them each to the bar to drown their sorrows.

  “So, what do you do for fun?”

  And with Samantha’s question, the focus was taken off those sorrows. As they continued to talk and drink over the next couple of hours, Levi began to smile and laugh more—a sure sign that the alcohol was doing its job. And when Samantha began to sway on her stool, he reached out and steadied her with an arm around her waist.

  She looked up at him with a smile, and Levi found himself drowning in the warmth of her brown eyes instead of in his sorrows. At any other time in his life, he would have moved away from her, but right then, he didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t want to think about why the woman who had said she loved him now preferred to be with his immature younger brother.

  He liked the way Samantha made him laugh and smile—although clearly the whiskey was helping with that. The draw he felt to her weighed on him, pressing him to bend down and close the distance between them to touch his lips to hers. It was totally out of character for him, but right then—for so many reasons—it felt right. After lingering there for a moment, Levi moved back a few inches to see if she was going to slap him.

  Instead, she stared up at him, her lips parted, her slightly dilated pupils blending into the brown of her eyes. Her gaze dropped to his lips then back up. She seemed to be considering something, but instead of moving away, he felt her settle more closely to him—as closely as they could get on two bar stools.

  Which suddenly wasn’t close enough for him.

  “Want to go somewhere a little more private?” Levi asked, surprised at how much he hoped she did.

  Again, Samantha stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “Yes.”

  It took only a few minutes to close out their tabs and make their way out of the bar. Levi kept his arm around Samantha’s shoulders as he guided her to the main part of the hotel. There was no way either of them were in any shape to drive, so Levi figured that he’d splurge on a room at the hotel. He was already broke, so what was one more charge on his credit card?

  As they made their way to the elevator leading to the second floor after getting a room, Levi was almost certain that Samantha was going to change her mind. It crossed his mind that perhaps neither of them were in any shape to be making the decision to spend the night with someone, but she hadn’t been resistant to his advances at all. It seemed that maybe she didn’t want to be alone either.

  “Can I take a picture of your driver’s license?” she asked when they got into the room.

  “My license?” Levi asked, even as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

  “To send to my friend. So she knows where I am and who I’m with.”

  “Oh. Sure.” Levi opened his wallet and fumbled to slide his license out from the plastic slot where he kept it. He watched as she used her phone to take a picture of it then handed it back to him. She tapped a message on her phone then slid it back into her purse before looking up at him. Her gaze—though slightly soft and drowsy—showed no hesitation or wariness at all.

  Reaching out, Levi slid his hand beneath her thick dark brown hair to cup her neck and draw her close.

  CHAPTER THREE

  July

  Sammi stared down at her hands where they lay clenched in her lap, pale against the dark blue gown she wore. Picking at her nail polish, she absentmindedly made a mental note to get her nails done in the next week. Her legs swung as she sat on the exam table, her heels bumping lightly against the metal cabinet beneath the table. All the while, her heart thumped painfully in her chest.

  In the ten minutes since the nurse had brought her into the room, Sammi had fought the overwhelming urge to get dressed and leave. She didn’t really need to be there. She didn’t need the doctor to tell her what she already knew.

  And yet here she was, waiting in a blandly decorated exam room at her family doctor’s office. Sammi had debated going to someone else, but she really liked this doctor, even if she did share her with her mom and her older sister. Thankfully, she was confident that the doctor would keep her secret, allowing Sammi to decide when it was time to reveal it.

  Just the thought made her head spin, and her heart rate kicked up another notch.

  There was a light knock on the door, and Sammi looked up in time to see Dr. Jensen walk in, a file in her hand and a smile on her face.

  “Good to see you again, Sammi,” the woman said as she set the file on her desk, then came to stand beside the exam table. “So, you’re here because you think you’re pregnant?”

  Sammi gripped the gown where it covered her thighs. “I’m pretty sure I am.”

  “You’ve taken a test then?”

  “Several.” She’d spent a fortune on tests as soon as she’d suspected that she was pregnant. At least one of every brand had found its way into the bathroom trash which she had then been careful to empty herself. The last thing she’d wanted was for her mom to accidentally see them.

  “I guess it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you.” The doctor’s gaze dropped to Sammi’s hands then back up again. “Uh… The father?”

  Heat crept into Sammi’s cheeks. Her hidden shame had finally come to light. The doctor knew of her faith and the role it played in remaining a virgin until marriage, so no doubt she was now wondering how Sammi came to be pregnant but not married.

  “He’s currently…not in the picture.” And Sammi still wasn’t sure if she was going to do anything about that. She had deleted the picture of his license, but once she’d realized she was pregnant, she’d retrieved it from the recently deleted file on her phone. That night at the hotel, she hadn’t sent the photo to anyone. She’d just wanted Levi to think she had. It had been a risky decision—kind of like all the ones she’d made that night.

  “Okay,” the doctor said as she walked to the small sink in the corner of the room and began to wash her hands. “Let’s check you over.”

  Sammi remained silent as her gaze followed the doctor’s movements. Blood pressure. Heart and lungs. She moved to make some notations on the chart at the desk.

  “When was your last period?”

  Sammi paused then said, “I can give you the date of conception.”

  The doctor glanced up from the file. At her nod, Sammi gave her the information. After checking something on her phone, she told Sammi what her due date was—which she already knew.

  January 19

  It was a date that had been emblazoned in her mind from the very moment she’d plugged the date of conception into a pregnancy calculator online.

  “So you’re just finishing up the first trimester.” The doctor came back to stand next to her and patted the head of the exam table. “Why don’t you lie down? We’ll see if we can hear the baby’s heartbeat.”

  Sammi nodded, even as her stomach churned at the idea. Hearing the heartbeat would make it all real in a way that the positive tests hadn’t. She stared up at the ceiling as the doctor lifted her gown to do a quick internal check. Once done that, the doctor retrieved the doppler.

  Dr. Jensen asked her questions about how she’d been feeling as she moved the doppler around her abdomen. When the woman fell silent, a whooshing sound filled the room. Sammi had heard it before for other women but never imagined she’d be hearing it for her own child for the first time…alone. The lights in the ceiling above her blurred, and Sammi felt the warmth of a tear as it slipped from the corner of her eye.

  “It’ll be okay, dear,” the doctor said, her gray eyes soft as she looked down at her. She rested a hand on Sammi’s shoulder. “I gather this is unexpected?”

  “Yeah. You could say that.” Sammi took the woman’s hand and returned to a sitting position, legs dangling off the exam table once again.

  The doctor gave her instructions, and even though Sammi knew most of it already, s
he sat in silence, taking it all in. She felt numb. She’d kept her pregnancy to herself for the first three months, remembering how things had ended up for Makayla with her first pregnancy. There had been no sense in upsetting everyone if there was a possibility she might miscarry like Makayla had. But aside from feeling nauseous and tired, the first thirteen weeks had passed without incident.

  So now she had some decisions to make.

  “I’ll see you again in a month’s time,” the doctor said as she closed the file. She approached Sammi again and gave her clenched hands a squeeze. “But feel free to make an appointment anytime if you need to see me.”

  “Thank you.” Sammi watched Dr. Jensen leave the room, then she took a deep breath before sliding off the exam table and reaching for her clothes on a nearby chair. Her hands shook as she pulled on her jeans then tugged her T-shirt over her head.

  As she left the office a short time later, having taken the time to make her next appointment, Sammi was at a loss to know what to do next. Everything she’d been taught through her teen years had been about how not to get pregnant by staying pure. Nothing had been taught about what to do once you made a bad decision and ended up pregnant.

  Did she tell her family right away? And if so, how? She didn’t think there was any way that she could present this situation to them that wouldn’t result in their disappointment in her.

  And what about the baby’s father?

  Levi…

  Was she supposed to tell him? What was the protocol when two absolute strangers conceived a child together? One of the first things she’d done when she’d realized that she was pregnant had been to look up what it would take to give the baby up for adoption. What she’d discovered was that the father had to be notified, so if she were to go that route, she’d have to tell Levi.