“Any other symptoms?”

“Headaches. I’m not sleeping . . . but I’ve had a recent breakup.”

Dr. Chin wrote a note in his chart. “Stress was something we called a reason back in the eighties. Now we look for other causes. Any recent illness?”

She shook her head. “I had a urinary tract infection a month and a half ago.”

Dr. Chin flipped through the chart. “Did you go to a clinic?”

“No. I did talk to a doctor. I’ve had them before. A little Bactrim and I was good.”

“Did you finish the prescription?”

“Of course.”

He closed his chart. “I’m going to run a few tests, probably refer you to a cardiologist.”

She couldn’t help but think of Walt’s dad. Pushed the thought aside.

Three vials of blood, one urine sample, several blood pressure retakes later, Dr. Chin returned.

“We did a few tests but will send out the bulk of the blood work. We did find something.” Dr. Chin tapped the chart in his hands and lifted an eyebrow.

A chill ran over her.

“Nothing bad. At least at this point,” he offered.

She wasn’t sure how to respond so she kept silent.

He sighed and finally finished his explanation. “I believe your high blood pressure is a temporary thing. Gestational hypertension isn’t completely uncommon.”

Her head went blank. “Gestational what?”

Dr. Chin met her gaze. “I need you to follow up with an obstetric doctor and not a cardiologist, Dakota. You’re pregnant.”

He kept talking, but she didn’t hear him.

“But I’m on the pill.”

“Which does have a fail rate. Plus you were taking Bactrim. There are plenty of Bactrim babies out there. The drug has been known to decrease the effectiveness of birth control. Says so right on the warning label.”

She dropped her head in her hands.

Holy hell.

Chapter Fourteen

“You’re running!” Mary stated the obvious.

“I need to get my head back on.”

Dakota continued to move around Mary and pack two oversized bags and a carry-on. She told Mary about confronting Walt. Told her about the nosebleed and the three hours she spent in the ER. But that was all.

“It’s still running. Who are you and what have you done with my friend?”

Dakota stopped packing long enough to catch her breath. Controlling her blood pressure until she could find the right doctor would be a combination of diet and stress relief. She’d already downloaded several books on high blood pressure in pregnancy. She’d deal with the blood pressure, and skim over the reason she was dealing with it for now.

She hadn’t wrapped her head around a bun in the oven.

Damn clichés were running in her head like an old movie reel.

“Your strong, self-sufficient friend needs to get away. Walt’s called twice since I left the ER.” Dakota didn’t even listen to his messages. She deleted them unheard.

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“He just wants to play hero. Probably feels guilty for my stress level.” If he knew he’d impregnated her and that caused the blood pressure, his hero complex would soar. “I don’t want a pity date. I don’t want him.”

“Bullshit on that. If you didn’t want him or didn’t care, you’d stay right here and tell him to blow.”

Dakota blinked a few times, her lips a thin line. “I hate you sometimes.” She twisted away, continued to pack.

“Because I’m right.”

“Fine. Now be my friend and help me pack.”

Mary started with her shoes, lifting two pairs at a time and packing the ones Dakota agreed to. “Where are you going anyway?”

“You have to promise not to tell Walt if he comes asking.”

“I’ll tell Walt he’s a douche bag. He broke Dakota’s number one rule.”

Dakota laughed for the first time in what felt like a week. “ ‘Don’t be a douche bag.’ Followed closely by ‘don’t be a fucking douche bag.’ ”

“Sensible or sexy?” Mary lifted two sets of black heels, one with a four-inch lift, the others with two.

“Sensible. I won’t be hitting any clubs back home.”

Mary dropped the shoes in the case and popped her head up. “You’re going home?”

Dakota tucked the shoes in place, grabbed another pair. “My family’s annoying, catty, snarky, but . . .”

“They’re family. God, Dakota, you really love him.”

Dakota snapped the case together and started to zip it up. Hearing her best friend, who accompanied her to conventions because she loved the idea of love as much as Dakota preached it, shook her. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve known him for three months.”

“There isn’t a timeline for falling and you know it.”

“I don’t know what I am. I need to find out and I can’t do that here where I see him in my bed, in my kitchen. Damn, I see now why people sell their houses after a divorce. The shadows a breakup leaves behind are dark.”

The drive to LAX was full of instructions. “I set the timers on the lights to come off and on. I’ll call you to remind you to change the times every so often. Put your garbage in front of my place once in a while so people don’t realize I’m gone.”

“You make it sound like you’ll be gone for a long time.”