Dakota knew Mary was thinking about it. She also knew that it would take a miracle for Mary to loosen the hold she had on her uptight life.

Instead of offering one word of agreement, Mary mumbled, “No one has a pet raccoon.”

Dakota was sitting in the middle of her bed, packages spread all around her. She pulled a pair of maternity jeans from a bag and held them up. She and Mary had laughed at the elastic waist until a woman well past her seventh month walked into the store. Dakota placed three on the counter.

Giving in, she shrugged out of her too-tight pants and pulled on the new ones.

“So much better.” She turned to the side in front of her full-length mirror and tugged her shirt across her belly. “Might as well get used to the new baggy look.”

After going to her closet and pulling several hangers, she returned to her bed when her phone rang.

She answered without looking at the number. “Hello.”

“Dakota?”

“This is.”

Dakota paused, certain it was some kind of phone solicitor.

“It’s JoAnne.”

Not a solicitor.

Dakota swallowed the edge of panic, and steadied her words. “Hello, Mrs. Eddy. How are you?”

The woman’s voice was stone-cold. “I understand my son moved in with you.”

“He did. He’s not here right now.”

“I know that. He just got off the phone with his father and me.” JoAnne’s words were clipped with an edge of agitation that proved she was only a breath away from losing her composure.

Walt didn’t procrastinate. “I see.”

“Do you? Do you see the terrible position you’ve put our son in?”

“Mrs. Eddy—”

“No, you listen to me, young lady. My son had been tricked into marriage once before and I said nothing. I will not be silent now.”

“Mrs. Eddy—”

“I’m not finished.”

Dakota sat on the edge of the bed and prepared herself for the hate that would come.

“Our son is much too responsible to walk away from his mistakes.”

Dakota actually found herself flinching.

“That doesn’t mean he should give up his life. I think what you’ve done here is highly suspicious. What grown woman accidentally gets pregnant?”

Dakota opened her mouth to respond and was cut off before she uttered one syllable.

“Now he has given up his job, moved to a different city. What was it, Dakota? You found yourself pushing thirty and decided it was time to have a baby? Waited for the first decent man to enter your life and accidentally forgot a pill?”

Dakota wanted desperately to blast JoAnne Eddy and all her accusations against the wall, or perhaps tell the condescending old bat that she nailed it. Dakota was looking for a baby daddy all along, and boy, did Walt fit the bill.

“If my son wanted to marry you, you’d already have a ring on your finger. You do realize that, don’t you?”

The woman went for blood. “Are you finished?” Dakota asked in a voice so calm and slow even she didn’t recognize it.

“I don’t like you.”

That almost made her laugh. “I figured that out, Mrs. Eddy, but thank you for the clarification. I’ll be sure and take you off the potential babysitters list.”

“I am not raising your child.”

“Oh, bless your heart, did you think I would ever let that happen? If you did, you’re highly mistaken. After this conversation, you’ll be lucky to see our child.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Mrs. Eddy, if I was threatening you, you’d know it. I will tell you this before I hang up. I’m going to try and dig real deep inside of me to understand what possessed you to come off on me like this. I’m not the gold-digging, life-ruining woman you’re painting me to be.”

“You listen—”

“No, you listen. Our child will grow up in a loving home, one free of hate. If you ever want to be a part of that, you might call in a priest to exorcise the disgust from your heart, because I will not stand for it.” Dakota took a solid breath, forced a smile. “Now you go and have a wonderful day, Mrs. Eddy.”

Dakota hung up the phone. “Witch.”

Dakota brought her laptop to bed and plugged away at her manuscript that was flowing like water in her head. Maybe it was her real-life drama fueling her muse, or maybe it was skill, but her work in progress was kicking ass in her head.

This time when the phone rang, Dakota checked the number before she answered. “Hey, Baby Daddy.”

“It’s so good to hear your voice.”

She glanced at the clock on her computer. “You must be exhausted. That or you’re out partying.”

“Dinner did involve a couple of drinks.”

He talked about his day, some of the details flew well over her head, but she listened and added a comment when she could. “And by the way . . . I talked to my parents today.”

“I know.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, your mother called me.”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes. I don’t think she’s happy with our news.”

“She had little to say when we talked.”

Dakota shook her head and debated for the hundredth time that day on what she should reveal to Walt. Too many details would probably just make matters worse. “You’re the blessed one then; she had plenty to say to me.”