Riding the Storm (60 page)

to
take
care
of
his
woman?
Wasn’t
it
better
to
have
a
man
who
wanted
to
take
care
of
you
than
to
have
a
man
who

expected
you
to
take
care
of
him?
And
was
it
so
awful
that
he
was
a
little
on
the
conventional
side?
She
would
be
the
first
to
admit
that
she
found
some
of
his
old-fashioned
ways
sweet.
Besides,
if
his
conventional
way
of
thinking
became
too
much
for
her,
couldn’t
she
just
make
it
her
business
to
modernize
him?
And
so
what
if
he
had
ways
like
her
father?
Adam
Cole
had
been
a
great
parent
and
a
part
of
her
could
now
say
she
appreciated
her
strict
upbringing.
A
couple
of
the
girls
she
had
wanted
to
hang
around
with
in
high
school
had
either
gotten
pregnant
before
graduating
or
had
gotten
mixed
up
with
drugs.

Upon
waking
this
morning,
it
had
taken
several
hours
of
wallowing
in
self-pity,
as
well
as
being
forced
to
listen
to
Lisa’s
tirade,
before
she’d
finally
taken
the
blinders
off.
Storm
loved
her
and
he
was
her
Mr.
Right
and
she
loved
him.
She
couldn’t
fight
it,
nor
could
she
deny
the
truth
any
longer.
She
loved
him
and
had
always
loved
him.

Oh,
she
understood
now
why
he
had
kept
his
distance
so

many
years
ago
but
still,
it
had
been
a
bitter
pill
for
a
young
girl
to
swallow.
A
part
of
her
had
built
up
an
immunity

against
ever
being
rejected
by
him
again.
But
now
she
was
a
woman
and
she
wanted
what
any
other
woman
would

want—a
man
to
love
her.
And
that
man
had
offered
to
marry
her
and
give
her
the
baby
she
wanted.
How
blessed
could
a
woman
be?

Her
feeling
of
euphoria
quickly
disintegrated
when
she

remembered
she
had
thrown
his
words
of
love
back
in
his
face.
She
had
a
feeling
that
Storm
was
a
man
who
wouldn’t
take
rejection
well.
What
if
he
never
wanted
to
see
her

again?

She
quickly
slipped
into
her
skirt,
thinking
she
had
to
work
fast
to
correct
the
mistake
she’d
made
or
she
would
lose
him
completely.
And
the
first
thing
she
had
to
do
was
to

cancel
her
plans
to
get
inseminated.
The
only
man
she

wanted
to
father
her
child
was
Storm.

She
turned
when
she
heard
a
knock
at
the
door.
“Come
in.”
She
smiled
apologetically
when
Dr.
Susan
Millstone
walked
in.
Before
the
doctor
could
say
anything
she
quickly
said,

“I’ve
changed
my
mind.”

After
closing
the
door
behind
her,
Dr.
Millstone
tilted
her
head
and
looked
at
her.
“You’ve
changed
your
mind?”

“Yes.
I’ve
decided
not
to
go
through
with
the
artificial
insemination
procedure
after
all.”

The
doctor
leaned
against
the
closed
door.
“May
I
ask
the
reason
you’ve
changed
your
mind?”

Jayla
smiled.
“Yes.
The
man
that
I
love
wants
to
marry
me
and
give
me
his
child,
and
I
want
that,
too,
more
than

anything.”
And
I
hope
and
pray
I
haven’t
lost
him,
she

thought.

Dr.
Millstone
chuckled
as
she
shook
her
head.
“What
you’ve
just
said
will
make
what
I
have
to
tell
you
a
little
easier.”

Jayla
raised
a
brow.
“Oh?”

“I
just
went
over
the
results
of
your
physical
and
it
seems
you’re
already
pregnant.”

The
news
was
so
shocking
that
Jayla
dropped
into
a
nearby
chair.
She
looked
back
up
at
the
doctor,
not
believing
what
she’d
been
told.
“I’m
pregnant?”

The
doctor
chuckled
again.
“Yes.
You’re
almost
a
month
along.”

Jayla
shook
her
head,
as
if
trying
to
keep
it
from
spinning.
She
was
almost
a
month
pregnant!
“New
Orleans,”
she

said
softly,
as
a
smile
touched
her
lips.

“Excuse
me?”

She
met
Dr.
Millstone’s
grin.
“I
said
New
Orleans.
I
got

pregnant
in
New
Orleans.
But
how
is
that
possible
when
we
were
careful?”

A
smiled
played
at
the
corner
of
Dr.
Millstone’s
mouth.
“I
deliver
a
lot
of
babies
whose
parents
thought
they
were