Free Under His Care by Kelly Favor

because the pull was so strong.
    Finally, she started the car and drove away, and Easton never moved, but she watched him in her rearview mirror, as he grew smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared.

    ***

    The pregnancy test packaging sat untouched on Kennedy’s bathroom sink. It had been there all day, and she’d ignored it, and yet somehow it loomed larger and larger every time she went into the bathroom.
    She kept telling herself that there was no way she could’ve gotten pregnant so quickly.
    It had to be coincidence.
    Had to be.
    She’d gotten a stomach bug or maybe it was stress, something she ate. Whatever the case, the idea that she was with child was laughable.
    Except that it wasn’t laughable, and she hadn’t been smiling much since returning from Nicole and Red’s house. And after taking some time to reflect, Kennedy was able to recall exactly when she’d had her last period and calculate that she was due to menstruate again in the next two or three days.
    That fell just within the timeframe that would allow an accurate reading.
    Only instead of taking the test and putting the whole notion to bed, Kennedy had thrown herself back into her work, trying to put together the data that backed her assertions regarding the change in Red’s business strategy. Kennedy knew that the numbers were there, because without the numbers her mind never would’ve come up with the solution to bet big on the emerging markets.
    It was a risky business strategy, but the more she dug into the data, the more her ideas coalesced into a meaningful picture and Kennedy became even more convinced that she’d been right in her initial recommendation to Red.
    Still, after more than a few hours staring at her computer and compiling the various sources into a format that Red could easily comprehend, Kennedy was exhausted.
    She powered her laptop down and put it on the table, and then she went to the bathroom, picked up the pregnancy test kit and stared at the box.
    Her heart began racing as she anticipated what it would be like to sit down on the toilet, pee on a stick, and know that a few minutes later she would have her answer.
    As she stared at the box and contemplated opening it, there was a loud knocking on the door to her apartment.
    Kennedy looked up, waiting to see if it was really her door. Maybe someone was knocking on Blake’s door or something. But then the pounding came again.
    She walked out of the bathroom and stood there, listening. “Blake?” she called out.
    There was no answer. Kennedy put the kit down on the counter and walked over to her entrance, listening.
    There was no sound from outside. She turned the lock on her door and then slowly opened it.
    Standing just off to the side, Easton Rather was waiting with his arms folded. “Don’t,” he said, as Kennedy prepared to slam the door in his face.
    “Please, you need to go,” she told him.
    “Why can’t you just talk to me, Kennedy?” he asked, and something in his voice was so confused, so puzzled by her behavior, that she wanted to cry.
    “I just can’t,” she said softly, although her mind was starting to forget what the problem was. Had Easton really done anything wrong? Was there actually a good reason to resist what she so badly wanted?
    He walked towards her and this time he did reach out and touch her cheek with his hand, and she let him, because she was unable not to.
    His skin was warm, smooth, and his thumb traced her jaw line as he withdrew. “I need to tell you something,” he said.
    Wait, isn’t that my line? She wondered.
    And then Easton was brushing past her and moving into her apartment, as she followed after him. “This can’t go anywhere,” she announced, as Easton shut the door and faced her.
    “Kennedy, I don’t care how many times you try and push me away. I won’t ever give up,” Easton said.
    “Maybe you should,” she told him.
    He shook his head. “I don’t believe you really mean that.”
    “You’re not