“I’ll do that. I’ll do anything.” I cut him off. “Let’s talk about this in person.” I think of my lonely childhood, just me and my grandmother. If this is his baby, I’m not going to stand in the way of the two of them raising it together.
“I’m coming straight there as soon as we’re done talking.”
“I see. Uh…when will you be back?”
“I just need an hour, then I’ll be back there, with you in my arms. God, I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.”
“Emmeline. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“I know.” I wipe a single tear from my cheek. “So am I.”
“What do you mean? What are you sorry for?”
I give my head a shake. I don’t know what I’m saying. “I just mean, I’m sorry, you know, that this happened to you.”
“I love you so fucking much. You know that, right?”
“Of course. I love you too.”
When I hang up, the truth settles in my heart like a block of ice.
I am sorry.
Because now, I’m going to break his heart, like he first broke mine.
By leaving him a note.
I can’t do this. I can’t be the other woman. I find paper and a pen, scrawling the words as fast as I can before I lose the courage to say them.
I call the car and while I wait, I pack up all of Mr. Whiskers’ belongings. Baskins gives me an accusatory look as the driver comes and helps me load everything in the car to take home. I ignore the dog, but he gives a sad woof, that has guilt flooding my heart, but I only allow myself to feel it for a second.
Soon, he’ll have a new baby to cuddle and love. I give Baskins a goodbye pat.
And with my cat under my arm, I head home.
Chapter 15
Rawley
I hang up the phone. Emmeline sounded shaken. And why wouldn’t she be?
I walk back to the restaurant. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all. Emmeline is mine, and Tiffany is not going to sidle in here and break us apart. I know that isn’t my child. I just need to prove it.
I long to run to Emmeline, but first, I’ve got to sort this out.
Returning to the table, I slide into my seat. Tiffany sits across from me and as I stare at her scowling face. I can only wonder, What did I ever see in her? Yes, she’s beautiful, on the surface, but in the last few months, I’ve realized the real meaning of beauty shining from within.
I take in Tiffany’s pinched, angry face, giving her a zero on my new scale.
“How did this happen? Tell me everything.”
She ignores my question, holding up her hand, those pointy hot pink fingernails waving in the air as she snaps to the waiter. “Excuse me? Aren’t you going to take our orders?”
Unbelievable. Consistent with who she is, though.
The waiter scurries over. “My apologies for the delay. What can I get for you?”
“I’ll have the filet mignon, the creamed potatoes, and the steamed spinach.” She gives me a look. “For the baby.”
My stomach turns. The waiter looks to me. “And you, Mr. Morrow? What will you be having tonight?”
“Alcohol.” I nod to the bucket of champagne.
He quickly opens the wrapper top, popping the bubbly. He fills my glass, returning it to the bucket.
Tiffany nudges her glass forward. “Don’t forget me.”
The waiter eyes her belly.
Seriously, Tiff? “Should you be drinking?”
Her hand goes to her belly, rubbing it with tender circles. “Oh my God, sometimes I almost forget. You’ll notice I haven’t gained any weight since I got pregnant. Just a cute little baby bump. Everything else is just like you remember it.” She gives me a wink.
A flashback to being with her pops up in my mind, and I’m nauseous. I down the glass of champagne. The champagne that was supposed to be popped to celebrate with Emmeline. Now, it’s just to numb my emotions.
I set the empty glass on the table. “I want a paternity test tomorrow.” I wouldn’t put it past her to pin some other dude’s kid on me.
“Don’t be gross.” She wrinkles her nose. “It’s yours. We don’t need a paternity test.”
“I think it's pretty standard issue when you haven’t seen the girl in six months, and she told you she had the whole fertility issue covered when you were together.”
She waves her hands in the air in surrender. “So I forgot to take a few of my pills. I was so distraught with the breakup that week, I just missed them. The dates match up exactly to the night we broke up. Remember how we did it —”
I hold my hand up to cut her off. “Stop. I don’t want to hear anything about our past. I’m with Emmeline now, and that’s not going to change. Ever.”
“We’ll see.” There is no sense of resignation about her as she snaps her reply. “You’ll be with me. You’ll see how happy we’ll be together, once the baby comes.”