“What are you planning on telling them?” he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.
Elena took a sip of water. “Actually – I was thinking of telling them that I am pregnant.”
“Really, you’re going to explain this situation to them?”
“No,” Elena said quietly. “I actually was planning on telling them the story that you told the board. That George is the father.”
Neal felt a little tug at his heart, as though something sharp was pricking at him, making it hard for him to concentrate. He didn’t expect the jealousy that suddenly dominated his mind.
“Oh,” was all he managed to say.
“Neal,” Elena said cautiously, “I know I said I didn’t want to be a mother, but I never expected to feel… this way.”
“You want to be in this child’s life,” Neal finished for her.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Are you sure you’ll be OK with that?”
“Of course,” Neal said. “I told you I was, and this way – well, you and I will be able to stay friends.”
He lingered on the word friend, and Elena was aware of it. She did feel a little surge of happiness to know that Neal would be in her life, but she also registered the difficulty of their situation. They would have a child together, but they would never be a family. She could claim the child, but Neal would only ever be the uncle.
“I’d like that,” Elena said.
Neal was suddenly aware of how much he wanted to hold her again, as he had in the first few weeks of their strange new arrangement. He wanted to touch her, kiss her, and make love to her again. He wanted to hold his head to her stomach and know that the child she was carrying would one day call him ‘Dad’.
He wanted so many new things that his head spun from the shock of discovering that both Elena and his father had been right. His shallow lifestyle had been an attempt to keep himself from wanting things that he would be terrified to lose. It didn’t matter anyway. In the end, life had forced his hand, and he was at that point now. He had barely experienced what a life of purpose truly meant, and already it was being snatched away from him.
“Shall we get started on the papers you brought from George’s office?” Elena’s voice interrupted his tangled thoughts.
“Yes.” he said, pushing the anger and jealousy he felt to the back of his mind so that he could concentrate on the work at hand.
He was doing this for George, he reminded himself. He vividly remembered his father’s letter, but he had not listened to it. He had never looked after George, never returned the favor, but now, this business was all he had left of his family and whether or not he was capable, whether or not he was interested, he was going to immerse himself in it and salvage what he could of his father's and his brother’s legacy.
He felt a surge of relief in the knowledge that he was not alone. Elena sat by him all night, poring over the papers, explaining things he couldn’t understand, bringing him coffee when his eyes started to droop. By the next morning, he was exhausted and drained, but he was also surprised to realize that for the first time in a long time, he was also content.
Chapter12
There was a week left before George would be officially declared dead. All his assets would pass to his unborn child and at that point, Neal would be the major shareholder of Hargrove Brothers and Company, effectively becoming president in his brother’s stead. At least, for the next twenty-one years.
He felt drained and disbelieving. He had never expected to end up where he was. Neal knew that the board’s declaration meant nothing in the long run. It was not a confirmation, or a death sentence, and yet, Neal felt as though he were losing his brother all over again, but after the week was over, George Hargrove would really be gone, and there would never be any closure.
Neal would never know what had truly happened, where his body now lay, if it had washed up on an island somewhere, or if it was buried deep under the sea. He wished that at the very least, he could have buried George. He wished he could have had a proper funeral for him. He was also aware that after the week was up, he would have to plan a memorial service. The thought of that filled him with dread.
There was more on his mind than grief, however. The other board members were being uncooperative and Neal knew that they would not make his transition into the business world easy. Cliff, in particular, was cold, distant, and passive aggressive whenever he encountered Neal. His eyes were roving, and always observant, and sometimes Neal felt that he had not yet given up. Not even after being presented with the paternity test that stated George Hargrove was the father of Elena's baby.
Neal worried about Elena as well. She had been more quiet lately. Usually, she was the one who made conversation, but now, she was more prone to silence than conversation. Her thoughts always seemed far away. She didn’t appear to be sad, but there was something he saw under the surface of her eyes that told him she was not happy either.
Elena prepared a light lunch for Neal and herself, before he had to get into the office. After she was done, she went in search for him, only to find him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. She knew why he looked so forlorn. She wished there was something she could do to make his pain a little lighter. She sat down at the edge of his bed.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not good,” he replied.
“How about some lunch?”
“Not hungry.”
“Eat something anyway,” she encouraged him.