“I'm pregnant,” I whispered to the empty bathroom around me. “Jesus Christ, I'm pregnant.”
A smile crept across my face, and that's when I realized, the tears that were falling were happy tears. For better or worse, I was getting my wish.
I was having a baby.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EVAN
I rubbed my temples as we sat in the realtor's office while my ex continued arguing with her. The two had been going at it for half an hour already, and nothing Rebecca wanted was going to happen. Both Carol and I had made it very clear that she wouldn't have a say in the sale of the house.
It was, after all, my house. I'd paid for everything. She merely lived in it and had decorated it. Yes, it was supposed to be her home too, but that ended when she slept with half the town.
“I don't understand why you have to sell it, Evan,” she said, turning to me with pursed lips. “You need a place to stay, I need a place to stay – we could be amicable and stay there together.”
“No,” I said plainly.
“Why not? It's custom built, you're not going to find a more perfect home for us – ”
“There is no 'us' anymore, Rebecca,” I said, fighting to keep my voice calm. “And I don't need a five bedroom home just for me. And I'm most definitely not going to be sharing a home with you. No matter how large it is.”
Carol looked shell-shocked, but quickly managed to get herself under control. The poor woman deserved a prize for putting up with us. I was sure we weren't the first couple to walk in who needed to sell a house because of a split, but Rebecca had to be the most difficult person she'd dealt with. She was the most difficult person I'd ever met, that was for sure.
Rebecca sat back in her chair and stroked the arms of it, staring straight ahead at Carol. The little old lady always managed to keep a friendly smile on her face, and she stayed out of our personal squabbles. It was one reason I'd hired her for the job.
“I have a couple that would be perfect for your home,” Carol said, getting to the reason for the meeting, since Rebecca had finally shut her trap. “A husband and wife with two darling little girls and another one the way. New to Castle Creek. I say, we need to focus on staging the spare rooms as children's rooms, with one staged as an office.”
I nodded. “I agree. It was originally meant to be a family home.”
Carol gave me a sympathetic smile but seemed to be bracing herself for Rebecca's onslaught.
“We'll have to be ready to view by the weekend,” Carol said softly. “Just in time for the Hendersons, since they're coming in from Denver next week to start looking.”
“Perfect,” I said.
I looked down at my hands in my lap, waiting to see what else we needed to do to get the ball rolling. Rebecca reached over and placed her hand on top of mine, which made me sit up straight and stare at her as if she'd grown a second head.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Sweetie,” she said, her eyes wide and filled with tears, “Just think about this for a moment, will you? Those rooms could be our children's rooms, not someone else's. They were designed to be – ”
I pulled my hand away and focused my attention on Carol. “Is there anything else we need to discuss? I'd really like to get moving on this as soon as possible.”
“No, nothing,” she said softly. “Laura will be by this evening with a few pieces of furniture to set up, but you don't have to be there as long as someone is – ”
I nodded. “I'll be there.”
I didn't trust Rebecca to handle things alone. She'd probably sabotage things on purpose. Or maybe I was giving her too much credit. Sometimes it felt like she thought this was a game, some sort of punishment for her misdeed instead of actually splitting up once and for all, and that I'd eventually come around and reconcile with her.
I thanked Carol and stood up, ready to leave. As I moved toward the door, Rebecca was hot on my heels. As we exited the building and I crossed the parking lot, she kept trying to catch up to me.
“Evan, please, this has gone too far,” she said.
“I don't know what you're talking about, Rebecca,” I said.
I hit the key fob to unlock my car door, but she stepped in front of it, blocking me from getting inside and leaving.
“Can we please go somewhere to talk?” she asked. “That's all I ask.”