ration of Independence.
Why would a woman with more money than she could spend in ten lifetimes, and by her own confession, a career she looked forward to with enthusiasm, put her life on hold for me and Abby—complete strangers to her at the time? It made no sense. There had to be an underlying reason she’d agreed to take my ridiculous offer.
I was well aware that I was grasping at straws, looking for any reason to build a wall between her and I, but it wasn’t a wholly unreasonable question. Of course, the logical thing to do would be to ask her, but since I was admittedly half-crazy at the moment, I thought of a better way. And really, people with ulterior motives were seldom known to profess them honestly.
So, I crept out of her room and went to my office at the other end of the house. I picked up the phone and dialed the number of a man I’d employed only occasionally. The personnel department at the office wasn’t good enough this time. I needed more; I needed someone to dig beneath the surface to find out what Emma McKenna had been up to all this time.
And two days later I had my answer, though I could hardly believe the proof on the page in front of me. I should have been rejoicing at finally having the solution to my problem, a solution that would build a wall so high between us I’d never have to worry about getting close to Emma ever again.
But I wasn’t rejoicing; I wasn’t even relieved. Instead, a stab of pain shot through my chest and I wanted to rip up the paper, shred it into a thousand pieces and burn every last one of them. But that was pointless. It wouldn’t change a thing.
Emma had lied to me. All this time, she’d been busy trying to keep me distracted and hoping I’d slip up, all of it nothing more than a ploy. Hell, she’d even sacrificed her virginity for it. She must be one hell of a sister.
Her brother was none other than Michael Fraser, president, and CEO of Fraser Enterprises. Six months ago, that name wouldn’t have meant a thing to me, but it did now. And it had for the past two months throughout which my company and his had been locked in a cutthroat battle for the same big-ass client. Fraser’s company had been on the decline for the past two years and it teetered on the verge of bankruptcy. This one client would be vital to keeping it alive. And Emma had appeared on the scene just days after the two companies had begun negotiations with the potential client. What was the likelihood that her sudden appearance was sheer coincidence? If I had to guess at the moment, I’d say about zero.
I crumpled the page in my hand, gripping it over and over again until my knuckles turned white. Once again, I was angrier with myself than I was with her, but damn it, some of the blame fell on her this time, too. I should have known better, but what she’d done was despicable.
Still, I should have been a lot more cautious who I let into my life—who I let into Abby’s life!
And that was the part that was unforgivable. If it had only been me she’d duped, I could have found a way to move past it, or at least to part on neutral terms. But it wasn’t just me. She’d played my daughter for a fool, pretending to care for Abby and letting her get close. Did it even bother her in the slightest how much Abby would be hurt when her brother’s deal was done—one way or the other—and she walked away?
The thought infuriated me, so much that I couldn’t keep still any longer. I paced back and forth across the office, trying to regain some semblance of calm, but an hour passed and then another, and it seemed there was none to be had.
Emma had to go. I had no idea what I was going to tell Abby, but the first step had to be getting the woman out of my house to at least stop her from causing any more damage. I debated barging into her room now and demanding she get the hell out, but not yet. I was still too angry.
First thing in the morning then. I’d approach her calmly and coolly and demand she leave. Fortunately for her, that merely meant a walk across the lawn since she happened to own the house next door.
But I didn’t want revenge. I just wanted her gone.
10
Emma
I awoke before the sun, a normal occurrence since Abby had come into my life. But I didn’t feel well, not exactly sick either, just…something…and it seemed like a terrible omen.
I’d been in denial the past few days, but I had a sinking feeling there would be no more denying it after this morning. I was never late. Never. And yet, here I was a full week late. I’d darted into the pharmacy yesterday when I’d taken Abby to the park, but the handful of tests had been sitting in my purse ever since.
I couldn’t put it off any longer though. I needed to know. So, I reluctantly climbed out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, grabbing my purse as I went from where it sat on the dresser. And three minutes later, I stared down at the tiny positive sign in the pregnancy test window. It seemed so small; two thin, blue lines that crossed like the letter ‘t’. It seemed almost ridiculous that such a small thing could have such an enormous impact on one’s life. But if those two little lines were telling the truth, my life was never going to be the same.
My breathing came quicker the more I thought about it, and I could feel my pulse speed up. I had no idea if Ryan wanted more children. It wasn’t something we’d ever talked about. And that was because a relationship was something we’d never talked about either. I got the distinct impression that committing himself to me for anything longer than a few hours late at night was the last thing Ryan wanted. How was he going to feel when I told him he was going to be tied to me irrevocably, at least in this way?
But maybe it was a fluke. Yes, it had to be a fluke.
Grateful for the two bottles of spring water I’d downed before bed, I pulled out another test and repeated the same steps as the first. An old saying played in my head as I set the test down on the sink edge to wait, “Crazy is doing the same thing over and over again, and hoping for a different result.” It seemed fitting since I was most definitely feeling a little crazy at the moment.
Before a full minute had passed, the same two blue lines appeared in the test window and I sank down on the floor in defeat. It wasn’t that I didn’t want children. I’d always wanted a large family so that each child would have plenty of brothers and sisters to grow up with. But this wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t how I’d imagined starting that family; twenty-one years old, and currently employed as a nanny for the man who happened to be the father of my child—and who wanted absolutely nothing to do with long-term relationships.
What a mess I’d made!
A knock sounded at my bedroom door, and panic raced through my veins. There was no way it was Abby standing out in the hallway because I had learned quite quickly that Abby does not knock. And that left only one other possibility, and I didn’t relish the thought of facing him at the moment. But when he knocked on the door again, I knew he wasn’t going to be put off much longer.
“Emma,” he called in a stern voice as I heard the door to my room open slowly.
I sprang to my feet, knocking almost everything on the edge of the sink onto the floor. Damn it! I swooped down and gathered it all into my purse as quickly as I could, zipped it up and placed it on the towel shelf next to me.
I took a deep breath, only realizing then that my face was wet with tears. I brushed them away angrily as quickly as I could and opened the bathroom door. But I came to a dead stop when I looked up and saw the expression on his face. It seemed we’d just taken a swift tumble from his typically cool and aloof daytime behavior to downright furious.
His expression faltered for the briefest of seconds when he saw me—no doubt I hadn’t managed to wipe away all proof of the stupid tears—but it hardened again quickly.