I’m on my way up.
Maybe she’s not feeling well. In my pregnancy research, I learned that morning sickness can actually be an all-day thing. If her stomach’s upset, fresh air would be a good antidote.
My phone rings as I’m climbing the stairs.
“Mr. Weathers, thank you so much for taking my call. This is Dustin Carmichael from the Children’s Fund charity event. I wanted to ask if there was any way we could convince you to attend even just a little bit of the ball. I know that your wife said that you had urgent business out of town, but we could move the auction portion up earlier in the day to accommodate your schedule.”
“We are planning on attending the whole thing,” I say, confused by this call.
“Oh…ah…well, you see today we received the message that you were cancelling but thank you so much. Mrs. Weathers’ presence is so helpful in our fundraising efforts and I know everyone is excited to see what she is wearing to our event. I’m so sorry to have bothered you.”
“No problem.” I hang up and push the rooftop terrace door open.
Abigail’s sitting with her back to me. Her long hair is spread over the chair like a luxurious blanket.
“Hey, baby. You feeling okay?” I ask. I slide a hand under the curtain of hair and kiss her cheek. It feels wet.
I look at her face and am startled by her red eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I…” Her lower lip quivers and she shuts up.
I drop to my knees and grab her head. Dread fills me. Fuck. Is something wrong with the baby? “Tell me. I’ll fix it.”
“I don’t want to go to the Children’s Fund event,” she says. Tears drop onto her lap. I grab the blanket she has stretched across her lap and dab the wetness away.
“Great. Fuck the children’s fund. Hated that event anyway.”
“Then why’d you buy that tiara?” she wails.
“I don’t know.” I wipe away more tears. “Obviously I’m a dumbass. I’ll send it back.” As if that’s a thing.
“You can’t send that thing back.” She cries even harder.
I had no idea she hated tiaras so much. “It’s gaudy. I get it. I shouldn’t have bought it and we’ll give it away. Or stick it in a vault. Baby, I don’t care about the stupid fucking tiara or the stupid fucking charity. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“No. You’ll be so mad.”
“Never.” She could never say anything that would—
“It’s Teddy.”
Okay, I was wrong.
Chapter 22
Abigail
Con picks me up from where I’m sitting. I bury my face in his neck as I continue to cry. The tears won’t stop. When I opened up that box and saw the beautiful piece he’d gotten for me, the guilt overwhelmed me. I had lied to him about Teddy and I hadn’t been forthcoming about the grocery store. The tiara is only a reminder of those things for me.
“You’re killing me here, baby. I promise you, whatever this is, I can fix it. I will fix it.” His hands rub up and down my back. It only makes me cry harder because I know he’s right. “You’ve got to calm down. This isn’t good for you. Or the baby.” I nod in agreement but keep on crying.
“I can’t get it to stop.” I hiccup into his neck. “I’ve lied to you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.” His hands stop moving for a second. “You’re going to try to fire people that were only following my direction. I risked it all when I knew better.” I throw it out there while I’m on a roll. I sniffle, wiping my nose on his shirt. Worry fills me, thinking about how he will react to this.
“You can lie to me. That’s fine,” he offers after a minute.
“Stop trying to make me laugh.”
“Is this about the gold bar? I forgot. I’ll get it first thing tomorrow.” He keeps going. “I meant to get the million in cash but I kept forgetting to ask how you wanted it? After the gold bar I thought you might want it in two dollar bills and that will take some time.” I lean back to look up at him. I wipe my face with the back of my hand. I know he’s trying to make me laugh.
“Promise you won’t fire anyone,” I push. He lets out a long breath. I know he doesn’t want to agree to it, but I can’t let Layla get in trouble for this. She was following orders that I’d given her. She has done nothing wrong. She has protected me every step of the way.
“Is it Layla?” I nod. “I won’t fire her.”
I sniffle. I feel a big sense of relief at his words. Knowing that when Con says something he sticks to it. That he never goes back on his word, especially to me.