Page 39 of Don't Regret Me
He didn’t remember until he was outside that he hadn’t driven, so he ordered a car and waited. When his phone rang, he answered it immediately. “Bea, bad timing.”
“This won’t take long, Nick.” She didn’t sound happy, and that had him standing up straighter.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sherrie is suing for child support.”
A string of curses left his lips. “Give her whatever she wants as long as she gives me the divorce.” It was all he wanted. At least this way, he knew the child would be taken care of. It wasn’t the kid’s fault they were born into such a bad situation.
“I figured you’d say that. We could fight this, you know. A simple paternity test would?—”
“No.” He couldn’t handle more press, more fighting. All he wanted was to move forward. A part of him still believed Sherrie was a good person who’d done a bad thing. No matter how hurt he’d been, he realized it probably wasn’t as hurt as she was being married to a man who’d never loved her.
Neither of them were innocent.
He leaned against the building at his back. “I don’t care about the money.” He’d stayed with Sherrie through the entire pregnancy, prepared his mind, his life to be a father. The moment that was ripped away from him was a loss he’d refused to acknowledge to himself. He’d wanted that baby, loved that baby.
And now, he didn’t even know if she’d had a girl or a boy.
“Have you… seen them?”
Bea sighed. “She’s a healthy little girl.”
A girl. He closed his eyes. A tiny, perfect little girl. “What’s her name?”
“Stephanie.” She paused. “Nick, something isn’t right with Sherrie. It’s a desperate anger, and she has nowhere to aim it. I’ve seen it once before in her.”
“When?” Worry gnawed at him.Stephanie. She’d named her daughter the one name that could bring him to his knees.
“Right before your accident.”
He tried to remember, to see her the way Bea did, but that time was just a blank space in his mind. “If she gets worse, will you call me?”
Sherrie wasn’t truly his wife anymore, not once everything was finalized. He didn’t love her, but he did care for her, for the baby.
A car pulled up to the curb, and he said his goodbyes to his agent before sliding in and giving the driver Liz’s address.
The conversation with Bea frayed his nerves. The one with Jimmy and Bentley made him doubt himself. He wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was, but he did know he had to see her, to let her calm his mind.
The moment he stepped from the car to the sidewalk in front of her house, he wondered if this was all a mistake. An angry sky groaned above, probably waiting until the most inopportune time to let loose.
He stood still for a moment, gazing up into the dark clouds that blocked the moon from view. When the door opened, there was no turning back.
“Nick?” Liz stepped out. “What are you doing here?”
Wordlessly, he crossed the distance separating them and pulled her into his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his back. Whether holding on to him or holding him up, he wasn’t sure. He rested his chin on the top of her head, soaking in the stillness that enveloped them when they were this close.
Their chests rose and fell together, and his heart pounded like the steady rhythm of a drum. He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t explain them, but he knew he was right where he needed to be.
And yet… he was still Nick Jacobs, a man with so much baggage it wouldn’t all fit inside the plane.
Pulling away reluctantly, he looked down at her. “We should talk.”
18
ELIZABETH
