Page 23 of Her Dark Melody
“So, where do you hail from, Ebony?” Cormac’s booming voice cut across all of the conversation at the table, making everyone else fall silent. Ebony blushed a deepscarlet.
“From here, actually,” she said, “I’m a Seattle girl, but I’ve been living in New Orleans for a few years. My brother is a dance teacher downthere.”
“So, you came back forAtlas?”
Ebony shot a look at her lover who had gone very still. “I came back to perform at the fundraiser for Haven,” she said slowly, then firmly, “I stayed forAtlas.”
Atlas touched her cheek. “I’m very glad you did,baby.”
“Fortuitous.” Cormac said with a smirk, his meaning clear. Ebony, instead of feeling hurt, fixed him with aglare.
Oh, I donotlike you, Ebony thought, and gave him the same insincere smile as he gave her. Mateo winked at her and mouthed ‘Ignore him.’ Atlas squeezed her hand, and she saw Romy shoot daggers at Cormac. I am amongst friends,she thought, her body relaxing. She looked at Atlas. “Darling…later, I need to talk to you about something. Something important that I should have told youbefore.”
“Of course, sweetheart.” Atlas looked curious but not worried. “Are youokay?”
Ebony smiled, suddenly at peace. “Totally andcompletely.”
After lunch,Molly arrived, having had lunch with her own family, and Ebony could immediately see the love between her and Mateo. She and Ebony got along immediately, chatting easily as the twins took them all on a walk through the snowy grounds as evening began to fall, and thousands of white twinkle lights suddenly turned on, making the walk even moremagical.
Mateo and Molly strolled ahead, arm-in-arm, but Atlas stopped Ebony and kissed her, tender and loving. “Thank you for spending Christmas with me, mydarling.”
“Thank you for inviting me.” She stroked his dark curls, gazing up at him. Had it really only been a fewdays?
“What was it you wanted to talk to meabout?”
Ebony drew in a deep breath. “Atlas…a week or so before I came to Seattle, I had a one-night stand. It was…a mistake, but it happened. A few days ago, I discovered…” God, could she really say the words? Her stomach clenched painfully. “I’mpregnant.”
There it was, out in the open. Atlas stopped. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Look, I haven’t decided what I’m going to do. But I didn’t want us to go any further without you knowing. It wouldn’t befair.”
Atlas’s expression was unreadable, and Ebony studied him, her heart pounding. “I’ve just ruined this, haven’tI?”
Atlas shook his head. “No, no, no, I’m just a little…taken aback.” He gave a short laugh. “Okay, well…” He trailed off, obviously deep in thought and Ebony waited. He was still holding her hand; a good sign, she thought,hopefully.
Atlas took a deep breath in. “Well, let’s be logical about this. Have you told thefather?”
“No.” Ebony shook her head. “Atlas, I honestly…I’m ashamed to say, I have no idea who he is. When I met him…it was in a specialist club, shall wesay?”
For a moment Atlas looked confused, then “Ah.”
Fear touched her then, and an edge of desperation. “Atlas, I swear, I’m not awhore.”
Atlas looked astonished. “Ebs, I never in a million years would think that, and you should never think of yourself like that. You think I’ve never been to a sex clubbefore?”
Relief washed over her powerfully. “There’s no chance you were in one in New Orleans two weeks ago, is there?” Ebony tried to joke, but Atlasgrinned.
“No, but right now, I wish I had been, truly.” He put his arms around her. “So, first thing is we figure out whether you want to keep the child. Then we go from there. Ebony, I want to see where we go from here, whether we can make it work. If you want the baby, I’ll be there foryou.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.” Ebony shook her head. “It’s too much. We’ve only known each other aweek.”
His gaze, locked on hers, never faltered. “I know,” his voice was soft, “and already, I’m lost, Ebony. I’mlost.”
Her eyes filled with tears at the love in his voice. “I feel the same way,” she whispered, and then his lips were crushing against hers, kissing as her hot tears dropped down hercheeks.
Atlas placed a hand on her belly so protectively that she teared up again. “Let’s see where this goes,” he said. “Let’s see if we can dothis.”
Ebony closed her eyes, her mind whirling. Was he really offering to be the father of her child? Even if it wasn’t his own? She felt discombobulated by the conversation as if it had run away from her and nothing had really gotten resolved, at least notresponsibly.
