Page 56 of His Secret Virgin
Chapter 22
Emma
“Who is he, Emma?” Valerie asked me as I dropped my cell on the bed and cried for the umpteenth time in the last six hours.
“I can’t tell you,” I whimpered.
“You can and you will.” She pulled me up off the bed to make me look at her. “I know that I don’t know this guy, but he sounded older to me. He’s an older man, isn’t he?”
I nodded. “Yeah.” She could know that much.
“Okay,” she let me go, and I fell right back on the bed like a limp noodle. “Since he’s older, you guys might not have as big a problem as you think you do.” She picked me back up. “Unless this guy is married. Is he married, Emma?”
“No!” I said, a little outraged that she’d think I’d have an affair with a married man. I fell back on the bed again as she let me go.
“You need to stop that crying and start talking, girl. Because this makes no sense to me.” She sat back down on her own bed, which was only a few feet across from the one I was on. Thankfully her roommate had agreed to stay at a friend’s place for the rest of the day so I could be with Val alone. “So, dry it up and start talking.”
Shaking my head, I sat up but knew there was no way in the world to fix this. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand, and she made a face before throwing a handful of old napkins at me that she grabbed from her nightstand.
After blowing my nose, I said, “Look, we can’t come clean about what we’ve been doing. I’ve already told you that.”
“I want the whole story, and I’ll decide that for myself.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a demanding look. “Let’s start simple. What is his name?”
I wasn’t planning on telling anyone his name. “No.”
“Yes!” she spat at me. “And right now, Emma Hancock!”
If I wanted her help, I knew I would have to come clean, so I just went for it. “Christopher Taylor.”
“See how easy that was?” She smiled at me then asked, “And why can’t you two see each other in the open?”
“He’s my boss. He’s my father’s boss. And he’s my father’s old college friend.” I wiped my eyes with the napkins then took a deep breath. “I’ve really got to stop crying and start trying to figure out what I’m going to do. I can’t stay here forever, that much is obvious.”
“Are he and your dad friends now?” Val asked. She had a contemplative look on her, and I could only hope she was coming up with some sort of plan.
“They are.” I knew it was utterly hopeless, but Val clearly hadn’t come to terms with that yet. “Do you know if they still have homes for unwed mothers the way they used to in the old days?” I asked, trying to think up a plan of my own.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Now, tell me more about this man. I can see how he wouldn’t want to end his friendship with your father, but does he have any other reasons he doesn’t want this getting out?”
“His daughters are pretty mean, I think. He doesn’t want them to bother me, he said.” I thought about what else I could do, since there probably weren’t any homes for unwed mothers anymore. “Maybe I could get a job at a daycare, and that way I could learn how to take care of this baby. Then when he’s born, I can keep him at the daycare with me. It’s a win-win.”
“Do you honestly think that working at a daycare will pay enough to put a roof over your head and raise a child, Emma?” She looked up at the ceiling as if that was the stupidest idea in the history of stupid ideas. “This man is the boss of the company you work for. That means he’s got to have money, which he can use to pay you child support. So, does he have money?”
I nodded. “He’s a billionaire.”
Valerie gulped as her eyes went wide. “A billionaire? Are you for real?”
“I am for real. But to secure any child support from him, I’d have to tell our secret, and I can’t do that.” Didn’t she remember how my father really was? “You do remember my dad, right? I mean, the reason we’ve kept this a secret is mostly because of him.”
Valerie stared at me, the creases in her forehead and the way her lips pulled to one side told me she had something to say to that. “Emma, you do realize that your father will find out that you’re pregnant eventually—and he won’t stop until you tell him who the father is.”
She’s right.
“Well, I’ll just have to never see my parents again, I suppose.” The thought made my heart hurt. “I’m going to miss them. And I’m going to miss Christopher, too. I’m even going to miss Mrs. Kramer.” And then another round of tears start up.
I’d never felt so alone in my life. All I had now was Valerie, and that just wasn’t going to be enough. I fell back on the bed, putting my hands over my face as I felt the weight of responsibility for not only myself, but now a child, too.
Val took me by the shoulders and pulled me back up. “Okay, you’ve gotta stop doing that. It’s not helping anything. Here’s what I think you should do. Call the baby-daddy back and tell him he’s gotta come up with something. He’s a grown man; he’ll figure something out. You are, for lack of a better word, immature.”
