Page 233 of Small Town Firsts
But she hadn’t called me.
I reached for my desk phone just as Oliver snatched up the folder. And started to read while I stared almost unseeingly at him.
My slowness to react had to do with the possibility Ally could be pregnant. That was the only reason I had for not leaping to my feet and yanking the folder out of my snoop of a brother’s hands.
“Well, now, isn’t this interesting? A baby contract. Is Ally feeling the need to procreate? She is nearing thirty. I can see why she’d want to move on that sooner rather than later.”
“Give me that, you jackass. And no, Ally wasn’t feeling anything. I was the one who wanted the baby.”
Oliver’s brows snapped down as he peered at me over the folder I wasn’t getting back unless I wrestled him to the ground—and that might end up happening. “I think you better cut back on those vitamins you’ve been taking. That ginseng-biloba-whatever mix must be messing with your wiring.”
“My wiring is just fine.”
“You have a baby. Why would you want another?”
“Laurie is four. Hardly a baby. And I’m not justifying my decisions to you.” I narrowed my eyes. “Why is it so shocking that I’d want another kid? The first one came out pretty damn good.”
“She did, but one is plenty. What do you think you’re going to do? Quit your job and play house husband?” He glanced at the contract. “Seems like you just want her eggs and want hergone. Paying for her school, huh? Guess that explains why Sage mentioned her applying for classes in New York City. Free ride.”
Oliver probably kept talking, but I wasn’t listening anymore. All I could hear in my head on a constant loop was that she’d applied for school in New York City.
Miles and miles away.
I had no right to feel hurt. That was what I’d suggested all along. We’d make a baby, then she could go to school wherever she wanted. In the back of my mind, I’d always known it was a real possibility whether I gave her the funding or not. Ally mentioned splitting town much less frequently these days than she had right after her mother passed, but every now and then, it still came up.
She wanted a fresh start. Hell, shedeservedone. My money could give her that.
Equal exchange. And hey, she could always come see our kid on weekends and breaks and holidays. The city was only a little over four hours away. Not that far at all.
“Fuck.” I slammed my fist into the desk, barely registering the sting.
Oliver shut the folder. “Didn’t know she was applying to schools in New York City?”
“No. I mean, I told her anywhere was fair game.”
“You told her. As if she isn’t an unencumbered adult capable of making her own choices.”
I stayed silent for that one. The truth hurt as much as my now aching knuckles.
“Don’t know if you know this, but Dad paid off mom.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“She didn’t just take off. They made a deal. He’d finance her lifestyle elsewhere if she didn’t try to take him for half in the divorce, thereby forcing him to expose her cheating and othermisdeeds in court. Neither of them wanted messy, so she went for it. Last I knew, she was living in Seattle with her new family.”
“Seattle?” I rubbed my thumb between my eyes.
“Yeah. From what I’ve heard, we have a younger half-brother and a half-sister too. Unsubstantiated, of course. Dad isn’t exactly forthcoming on the subject, and the internet coughs up only so much, so I hired a PI.”
I didn’t say anything. My mind was so full of Ally that I couldn’t focus on anything else.
If she missed work, she must’ve gone to New York to scope out schools. There was no other explanation. If she was truly sick, she would’ve been home with Sage. She didn’t have any other friends in town she’d stay with. Nor did her budget extend to spur-of-the-moment vacations.
“I did drive her away. Somehow.” I braced my elbow on the desk and raked a hand through my hair. “I don’t know how to do this. Every time I think we’re getting somewhere, we lose even more ground.”
“Hamilton men are meant to walk single file.”
Normally, I laughed off Oliver’s certainty in that direction. For a long time, I’d been half convinced of the very same thing.
