Page 15 of Like the Season
Chapter Five
Boyd guided Ella over to the sofa. “Pregnant?”
“Yeah.” Her laugh lacked any hint of mirth. “Barely six weeks. Only guy I’ve slept with in over a year, and it was just the one time, so I know the date exactly. Fucker’s an asshole, too. He was a bad mistake to start with, and I damn sure hadn’t planned on having a baby with him.”
“What happened?”
“Series of really bad decisions.” She tipped her head back, staring at the ceiling. “I…I wasreallyangry before I finally told you the truth that night. I mean, alotof anger. I’d built it up in my head exactly how I was going to respond to anything you said when I told you.” She looked at him. “I knew every comeback I’d use, had everything ready.”
He smiled. “And I screwed it all up because I was a nice guy?”
“Areallydamn nice guy.” Her gaze dropped to her hands. “And as stupid as it sounds, that’s theonepossibility I hadn’t prepared for. That you’d immediately own it—ownme—and want to be a part of my life.”
She sniffled. “I didn’t handle that sudden pressure relief well, as you saw. I flew home the next morning, got drunk that afternoon, called Dr. McDoucherag, and…” She shrugged. “Here we are. I’ve been ignoring my symptoms, thinking it had to be stress or something else, and finally took a pregnancy test.”
“You didn’t even know about that when you’d reached out to me, did you?”
“Nope.”
That actually relieved him, because for a moment he worried maybe that was why she’d contacted him.
“What changed? Why did you reach out?” He’d hesitated to ask before now.
“I went to go see Mom.” Another tearful laugh. “Sorry. I go out to her grave and I sit and talk to her. I was hating myself for sleeping with the jerk, and telling her about you and how you’d reacted, and it finally hit me that all the self-loathing I was feeling since that booty call was tied directly to choosing to wallow in the past, instead of embracing what a great thing this was. All because I’d spent the years since Mom died hating you because of what and who I thought you’d be.”
She looked up into his face again, meeting his gaze, those blue eyes the same shade as his. “She thought you were a great guy. We never had money for her to try to find you. She didn’t have a computer, couldn’t afford one. She was too busy working to try to go to the library and use their computers. I mean, she literally worked all day. I never really wanted to look for you, because after seeing what friends went through with their parents divorcing, I assumed she was only trying to make me feel good. I never pushed her to do it. I thought we didn’t need you anyway. I didn’t want her getting her heart broken when you turned out to be an ass. It was better to just…leave it alone.”
When she leaned against him, it felt…it feltrightto be able to hug her, hold her.
“The offer still stands,” he said. “You can stay with me, or you can take over Caleb’s apartment for now. I know a lot of people in Sarasota. We can arrange you excellent child care, the schools are pretty good—heck, you were meeting people locally, weren’t you? There’s another side to all of them, a vanilla set of Suncoast Society parties, family-friendly events. Please think about it.”
“I promised Mom I’d never leave her.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “When we buried her that day, I swore I’d never leave her. Everyone in her life left her, and I swore I wouldn’t.”
“I don’t think, given the circumstances, that she’d be upset. She’d want me to do what I can for you. We’ve got a nursing shortage in Sarasota.”
“No one is going to want to hire a pregnant nurse.”
“If you won’t move now, think about moving right before the baby’s born. Then you can have our help, find a new job, a new start.”
She stared into his eyes for a long moment. “You mean it, don’t you?”
“I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
“What about Caleb? What will he say?”
“He’s on-board. He’s…not close to his family. I don’t even know the full story yet. It’s his story to tell when he’s ready.”
Her stomach rumbled, making them both laugh. “I still need to get a shower,” she said. “Sorry I didn’t plan this better.”
“You’re fine, seriously. Can I help? Let me cook while you take your shower.”
“That would actually be great, thank you.” She pointed out where stuff was in the kitchen and then left him alone so she could shower and change.
He was tempted to call Caleb back to talk to him while he cooked, but he didn’t want a moment of his attention distracted from Ella if it didn’t need to be.
I’m really sorry, Helen. I never meant for you to deal with this alone. I swear I’m here for her now. I won’t abandon her.
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