Page 10 of A Secret Baby for Christmas
“Why did you think I’d reject you?” I’m horrified she thought that of me.
Chloe rolls her eyes as if the answer is obvious. “Come on, Mr. Porter. You’re Allie’s dad. You’re twice my age. We shouldn’t have done what we did.”
She’s right. All those things are true. We shouldn’t have but we did, and I don’t regret a thing.
“But when I messaged you, I thought I made it clear it wasn’t a one night thing for me, Chloe.”
Her grandma got sick in France, and she went to spend time with her family there. We had a long distance text thing going on, and I thought we were slowly building a relationship until the messages stopped.
She looks down and fiddles with her nursing top, tucking the straps into place.
“I was in France already when I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t know what to do. I was nineteen and surrounded by family, but I’ve never felt so alone.”
I take her hands in mine and turn to her on the couch. “You should have told me. You didn’t need to be alone. I would have come straight over there to bring you back.”
She nods. “I know you would have. But I didn’t want to leave my grand-mére. I knew she was dying, and I wanted to be with her for the last months of her life.”
That makes sense. Chloe was always close to the old lady.
“And I felt stupid. Like a silly girl getting pregnant off a fling. I was pretty sure that you didn’t want to be saddled with another baby at your age.”
I raise my eyebrows, and she adds hastily. “I mean, not that you’re old. Just that your little girl has just grown up. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to go through all that again.”
I tilt her chin so she’s looking up at me.
“Don’t presume to know what I want.”
If she’d told me I would have been there, no question. She’s what I want and Hugo too.
“Then the pregnancy started to show…” Her brow furrows, and she looks away. “You can imagine what my dad was like when he found out.”
I remember Chloe as a twelve-year-old girl sitting on my doorstep, shivering in the rain with welts on her body. Anger flares through me, and I clench my fists.
“Did he hurt you?”
I don’t give a shit that her father is the highest profile attorney in the state. If he hurt her, I will hunt him down and I will slit his throat.
She shakes her head.
“No. He hasn’t laid a finger on me since you threatened him the first time. But he took my passport. He wanted me to have the baby quietly in France and adopt it out. He didn’t want me to come back and bring shame on the family.”
She says it bitterly, and all the hurt she’s been holding inside comes out in her expression. I drop to my knees and take her hands.
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry you went through that alone.” I’ll kill her father if I ever get my hands on him for hurting her this way.
“A single teenage mom isn’t the kind of image that Papa wanted for the family.”
I hate that she went through all this alone and that she felt she couldn’t come to me. But she’s here now, and there’s a chance to make it right. But I have to make sure it’s what she wants.
“Why did you come back, Chloe?”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide and shining with unshed tears.
“Because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
My heart soars at her words, and I pull her close to me.
“I tried to forget you. I thought I could do it alone. But I had to come back. I refused to give up the baby, and Maman backed me up. She found my passport and helped me book the flights while Papa was back here for business. I told her it was for Allie’s wedding, which was half the truth. But I needed to see you. I didn’t know what you’d do, but I needed to see you.”
