by K. C. Crowne
“I’m making a prenatal visit.”
“Right. I wanted to come over and say hi – and congratulations.”
I put all my mental energy into staying chill and calm, trying to ignore the little fact that Duncan finding out would mean Annie finding out and from then…
“Thanks,” I said. “It was unexpected, but I’m happy all the same.”
“Well, Dr. Price is one of the best OBGYNs in the state. I was actually here trying one more time to offer her and her staff a position at Pitt Medical. But she’s all about the private practice life. Either way, you’re in great hands.”
But there was something else I had to say. Then again, maybe the damage had already been done.
“Don’t tell him.”
“Him?”
There was no way a guy as sharp as Duncan hadn’t realized what was really going on.
“I’m no good at lying. Just don’t tell Gavin – please.”
“I’m just heading out. Want to walk out with me?”
“Sure.”
We left the office in silence, and moments later were in the elevator.
“Things are weird between us right now,” I said, picking up the conversation where we’d left off. “But I’m not telling him anything.”
Duncan nodded thoughtfully. “Listen, you’re the mother-to-be – whatever you want to do is your call. Not here to pass judgement or tell you what you need to do.”
“And I’m not expecting you to keep this from Annie.”
“I appreciate that. But don’t worry about any of that. If I can offer some medical advice, all you need to be focusing on is you and the baby. Stay calm and low-stress.”
“That’s what Dr. Price said.”
He smiled. “Like I told you, you’re in good hands here.”
The doors opened and we made our way outside. The air was cold, the sky gray, a few flurries dancing here and there on the wind. A brief pause hung between us as we both tried to figure out what to say.
“Congratulations,” he repeated. “You’re not going to remember what life was like before him – or her.”
“Thanks. And I mean it, Duncan.”
With one more smile he was gone.
I didn’t even get halfway home before the text from Annie arrived, asking if we could meet.
An hour later we were at Rockies Roasters, one of the local coffee shops in town. It was between rushes, so no one but the two of us were there.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked as soon as we were seated in the far back corner, Fleetwood Mac playing on the stereo. “I talked to Duncan and-“
“I’m pregnant and it’s Gavin’s kid.”
She sat up in her chair, regarding me with a searching expression that seemed to say, “how the hell did you get into this mess?”
“Congratulations,” she said. “I mean that.” She smiled, letting me know it wasn’t all serious. “Oh my God, you’re going to be a mom!”
Her warmth infected me, and I smiled back in spite of all that was going on.
“Thanks. I can’t wait – really.”
“Well, we’re going to have plenty of time to talk about all of this. And you know Duncan and I are there for you every step of the way.”
“I know you are. And I appreciate it like crazy.”
“But right now, we need to figure out this whole thing with Gavin.”
“What’s to figure out?” I said the words with breezy confidence, as if it were the simplest matter in the world.
“’What’s to figure out?’ You’re not telling the father of your child that he’s going to be a dad!”
It was shaping up to be a repeat of the conversation with Kenna. Slowly but surely, it was dawning on me that I wasn’t going to be able to get out of this without telling Gavin.
And the idea was overwhelming, enough so that tears formed in my eyes and trickled down my cheeks.
“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head. “After what he did to me, after what he put me through. Not just now, but in high school.”
Annie regarded me with a strange expression.
“What?” I asked.
“You don’t know about high school? About Mariah?”
“What’s to know?”
“Shit. Listen, it’s not my place to tell you this, but Duncan told me and…”
“And what?”
“It was a lie.”
“What? What was a lie?”
“Mariah. Everything that happened with her.”
“You mean they didn’t really get married?”
“No, they got married. But the reason they got married was a lie. She was never pregnant.”
It was as if she’d started speaking in Chinese. I had no idea how to even begin processing it
“Wait, what?” I said dumbly.
Annie drummed her fingers on the table, trying to figure out where to begin.
“Mariah’s a freaking psycho, but you know that. Back when you two were dating, she was insane with jealousy. She wanted Gavin and didn’t care what she had to do to get him. But you were in the way.”
She shook her head.
“Gavin was crazy about you. He loved you so damn much. And Mariah knew this. So, she faked being pregnant, said it was from when she and Gavin had been together before you two had started dating. And Gavin, being the good dude he is, didn’t question it. He stepped up to the plate and married her, like he knew he ought to.”
I had no idea what to say, no idea where to even begin.
“But…why didn’t he tell me?”
“He started asking questions. The timeline didn’t make sense. Then he found out she was lying. I guess she’d been hoping she’d get pregnant for real and he wouldn’t figure out, but deep down she knew Gavin was too smart for that. And that’s when she pulled out her ace in the hole – your dad.”
“My dad?”
She nodded her head. “I don’t know how she found out, but Mariah heard about what your dad did. And when Gavin threatened to expose her lies, she said that unless the whole city wanted to hear about Gia and her murdering father, he’d better shut the fuck up and go along with it. He did it for you.”
I was stunned. Totally and completely stunned.
“He did it…for me?”
“He did it for you. I don’t know what happened in that marriage, but I know he wasn’t happy. He suffered so you wouldn’t.”
More silence on my end.
“I have to talk to him.”
She smiled softly, as if it’d said the exact words she wanted to hear.
“Yes, you do. But here’s the thing – he’s gone.”
“He’s what?”
“He left town a few days ago, went to California.”
“California? What’s he doing there?”
“No clue.”
“He didn’t move for good, did he?”
“No – he told Duncan a couple of weeks. He said that he was going ‘off the grid’ for a while. Meaning no cell phone. You’re going to have to wait for him to get back. But that’ll give you time to mentally prepare.”
“I don’t know what to say about any of this.”
“Don’t say anything. Take the time to think about. And don’t forget you’ve got something more important to worry about.”
She glanced down at my belly, a big smile breaking out across her face as she got up to run over and hug me.
“Congrats! I know you’re going to be an amazing mom.”
I hugged her back, feeling so lucky I had friends like her.
But it wasn’t over yet. I’d be seeing Gavin again soon.
I had to be ready.
Gavin
There was something about California – no question about it. A couple of weeks on the beaches of Santa Monica, buzzed most of the time, the sun on my face. It’d been unseasonably warm for January, enough to make me consider spending the winter there, far away from the slate gray skies of Colorado. Shit, a man could live a good life over in
California.
Every now and then I imagined packing my life up, giving my house to my mom, and heading over to the coast for good. I could sell my clinic to Duncan like he’d always wanted, start a little private practice near the shore, close enough to smell the salt on the breeze when the windows were open, and spend my days getting paid primo dollars to help rich retirees and with their bum knees.
The idea had its appeal, that was for damn sure. But there was one problem – I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Typically, women were an important part of any vacation. You have some good local food, see some local sights, and hook up with a local girl. That would’ve been that plan when I was younger, that is. Women were throwing themselves at me in LA, but they might as well have not existed.
Gia was the only one I wanted. But she’d made it clear as she could that she was done with me.
But I wasn’t deterred. When the plane touched down in Denver, I felt a determination like I’d never known before. I wanted to give it one last shot, one more try to see if I could get her to give me another chance.
I’d sent an email to Duncan the day before I’d come back, planning a dinner with him and Annie. But the moment I had my cell phone service turned back on once back in Denver, my phone lit up with a text from him.
We can do dinner another night. Go see Gia.
If there had been any doubt in my mind what I wanted to do, what I needed to do, that dispelled it.
I drove toward her place, stopping at a local florist once back in Nickle Creek and grabbing a dozen roses. Sure, I was risking looking like an idiot getting rejected with a bunch of roses in my hands, but the potential of a little humiliation was a small price to pay for a chance to be with her again.
Pulling up to her apartment was enough to make my gut tense, to make all the stress my trip had washed away return. There weren’t many things that scared me but sitting in my car knowing I was only a hundred feet away from the woman I loved more than anyone brought me pretty damn close.
I was ready. Good news or no, I knew what I had to do.
Roses in hand, I stepped out of my car and into the bracing cold air, the collar of the coat I hadn’t worn for weeks pulled up around my neck. Duncan’s text had given me hope, but I knew there was a damn good chance that ten minutes from now I’d be walking back to my car, flowers in my hand and rejection stinging my heart.
Only one way to find out.
I stepped up to her door, took a deep breath, and knocked.
What if she ignored me? What if she looked through the peephole, saw it was me, and this time didn’t even give me a response?
But right as I raised my hand for another knock, the lock clicked inside, and the door opened.
The woman on the other side…was not Gia.
“Hey, Doc,” she said with a smile.
It took me a second to recognize her as Gia’s assistant.
“Kenna,” I said, her name coming back to mind. “Good to see you.”
“Same to you.” Her eyes flicked down to the roses in my hand. “Those for me?”
“Well, that depends on if you’re going to tell Gia that I’m here to see her.” I lifted one of the roses out by the stem, waggling my eyebrows in a joking way.
She laughed, reaching over and taking the rose. “Your bribe has been considered and accepted. Come on in.”
She stepped aside and gestured for me to come in, giving the rose a quick drag under her nose as she took a sniff.
I stepped into the living room, Kenna shutting the door behind me. The place full of binders and papers and pens and all sorts of other work material scattered around, two silver MacBook’s open on the table in front of the window.
Gia wasn’t in the room but knowing she had only just been there was a relief like none other. Not to mention I’d been almost positive I’d never be allowed in her apartment again.
“Let me get those in water.” Kenna took the flowers from my hand and carried them over to the kitchen.
“Someone’s on the ball,” I said.
“That’s what being a good assistant’s all about. Though, after our little New Year’s event, I’m starting to think I might be in for a promotion.”
“How did that go?” I asked, genuinely curious.
She turned on her heels, a big smile on her face. “Like a freaking dream. You’re now looking at Second Chance’s official event coordinators.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, excitement welling up in me.
“Serious. They were so happy with our work that they put us on a contract. Whatever events they throw, big or small, we’re handling them.”
“That’s fucking awesome.”
“Glad you think so. What you’re looking at here all spread around is Gia and I trying to get the events scheduled for the rest of the winter.”
“I’m sure you guys are going to kick ass.
“That’s what I’m thinking, too.” She poured some water from the sink into a nearby glass vase, dropping the flowers in and spreading them open when they were arranged.
“Whoa,” I said, admiring her work. “Those look great.”
She smiled broadly, pleased with her work. “In another life I was an assistant manager at a flower shop in Chicago.”
Kenna set the flowers in the center of the worktable, stepping back and admiring them.
“So,” I said. “As nice as it is to see you…”
“Be patient,” Kenna said, one of her eyes squinted as she regarded the flowers, stepping up to them again and making another adjustment. “She’s in the other room. Give her a few minutes. She’s…got some important stuff to say.”
Kenna turned to step out of the room. As she did, she spotted something on the coffee table.
A book.
“Shit!” Before I had a chance to read the title, she lunged and grabbed it, pressing it to her chest and turning away from me. “You didn’t see that!”
“See what?”
Kenna grinned over her shoulder. “Exactly.”
Next, she went down to the end of the hall and knocked, opening the door and sticking her head inside the room.
I was all kinds of nervous, but the fun, Christmas-Eve-as-a-kid sort of nervous. I didn’t want to count my chickens, but I had a good feeling about the conversation ahead.
After Kenna had said whatever she had to Gia, she came back down the hallway, the book no longer in her hands. She grabbed her coat and her hat, putting them on before taking her purse from the table next to the front door.
“See you around, Doc.”
I laughed. “Bye Kenna.”
Kenna winked as she opened the door and left.
I was alone.
But not for long.
The bedroom door opened and there she was.
Gia was dressed in jeans and a comfy-looking Fair Isle sweater and flurry slippers.
And she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
She stepped toward me, and right away I was able to tell that there was something different about her. But I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
Gia entered the living room and I stepped toward her. We stopped in front of one another, neither of us saying a word for a full minute.
“You haven’t kicked me out. That’s a good sign.”
The right corner of her lip curled ever-so slightly.
“Don’t push your luck.”
She stepped over to the kitchen and poured two mugs of hot water, dropping a tea bag into each.
“Since when do you drink tea?”
“Since…” She turned, steaming mugs in hand. “Sit down.”
Gia came over and handed me one of the mugs and we sat at her small table.
“Nice flowers.” She sipped her tea as she regarded them.
“Least I could do.”
She smiled.
“I love you.”
The words blurted out of my mouth
.
Gia froze, the red mug right in front of her mouth. Her eyebrows rose. To say that she was surprised would’ve been the biggest understatement imaginable
“You what?”
“I love you. I love you like I’ve never loved any woman in my life. Hell, I’ve never loved any woman other than you. You were the start of my love, and almost twenty damn years later I still love you. And doing what I did to you back then…it was the worst mistake of my life.”
She nodded, glancing down into her tea.
“I know why you did it. Annie told me everything. She told me about how you married Mariah to protect me, how she tricked you into thinking she was pregnant with your baby.”
“I should’ve told you. But I couldn’t back then, and when we met again, I stupidly assumed too much time had passed, that the damage had been done and forgotten.” Anger boiled inside of me at the stupid kid I’d been before. “I know what I did to you hurt, but it hurt me like hell, too. And all I want is the chance to make it up to you. But it’s your call, Gia. You’ve told me to fuck off, and I understand completely. You tell me to leave again, and I’ll do it. And I’ll stay away for good this time.”
I paused, trying to get a handle on the wild rush of emotions coursing through me.
“But if you give me another chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you.”
She said nothing, regarding me with big, expectant eyes. It was almost as if she had something she wanted to say but didn’t know quite how to put into words. My heart thudded, my nerves working overtime as I waited for a reply.
Slowly, Gia set down her mug of tea. I did the same.
Then she got up and opened her arms, pulling me into a hug.
It was a hug that quickly became something more.
I pulled back, and so did she. We gazed into one another’s eyes, tears pooling in her bottom lids before streaking down her cheeks.
She was so damn beautiful that it almost hurt to look at her.
“I love you, too.”
They were the words I’d been waiting to hear since I first saw her again after all those years.
I took her face into my hands and kissed her.
Gia
Gavin and I had a lot to talk about.