“Is she still in touch with her ex?” his mother asked.
I have no idea. “What are you implying?”
“You said you just arrived today. How long has Reese been there?”
She had left Malibu three days before, but it was a long drive. “Since yesterday.”
“I’m just wondering if she and her ex have seen each other since she arrived in town. That’s all.”
He didn’t like the way his mother was planting all of these suspicions in his mind. “Look, she’s allowed to talk to her ex if she wants to. That doesn’t mean anything. I do know she’s spent time with her mother.”
“How do you know that? Because she told you?” A scoffing sound came across the line. “And you can believe everything she tells you, right?”
Brody thought about everything Reese had told him since he had met her. She had never outright lied to him. Rather, she just hadn’t always told him everything—lying by omission. But he had been guilty of that as well. At least as far as Megan was concerned. Although they had cleared that hurdle.
“What else has she told you she’s been doing?” his mother asked.
Brody thought about Reese’s claims that she had had her blood drawn to see if she was a match with her mother. She had been so excited about it, she couldn’t possibly have been lying. Still, he didn’t want to mention it to his mother. Not when she would cast doubt on it.
“What are you trying to achieve?” Brody asked.
She was quiet for a moment. “I want you to think about your future and who you choose to spend it with. Your choices now will affect your life for a very long time, Brody. I just want you to be happy.”
“What did you and Reese talk about?”
“You’ll have to ask her,” she said.
Because you know I’ll doubt whatever she tells me now, so what would be the point in asking? “I’ll talk to you later, Mom.”
“I love you, son.”
He knew his mother loved him, even though she could be manipulative. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to return the sentiment. “Good-bye.”
They disconnected, and Brody scrubbed his face with his hands. Why does this have to be so freaking complicated?
What he really wanted to do was to talk this over with Reese. Despite the seeds of doubt his mother had planted firmly in his mind, he trusted his heart, and he trusted that he knew Reese’s heart. Better than his mother did. He knew Reese was a good person. A person riddled with self-doubt, but a person who loved him as much as he loved her.
After the way they had said good-bye earlier, he didn’t want to just show up at her RV again, so he decided to call her and ask if she would talk to him. But when he called her cell phone, it went straight to voice mail.
Discouraged, Brody turned the volume up on the TV, ready to lose himself in a mindless program so he wouldn’t have to think about Reese and whether there was a future for them.
Ten
The bright sun woke Reese the next morning. Feeling rested after going to bed early the night before and then sleeping in, she stretched out the kinks in her body. Then the memory of what had happened with Brody the previous night came crashing down on her, and she curled up, wanting to go back to sleep and forget the mess she had made of her life.
Twenty minutes later, when sleep refused to come, she reluctantly climbed out of bed and forced herself to begin getting ready for the day. As she ran a brush through her long hair, she remembered that she had turned her phone off before going to bed. Though not eager to have to deflect any calls from Brody, she wanted to make sure Dr. Bingham could get a hold of her.
Anxious to find out if she was a match for her mother, she turned the phone back on. Once it booted up, she saw a notification that she had a voice mail. Hesitant to listen—what if it was Brody insisting that she let him come over?—her need to know overrode her reticence.
“This is Dr. Bingham’s office for Reese Montgomery,” a woman said. “He asks that you stop by and see him today at your earliest convenience, and he will make a few minutes to chat with you.”
Reese’s heart pounded. He must have gotten the blood test back. Am I a match?
In a hurry to find out, she rushed through the rest of her morning routine, then secured her belongings before starting her RV and heading out of the RV park.
Driving toward the RV park where Reese was staying, Brody was surprised to see her drive right past him. He had tried to call her several times that morning, and though not sure if she was avoiding his calls or not, the fact that his calls had gone straight to voice mail without ringing first told him that her phone was probably turned off.
He hadn’t been able to stand it any longer—he needed to talk to her now—so he had decided to drive over without calling first and take the chance that she would talk to him. But now, as she drove past, he became curious about where she was going.
Is she on her way to see her mother? Or is she leaving town for good?
Terrified it was the latter, he turned his car around and began following her.
This is like Yellowstone all over again.
Frustrated that their relationship had moved back ten steps, he sighed as he continued to follow her. Fifteen minutes later she pulled into the parking lot of a building that was obviously a doctor’s office. Relieved, Brody drove past and pulled into a nearby parking lot to see where she would go next. He hated feeling like a stalker, but he wasn’t willing to take the chance that she would skip town and be lost to him forever.
I’m beginning to hate that RV. It makes it too easy for her to slip away.
Reese walked up to the receptionist at the counter and gave her name.
“Oh yes,” the woman said. “Dr. Bingham said he would make a few minutes to talk to you. Please have a seat and I’ll let you know when he’s free.”
“Thank you.” Reese sat in an empty chair, picked up a magazine from the table, and began thumbing through it.
Half an hour later a nurse called her name, and she followed her into an exam room.
“Dr. Bingham will be with you shortly,” the nurse said before leaving the room.
With a nod, Reese sat in a chair beside the exam table and waited. Last time she had spoken to the doctor, he had told her if she was a match she would need to decide if she was willing to go through with the organ donation before they did any further testing. Now, as she waited to hear the verdict, she knew it was time to decide.
Two knocks sounded on the door before it swung open.
“Good morning, Reese,” Dr. Bingham said, then he sat on a low stool and wheeled it closer to her.
“Good morning.”
“I’m sure you’re anxious to know what the blood test discovered, so I’ll get right to the point.”
Glad he wasn’t going to draw this out, Reese watched his face for a clue as to what he was about to say, but his expression gave nothing away.
“I have two pieces of news for you,” he said. “First, the preliminary tests show that you’re a good match for your mother.”
Not sure if she was happy about this or not, Reese nodded. “Okay. How soon do you need me to decide if I want to move forward with more testing?”
Dr. Bingham smiled, but it seemed uncertain. “That’s the other part of the news.”
Confused, Reese stayed silent.
“The blood test,” he said, “gave me some other information that disqualifies you from donating an organ.”
“Disqualifies me? What do you mean?”
His lips lifted in a small smile. “Reese. You’re pregnant.”
Eleven
A million thoughts flew through her head as she tried to digest what Dr. Bingham was telling her. But her mind refused to accept it. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Yes. There’s no doubt.” When Reese didn’t respond, he said, “I can give you the names of local OB’s if you’d like.”
Reese barely heard him. What am I supposed to do now? Should I tell Brody? This is his child, after all.
But I just broke up with him. He’s probably back in Malibu by now. She shook her head. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
He stood. “All right. If anything…changes, please let me know.”
She looked at him. “Changes? What do you mean?” Then his meaning dawned on her. “You mean, like if I abort this baby?” She pictured a miniature Brody, a tiny baby boy with blue-green eyes, and her hands wrapped around her abdomen. Getting an abortion wasn’t even a consideration. “That’s not going to happen,” she said.
“Of course.” He smiled again. “I wish you well, Reese.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
The doctor left, and a short time later Reese walked out of the exam room, through the waiting room, and out to her RV. In a daze, she climbed inside and got behind the wheel. Though she had planned on visiting her mother after talking to the doctor, everything was different now. Everything had changed.
She turned on the engine, put the RV in gear, and headed back to the RV park.
When Brody saw Reese leaving the doctor’s office, he sat up straight, his gaze riveted to her. She strode right to her RV without looking around at all, and when she pulled out of the parking lot, he followed her.
Eventually she reached the RV park, and he breathed a soft sigh of relief. She’s not leaving town.
Resolved to talk to her and fix what had gone wrong between them, he parked on the street near the entrance to the RV park, and after waiting a few minutes to give Reese time to get her RV set up, he began walking toward her site.
Slouching on her couch, Reese stared at the wall across from her. What am I going to do? A baby was the furthest thing from my mind.
A knock sounded on her door, snapping her head in that direction. She thought about Brody’s surprise appearance the night before, and somehow she knew it was him.
Panicked at the idea of facing him now that she knew she was carrying his child, she froze.
“Reese?” he called out. “Reese, it’s me. Brody. Please let me talk to you.”
Her eyes widened. It is him.
“I know you’re in there. Please don’t pretend you’re not.”
Shoulders slumping in defeat, Reese knew she had to face him. But that didn’t mean she had to tell him about the baby. Not yet.
She stood and went to the door, then unlocked it and pushed it outward. Brody stood on the ground at the base of the stairs, and when she saw him and the look of love on his face, she was suffused with love for him. But unlike the day before when she had flung herself into his arms, this time she held back, controlling her response to him.
“I thought you’d be back in Malibu by now.” Her voice was soft.
Brody couldn’t pinpoint what the tone of Reese’s voice meant, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she had opened the door to him.
“I couldn’t leave without talking to you again,” he said. Then he glanced behind her at the interior of her RV. “Can I come in?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
Trying not to think about all the doubts his mother had planted in him, he climbed inside the RV and faced Reese. “How are you?”
“Okay.”
“Any word from the doctor?” He knew she had just come from there, and he recognized his question as a kind of a test.
“Yes, as a matter of fact. I just spoke to him.”
She’s not hiding the truth. Good. “And? What did he say?”
She gestured to the couch and they both sat.
With the way she was acting so downcast, Brody suspected what the answer was. “You’re not a match, are you?”
Her eyes widened briefly. “What makes you say that?”
Reading her moods had always been easy for him. Smiling, he reached for her hand, and when she allowed him to take it, he was pleased. “I can tell something’s bothering you. Obviously it’s that you can’t help your mother. Right?”
She glanced at her lap, then met his gaze with a nod. “I really want to help her, but you’re right. I can’t.”
Wanting to make her feel better, he said, “It’s not your fault.”
She flinched slightly at the comment, and Brody wanted nothing more than to drag her against him and make everything okay. But he knew there was more that they had to discuss. Much more.
Twelve
Reese knew it was completely her fault that she couldn’t help her mother. Everything that was wrong in her life was her fault.
If I’d listened to my own warnings when I first met Brody, warnings to not let myself fall for him, everything would be different now. My heart wouldn’t be shattering and I wouldn’t be pregnant. And then I might have been able to save my mother’s life.
“I spoke to my mother,” Brody said, jerking Reese out of her reverie.
“What?” She yanked her hand from his, the mention of his mother reminding her that she shouldn’t be sitting with Brody right now. He should be in Malibu in the safety and security of his family’s love. Not wasting his time with her.
“She wouldn’t tell me what the two of you discussed,” he said. “But I think I have an idea.”
Reese didn’t want to rehash the hurtful truths that Grace Ford had said to her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Gently, he took her hand in his again, and she didn’t resist.
“We have to,” he said. “Obviously she said something that’s affected you. I know you, Reese, and it’s crystal clear to me that something’s going on.”
Knowing she was keeping back a huge secret from him, she found it hard to meet his eyes, but it had been less than an hour since she had learned she was about to become a mother. She needed some time to adjust to the idea before she could tell Brody.
Deciding it would be easier to tackle the conversation with his mother than talk about her pregnancy—who would have thought talking about his mother would be the easier conversation?—she nodded. “Okay, yes. You’re right.”
Surprised she had agreed so readily, he relaxed. “I know my mother, and I know she can be tough. But that doesn’t always make her right.”
Reese nodded. “You said you had an idea of what she said.”
The words his mother had spoken the night before rang in his head. She has their genes, Brody. Do you really want your children to inherit those kinds of genes?
Now, looking at Reese’s lovely face, he couldn’t bring himself to repeat the hurtful words to her. But he had to tell her something. Otherwise he was fairly certain she wouldn’t tell him anything.
“What do you think she said?” Reese asked.
“I think she implied the same thing you said yesterday.”
“Which is?”
“That we’re not right for each other.” Pain shone from her eyes, and he knew he had nailed it. Fury at his mother burned through him. Who the hell does she think she is that she can say anything to Reese about what’s right or wrong for me?
“She’s right,” Reese whispered. “I’m all wrong for you, Brody.”
The sorrow in her voice penetrated his heart in a way that nothing ever had before, and without a second thought, he pulled her against him and cradled her in his arms. “That’s not true,” he murmured in her hair. “You’re perfect for me. Why don’t you see that? You make me want to be a better man.”
Joy suffused Reese as his words, but that joy was tempered with the certainty that even if she let herself believe him and agreed to be with him, his family would never accept her. She wasn’t sure she could live her life knowing that his family looked down on her. How would that translate into the way they treated the child she carried in her womb? Would her baby—Brody’s baby—be rejected by his own grandparents? It would be better for her child to never know them.
“You’re already the best man I know,” she said. And it was true. The only man who came close was her brother.
Brody pulled away and put his hands on both sides of her face. “I love you, Reese. Nothing my mother—or anyone—says wil
l ever change that. Do you understand?”
She gazed into his eyes and thought of the good times they had had, of how he had always been so sweet to her, so loving. He had never done anything but love her. Reluctantly, she nodded, although that didn’t change the truth of what Grace Ford had told her.
“Now,” he said as he took her hands in his, “can we move past my mother and her idiotic opinion, and focus on us?”
“She was right though,” Reese said. “I would be a liability to your future.”
Renewed outrage at his mother coursed through him, and his eyes narrowed. “Is that what she said?”
“Please don’t be angry with her, Brody.”
He couldn’t believe she was defending his mother. “Why would you say that?”
Her lips compressed. “Because she was only speaking the truth.”
With a shake of his head, he said, “She’s wrong, Reese. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
Reese gazed at him a moment, then said, “What if you were trying to put together a business deal and they found out the woman you’re with has a father who’s a…” Her gaze fell to her lap. “A murderer.”
“Look at me,” he demanded, and she met his gaze. “That’s bullcrap, okay? That won’t happen.”
“You don’t know that. How could you know that?”
Secretly glad that she had told him about her father without him asking—see, Mom? It might take her longer than you’d like, but she tells me the truth—he smiled. “I just know.” When she didn’t reply, he said, “Now, what else are you worried about?”
That your family will reject my baby.
Trying not to think about that just yet, Reese decided Brody should know the whole truth of what his mother had done. She had no desire to cause a family rift, but she also thought he should be aware of how much his mother wanted Reese out of his life.
“Your mother offered me money to leave town.”
Searching for Love: The Complete Story Page 31