by KB Winters
None of that mattered. All that mattered was that the beautiful, strong, resilient woman sitting in front of me was going to have a child.
My child.
“Wow…” I repeated.
Melissa smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She was wearing it loose and natural, just the way I liked. “Yeah. That’s pretty much been my thoughts too. I actually argued with the lady at the pharmacy when she suggested it.” She blushed at the memory and I chuckled.
“I wish I’d been there to see that,” I said, laughing along with her. “So that explains the no wine and lack of an appetite, I guess?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Once the lady asked, I started thinking back and this is exactly how I felt when I was early on with Jackson. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you right away. I just—”
“Melissa,” I stilled her with a finger to her lips. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m just glad you’re telling me now. That’s all that matters.”
She ducked her head. “Okay.”
I rubbed the back of my neck while I searched for the next thing to say. I couldn’t keep repeating ‘wow’ over and over but it was the only thing in my mind. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it all—at least not enough to come up with something more intelligent to say.
“I also want you to know that I didn’t know it was possible. I wouldn’t have risked it if I thought I could actually get pregnant.” She shook her head in silent disbelief. “It certainly wasn’t my intention.”
“I know that,” I replied, surprised she even felt the need to vocalize it. “And again, you don’t have to apologize.”
Melissa flicked her gaze to the coffee spatter across the table and shifted her weight in my lap. “I understand if you don’t want to be involved…”
“What?” I snapped, shocked by the statement. “Why would you even say that? Think that?”
She dragged her eyes back to mine. “I just mean that this whole situation is a shit show already.”
“It’s not—”
“It is,” she said, her pointed tone leaving no room for argument. “Adding another child, an infant, into the mix is only going to make it more complicated.”
“So, you’d rather do it alone?” I asked, me eyebrow arched. I would never physically shake her, but I needed her to stop thinking I was prepared to ditch her at a moment’s notice. How could she not know that by now? After everything we’d been through together this far? She actually thought I could leave and not be involved in my own child’s life? Let alone hers and Jackson’s?
“No, that’s not what I mean. I just mean that I won’t hold it against you if you need to get back to your life.”
“I just told you that I’m not going anywhere. Why would this change that decision? Why do you keep questioning my motives?”
“I’m not trying to, Chase. I appreciate everything you’ve done and I’ve already told you that you’ve gone above and beyond and I don’t just mean with things between us…” she tapered off.
I reached for her and cupped her cheek. “Melissa what is it going to take to convince you? Tell me what it is and I’ll do it. I’m not Henry. I’m not going to cheat on you or—or play mind games with you. I’m not going to hurt you. But I can’t keep going back and forth on this. We both need to find a way to relax, and I don’t think we’re going to be able to do that with all your questions about my loyalty or intentions. I’m here. For you. For Jackson. And now, for this new baby,” I paused and dropped my gaze to her stomach. It looked the same to me as it always had but now I was stunned into a moment of silence at the thought of a tiny life growing in there.
“Chase, I’m not perfect. We’ve never even talked about this stuff before,” she said quietly. “It was this…this pause—a breath of fresh air from all the burden of everything else. I never meant for this to go on, but now, I can’t imagine what life would be like without you. You fit so perfectly into Jackson’s life—my life—like you’ve been here all along. But I didn’t want to say that and freak you out.”
I chuckled and brushed a finger across her cheek and then cupped the side of her face. “You could never freak me out. I feel the exact same way. I wasn’t looking for this. Wasn’t looking for you—but here you are and I never want to lose you.”
Melissa smiled and turned her mouth to kiss the side of my hand. “I guess we should’ve had this conversation a while ago, huh?”
“I guess so.” I brought her mouth down to mine and kissed her, wishing I could chase away all of her doubts and fears. We’d taken a giant step forward—and were about to jump several more once the baby arrived—but I knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as one short conversation to build her confidence in me—in us.
When we broke apart she curled into a ball on my lap, her toes on the arm of the chair and her head on my chest. I dropped another kiss to her brow and she sighed contentedly. “Can we just push pause? I want to stay like this all day.”
“Me too.”
“Real life is too complicated. I don’t want to adult right now.”
I sighed. “Ain’t that the truth. We have to call Matt back today and let him know what we’re planning to do.”
She sighed again, this time it was a sound of frustration and exhaustion. “I know. But I don’t know what to tell him. It’s impossible for me to figure anything out right now. I know he wants answers, but I don’t have any to give.”
“Do you want to go back to California? Now that you know I’ll be there too?”
“But that means going to court against Henry and his attack dogs. If we win, I’ll be worried about how Henry will retaliate. But then, if we lose…” she paused and sucked in a ragged breath. “If I lose…if I lose Jackson?”
I wished I could promise her it wouldn’t happen, but it was a very real possibility and I refused to lie to her. All I could do was hold on to her as tight as I could and hope that in some small way it helped.
After a while, Melissa left to go be with Jackson when he woke up, and I mopped up the coffee mess and cleared the breakfast dishes from the small table on the front porch. When everything was done, I got a refill in my coffee mug, and wandered down the front steps to get my bare feet in the coarse sand in front of the house. It didn’t take long before Melissa and Jackson joined me and after Melissa convinced her son to eat some breakfast, he took off down the coast on an imaginary adventure involving a gardening trowel and his treasure map from the flea market.
Melissa chased after him and I watched them play along the shore, hanging back deliberately to give them some space. Melissa finally looked back to being herself again and I realized how heavily the news of her pregnancy must have been weighing on her. It was good to watch them together, smiling and laughing like they had in Cabo before everything went to shit.
I hoped I’d gotten through to her and made her see she wasn’t in this alone.
I thought back to the night before and the phone call with Matt. The secret about me and Melissa I’d been keeping from him would need to come to light sooner or later. He was going to be an uncle, after all. I exhaled at the idea. I was going to be a dad. Wow. It certainly hadn’t happened the way I’d expected, but I was thrilled nonetheless. Spending the past month with Jackson had opened my eyes to how rewarding parenthood can be and the idea of having my own family someday had snuck into my thoughts more than once over the last few weeks. I’d even gone so far as to picture what it would be like to start a family with Melissa, though, at the time, I’d written that thought off as a fantasy.
Now, it was my reality. My future.
I shook my head, amazed at how quickly my entire life had flipped upside down. Had it really only been a month ago that Matt called me about the job? I’d been laying by the pool at a beachside hotel, reading a King novel, and chugging a beer. I was unattached, single, and pretty much care free.
One phone call changed my whole life.
And not just mine. It changed Melissa and Jackson’s life too.<
br />
A dark thought crept in amongst the happy daydream of what life might be like once this nightmare was over, and I wondered what Henry would do if he found out that Melissa was pregnant. He’d know it wasn’t his because they hadn’t been intimate in a very long time. He’d had no qualms about murdering her before. Would a baby change that? Or would it make him more determined to have her killed?
I shuddered at the morbid thought. A surge of rage quickly followed and I set my jaw, more determined than ever that Henry O’Keefe would never hurt Melissa again.
Chapter Nine
Chase
“It’s eight o’clock,” I told Melissa before sinking down onto the couch beside her. “We should probably call Matt and let him know what we’re going to do so he can prepare. If we leave tomorrow, it will still take a few days to get back.”
Melissa sighed and laid her head back. “But I still don’t know what I want to do.”
“We can’t stay here, Melissa. I think you know that. At least not forever.” I stroked her hair but she continued staring up at the ceiling. “It’s been a good place to hunker down but we knew this wasn’t someplace we could stay indefinitely.”
“I know. But there has to be somewhere else we can go,” she said, rolling her head over to look at me.
“If that’s what you want,” I said. “But I think you need to consider what Matt said. The longer you stay away, or more accurately, the longer you keep Jackson away from Henry, the worse it makes you look in the eyes of the court. I don’t want you to damage your chances of getting full custody of Jackson.”
“But if the FBI is investigating Henry then we just need to lay low and wait. They have to find something that can stick, right?”
I wished I could agree but I refused to lie to her. “I don’t know, Melissa. I wish I had the answers, but he’s evaded them this long and neither of us knows just what he’s done—or how deep any of this goes.”
She turned her head back and stared up again.
“Let’s call Matt. He’ll give us advice.” I pushed up from the couch and crossed to the kitchen to retrieve my phone from the table. I dialed the number for Matt’s burner phone in slow motion. I didn’t want to force Melissa into making a move, but I trusted Matt’s legal mind and if he thought we needed to return to California then that was probably the best idea.
It was just a matter of how to get Melissa to trust that everything would work out.
On top of that, I knew the small village wouldn’t be able to provide the level of medical care that Melissa needed as she got closer to having our baby. If something happened to her, or our child, I’d never be able to forgive myself.
“Chase?” Matt answered, not on speaker yet.
I glanced out at Melissa and my heart squeezed tight at the way she was running her hand along her stomach. I could almost read her mind and it was heartbreaking.
“Hey, man,” I said before pacing back across the kitchen to look out the large window over the sink. I heaved a sigh. “How are things up there? Any news? Has your PI been able to crack into the investigation?”
Matt sighed and my bubble of hope burst. “I wish I had something. It’s the same as what I told you yesterday. I don’t know what’s going on and if anything, the FBI is closing ranks on the investigation. I’m not sure how to interpret that. They could be getting close to solving it or they might be shifting personnel to other cases because this one is being shelved.”
I pressed my eyes closed. I knew if I was back in LA there was probably nothing I could do either. I didn’t have FBI connections. But for whatever reason, feeling so far removed grated against my nerves, and I wished I could transport myself to the action. I wasn’t used to being so hands off.
“Is Melissa there?” Matt asked.
“Yeah. Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker. We just got Jackson down.”
“We?” Matt repeated, the smile evident in his voice. “You getting all domestic over there?”
I purposely ignored him and went out to the living room. “Here’s Melissa,” I said, clicking the call to speaker.
“Hello Matt,” Melissa said, sitting forward, her elbows braced on her knees. I sat down beside her and she sighed.
“Hello Melissa. I’m sorry to drop this all on you, but I need to know what you want me to do. Have you figured out whether or not you’re coming back?”
Melissa shook her head. “I need more time.”
“I don’t know if I can give you more time,” Matt replied, his patience obviously wearing thin. I had no doubt that he sympathized with us, but his legal brain was taking over, and emotions were secondary. “What can I do to assure you that you’ll be safe? Melissa, I swear to you that I won’t let anything happen to you or Jackson. If Henry gets within three hundred feet of you or the safe house, he will be arrested.”
“Like that’s gonna stop him?” Melissa said, her tone so exhausted and dry that she might as well have been reciting the weather. “He’ll send someone else after me. One of his goons. Or pay off the judge. You don’t—you don’t know Henry. He’s ruthless.”
“What do you want me to do, Melissa? How do you want me to fight this? I can’t put off going into court. I’ll need to appear on your behalf.”
“Tell them the truth! Tell them that I left because I feared for my life and the safety of my son.”
“But we don’t have any proof, Melissa. It’s he said, she said, and in the eyes of the court, Henry will come out squeaky clean. He’s a well-respected business man—” Melissa snorted, “—with ties to the community. He’ll come in with his lawyers and tell the judge his sad story about how he’s concerned and just wants to see his son. He’ll bring up the rehab accusations and—”
“Enough!” Melissa said, shooting to her feet. She covered her face and strode to the front window.
“Chase…” Matt prompted, needing me to step in and help plead his case.
“Sorry, Matt but I agree with Melissa on this one. It’s not safe and I won’t put her or…” I stopped short and glanced at Melissa whose back was still turned. I’d almost let slip the news of her pregnancy “…Jackson in that position.”
Matt continued, his tone tense, “So what’s the plan then? You’ll stay in…well, wherever it is that you guys are…forever?”
“For a little while longer, yes. We’re safe. We have food, shelter, and everything we need to stay here for a while. We have to trust the FBI will turn something up soon.”
“Chase, you can’t know that. What if they never find anything? What if we don’t? Like I said before, my PI can’t get me anything. I don’t know what’s going on. The whole thing is a mess.” He sounded exhausted. I didn’t bother asking when the last time he had a decent meal—one that didn’t come out of a box—or good night’s sleep was. “I’m still trying to talk to people and work to get someone on the inside but it’s slow going. It could be months before the FBI brings charges. That is assuming they find something.”
“How can they not?” Melissa asked, whipping around. “I wish I knew more about it. I feel like I don’t have anything to help because I didn’t pay enough attention, but Henry was up to all kinds of shenanigans! Can’t you find something?”
“I know I sound like a broken record, but we’re trying. The investigation into Stallion Bay is still open last I heard. But none of that matters right now. What matters is fighting this battle and I’ll do what I can, but—”
Melissa glanced at me. “—okay! Can we at least have another couple of weeks? By then maybe they’ll find something. Something to prove he’s an animal.”
Matt sighed. “It’s your call, Melissa.”
Melissa looked at me and nodded. I stood from the couch and went to stand beside her. I looped an arm around her waist and held the phone between us. “All right, Matt. Two weeks. If we think of anything that might help, we’ll get in touch. Have your guys start putting together a plan for a safe house, round the clock security, never less than three armed guard
s on duty, preferably in the city. Nothing too remote. We don’t want to get swarmed—”
“I’ll get it together,” Matt said, cutting me off. “I’ll call if anything happens between now and then.”
“Okay.”
We clicked off the call without saying goodbye, both sides irritated with the other. We all wanted the same thing—and were on the same side—but emotions were high and answers were far from clear cut.
“I can’t even think straight anymore,” Melissa said, collapsing onto the couch. I went to sit beside her, pocketing the phone in my jeans before lowering down. I stroked her hair and she laid her head on my chest. “Is this ever going to end?”
“It will.”
“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” she asked, looking up at me with wide, worried eyes.
“No. I don’t. You’re doing what you think is best for you and Jackson. No one can say that’s the wrong call.”
She snorted. “Your brother certainly seemed to.”
I smiled at her. “Well Matt has flipped the switch over into lawyer mode. He just wants to keep you out of jail.”
“God.” She rubbed her hand over her face. “How did this become my life? I know I’ve asked that a million times but seriously? Kidnapping, hit men, jail time? Those are words that belong in pages of books or up on the big screen. Not words I thought would ever be attached to my name. My life.”
I smoothed my hand over her hair, gathering it all together and tugged it gently to pull her chin up. I captured her lips with mine and kissed her long and slow. She adjusted her body to face me and straddled my lap. The kiss deepened and I pushed past her shirt and ran my hands along the smooth, warm contours of her back.
“Mmm, let’s take this to bed,” I growled into her ear. I was all for couch sex, but I didn’t want to risk Jackson running out in search of Melissa.
“Yes captain,” she said, smiling down at me. She pushed off my lap and spun around. I reached down to flip off the TV as I passed by. I’d left it running, but turned it on to mute once Jackson had gone to bed. The nightly news was playing and providing a flicker of light in the otherwise dark room now that the sun had set.