AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is it the firm? A bad deal? Should I go get Anderson?”
“No, it’s nothing like that…”
“Oh. This is something personal then?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, what?”
“I…I met someone.” Joanna let out a squeal so loud that I had to hold the phone away from my ear.
“Sorry, sorry!” she said, lowering her voice. “I’m just so happy for you! Do you mean to tell me that my big brother is finally going to settle down? No more of the strict businessman bachelor act? Am I finally getting a sister-in-law? Who is she and when do I meet her?”
“Slow down. Trust me, things are not as hunky-dory as you think.”
“Oh…” Joanna said. “What’s the problem then? Have you already broken up with her? I know whatever’s going on must be serious for you to even care enough to mention it to me. Anderson is the only one you usually talk about women with.”
“You aren’t making this any easier for me, sis.”
“I’m sorry. I’m all ears now. Let me have it.”
“Well, like I was saying, I met someone. And…well, at first it just started off as a fling, you know?” I paused and cleared my throat, suddenly realizing how awkward it was to have this kind of conversation with my little sister. Maybe talking to Anderson would have been the better choice after all. But I certainly couldn’t leave Joanna hanging now. Besides, now that she and Anderson were married, telling one of them was essentially the same as telling both of them anyway. “It started off as a fling when I went down to Hullen Prep for the weekend a few months ago. Remember that? Anyway, I met another former student who thought she recognized me but…Well, never mind. Let me get to the point. She came to town to visit me today. Showed up to the office and uhm…I decided to take her out to dinner. But things didn’t go so well at dinner…”
“Okay…” Joanna said. “No big deal. Maybe she just isn’t the one. If it was just a fling, leave it at that and move on. Unless…She’s not stalking you, is she? To come all the way to Chicago, unannounced…That is a bit much. As you know, I’ve been in that situation before.”
I huffed, recalling her abusive ex-boyfriend who had tracked her down after she left him. “Yeah, I know. It’s nothing like that though. She had a very good reason for coming to see me. Initially, I was happy to s
ee her too. Even though our fling had been fleeting, I’d thought about her a lot afterwards…”
“Tobias, you’re stalling. Are you going to tell me what the real issue is here or not?”
I swallowed and took a deep breath. “Joanna, she’s pregnant. With twins. She says they’re mine. She hasn’t been with anyone else since we…Since being with me.”
Joanna gasped and fell silent. “Tobias,” she said, “I don’t know what to say. How do you feel about her? I mean, really?”
“I care about her.”
“Then why isn’t this a happy occasion? You don’t sound happy. Or are you just nervous because she’s having twins?”
“Well, the fact that she’s having twins certainly doesn’t make the situation any easier. But the main issue is the way I reacted when she told me. I know she’s pissed, and I don’t blame her. I didn’t take the news very well, to say the least. She got so upset that she snuck out of the restaurant and left me.”
“Are you ready to be a father?”
“I don’t have a choice. Unless she decides to keep them from me.”
“Okay, let me ask you this. If you could make things better, what would you do?”
“I’d tell her that I’m sorry for how I reacted. And I’d try to…I don’t know…I’d try to be there for her. I want to be a part of my children’s lives, if she lets me. Hell, I’d like to be a part of her life too.”
“Then you already know what to do, Tob. Win her back and let her know that you aren’t the kind of man who walks out on his family.”
I considered Joanna’s advice, knowing she was right, and knowing that ultimately, I really had no other choice but to do exactly what she’d said if I wanted to make things better.
“Thanks, sis.”
“No problem.”
CHAPTER 20
