AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m glad when it’s four and I can go home. The only thing I have to look forward to is Emma. Things have changed between Vanessa and me, in the space of two weeks. From being a real couple and looking forward to eventually being a family to this massive distance between us.
To make it worse, Vanessa has been avoiding me, spending long hours at Lexi’s so that when she comes home, it’s to sleep. When I text her, she takes hours to respond to my messages and sometimes, she doesn’t respond at all.
I’ve gone through everything that has happened between us in the last three weeks, but I can’t think of anything that I did wrong. I’m tired of it and hurt beyond belief but today is the day I get to the bottom of it. I leave work at four and hurry home, hoping that Vanessa will follow her usual routine of coming home before picking up Ivy.
I’m nervous as hell when I turn into my street. I can’t for the life of me figure out what could have gone so terribly wrong. Why has Vanessa changed so much? I hate speculating and prefer to deal with facts. Every time my mind goes down that road, I pull it back to the present.
Vanessa is not home yet. I park my truck and head to the house glad that I have one constant in my life who brings me so much joy. Emma.
“I’m home,” I announce, entering the house.
“We are in the living room,” Fiona calls.
As per my routine, I pop into the downstairs bathroom to wash my hands, then I join Fiona and Emma in the living room. There’s an empty bottle of milk on the table and Fiona is holding her up against her chest, trying to get her to burp. Emma hears my footsteps and turns. She shrieks and her face is split into an adorable toothless grin. For the next hour, my daughter distracts me from thoughts of Vanessa. I bathe and dress her and play with her until dinner time.
While Fiona feeds her, I prepare our dinner. My ears are cocked for the sound of Vanessa’s car. Then I hear the sound of wheels on the driveway and a sheen of sweat forms on my brow. Vanessa is home. I’ll give her ten minutes to settle in and then go to her place. Those ten minutes feel like an hour and as soon as the clock hits half-past six, I head to the cottage.
I’m nervous as hell but I’m determined to get to the bottom of this. I’ve tried not to give in to my worst fear. The irrational one, because I know that there’s no way that Vanessa would agree to go back to that cheating bastard.
I knock and seconds later, the door creaks open and Vanessa stands there looking as if she hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.
She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Hi, Logan.”
She’s clearly on her way out because she’s made up and in a pretty black evening dress. A burning sensation envelops my chest.
“Hey, stranger,” I tell her. “Can I come in?” I say when she doesn’t move away from the door.
I’m expecting to find Ivy in her usual spot but her playpen is empty. “Where’s Ivy?”
“She’s spending the night at Lexi’s,” Vanessa says. “I have a date.”
My heart stops and my jaw drops. “A date? What’s going on, Vanessa? I thought we had something special between us?”
She refuses to meet my gaze and keeps her eyes downcast. “I think things have been moving too fast. I told you that I wasn’t ready for a serious relationship.”
“What? When did you tell me that?”
Who is this woman standing in front of me, spewing things I don’t understand? “We’ve talked about our future, Vanessa and you never said I was moving too fast. I told you I loved you for fuck’s sake. What did you think that meant? That I loved you like a sibling?” I’m pissed off and I’m not capable of playing it cool right now.
She looks at me. “Please, Logan, don’t do this.”
I shake my head. “Do what? Ask the woman I’ve been introducing as my girlfriend how it is that she’s seeing other people.”
“It’s not other people,” she says hotly. “It’s Gabriel.”
That brings a stop to my next words. I stare at her in disbelief. The only thing I can do is raise an eyebrow.
“He’s Ivy’s dad,” she says.
“He’s also married and was married when he got you pregnant,” I point out between clenched teeth.
“It’s too late to dwell on the past,” she says. “I want Ivy to have what you and Emma have. I want her biological dad to be in her life.”
“We both agree on that but what does it have to do with you dating him?”
