AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘No, he wasn’t,’ Tess said, remembering the easy dismissal when he’d first heard the news.
Eva brushed aside the observation with a flick of her fingers. ‘Fine, but he must have had a change of heart or why would he be offering you a settlement? And getting his lawyers involved?’
‘I told you, I don’t know, especially as I saw him six days ago and told him I wasn’t even pregnant.’
‘You did what?’ Eva looked so shocked, Tess felt the lead football form in her stomach again. If Eva knew what else she’d done that afternoon, she wouldn’t just be shocked, she’d be appalled.
‘Don’t look at me like that.’ She didn’t want to feel guilty. She’d done the right thing. ‘He came to see me to ask about the baby. But I could tell he was only there because he thought he had to be. He doesn’t care about the baby.’ Or me.
The football got bigger, weighing down her stomach like a boulder. She pushed the silly moment of vulnerability away.
Who cared if Nate Graystone had feelings for her? She didn’t need an emotional connection with a man like him.
‘So you told him the baby didn’t exist?’ The concern in Eva’s voice made Tess stiffen.
‘It seemed like the sensible thing to do. I don’t want my baby getting saddled with a father who doesn’t want it, like I did.’
Concern clouded Eva’s eyes. ‘What makes you think your father didn’t want you?’
Tess stood up, determined not to get suckered in by Eva’s sweet-natured attempts to always see the best in people. ‘He kicked me out of the house when I was fifteen, and I had to go live with my aunt. I’d call that pretty conclusive proof.’
‘Oh, Tess, that’s dreadful.’ Eva’s eyes widened with distress. ‘I never knew that. Was that after your mother died?’
‘Yes. Three years after.’
‘That’s terrible. How could he? I’m so sorry.’
Tess nodded, smothering the slither of guilt at Eva’s heartfelt show of sympathy. The truth was her father’s actions hadn’t been entirely unprovoked. She’d gone through a bad patch after her mother’s death. A very bad patch. In fact, she’d made her father’s life hell. But that was hardly an excuse for him to bury himself in work, to close himself in his study for hours on end and virtually ignore her. The truth was the only time he’d shown her any attention was when she’d got into trouble—so she’d got into a lot of trouble.
Tess concentrated on the furious crashing of Carmine’s spoon against the plastic table top and waited for the tug of shame at the way she’d behaved as a teenager to pass. Her current problem had nothing to do with her dad, and the causes of that long-ago dismissal—and everything to do with Nate Graystone.
‘Thanks, Eva, but you don’t have to be sorry. I got over what happened back then years ago.’ Maybe blaming the estrangement entirely on her father seemed a little immature now, but it was how she’d got through it at the time; there was no point in revisiting her actions now. ‘The point is, Nate Graystone didn’t want to know when I first told him about the pregnancy and I’m not convinced that has changed.’
‘But surely the fact that he’s called this meeting at all has to be a positive step. A sign that he wants to be involved?’ Eva murmured. ‘Doesn’t he deserve a second chance?’
‘But I don’t want him to be involved,’ she said forcefully, and tried to ma
ke herself believe it. Wasn’t that why she’d lied to him six days ago? But why didn’t she feel quite so sure about that decision now? And why couldn’t she forget the tender touch of his fingertip on her cheek?
Eva drew in a weighty breath. ‘You should go to this meeting tomorrow, and tell him the truth about the pregnancy. Quite apart from anything else, you could use some financial help.’
‘Yes, but...’ Tess trailed off, her blood pressure plummeting as the real reason Nate had called this meeting suddenly became blindingly obvious. ‘I don’t think I’ll have to tell him. I think he already knows.’
‘Tess, you’ve gone white. What’s the matter?’
‘That’s why he’s got his lawyers involved. He’s planning to force me to have an abortion.’
Eva gasped. ‘That’s hideous. Don’t say that.’ But the shock and outrage in her voice did nothing to dislodge Tess’s suspicions.
Unless you were as sweet and optimistic as Eva, what other explanation could there be? She had to be a realist if she was going to survive.
The way she’d survived once before when her father had driven her to live with her mother’s sister and told her she could only come back when she learned to behave herself.
She’d cried and pleaded with him all the way, but he’d refused to budge on the matter, his voice weary but firm.
It had taken months of tears and tantrums, but eventually she’d got her act together and turned her life around, enrolling in a new school and making a fresh start. And the loss of her mother had finally become an old scar instead of a constantly festering wound. But her relationship with her father had remained strained and distant for the rest of his life. She’d never gone back to live with him. And she’d never been able to forgive him for casting her aside.
Funny to think that she’d thought Nate Graystone was as bad as her father—only to discover it was quite possible he was a great deal worse.
