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He stopped and rubbed at his temple.
“You don’t have to say anything more.”
“It’s not that. Talking about it now, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before, you know?”
“Kind of like me with my ex.”
“Yeah. I saw her and I thought she was a kind and considerate woman. I loved volunteering, helping at the homeless shelter, giving my time to animal shelters. I love helping people, but with Melissa, she always had an excuse, always complained. She hated it when I came home and I’d been helping people. She told me I stunk of despair and that I had to stop. It was bad for us and bad for our image.” He laughed. “Ryan couldn’t stand her. He hated her. He told me she was a gold digger. That she was only after my money, and the moment she was done with me, she’d leave. I didn’t believe him. We fought a lot, and then, I don’t know, I think I started to see what she was like, and then when I was going to end things, she told me she was pregnant.” Caleb took a deep breath. “I … I wanted a family, Annie, and I know what it’s like to have nothing and no one. I’ve got no family, so to me, having one seemed like a damn good thing. I figured that was the problem, Melissa needed a child. She wanted to settle down, and I convinced myself we could make this work together.” He laughed. “Who was I kidding?”
“Did it not work?”
“Oh, it did. For about four months, and then she told me she had aborted the baby. She told me that I was such a vile, horrible, manipulative man, that there was no way she would ever have a baby with me. She turned on me so damn fast.” Caleb looked down at the water. “I believed her. I thought that all this time, I was the problem. Not her. I was convinced that at one point I must have forced myself on her. I hit the drink hard, and … I tried to end my life.” He held up his hands, showing his heavily inked wrists.
“Caleb?”
“It was all a lie. What actually happened was Melissa knew I wanted to end things. She made up the pregnancy as she knew I wanted to have a family. I’d told her many times the future I wanted with her. She knew the high life was coming to an end, so she made up the pregnancy to give herself time. It took her four months to find another man, a richer guy, and then she made up the lies, and that’s what happened.”
“What?”
“Melissa had lied about the pregnancy, lied about the abortion. Ryan found me in the gutter. Or should I say, in the hospital bed. My cleaning staff found me bleeding on the floor, and he’s registered as my next of kin. While I was dealing with everything, he went and did some digging. He found out the truth, every last bit of it. I thought it was a lie, until I went and met Melissa myself, and then I saw the truth all along. She’d been using me to get to a bigger fish.”
“Wow,” Annie said.
“So, Ryan helped me. He helped me get over her. He and Katherine were both there for me. I know it was hard for them when they were pregnant with twins. They were worried about me. I stepped away from the banking business and set up Mr. Nanny. That was what I called it first. Now it’s just The Nanny. I’ve got men and women working for me.”
She wanted to hug him, to hold him.
“I wanted a family,” Annie said. “A big one. My mom always wanted to have a family but after my dad abandoned us, she never trusted anyone. It was hard just living alone with a child. She worked hard for both of us. Being at home alone, waiting for my mom to get back from a double shift, was hard. I spent a lot of time alone.”
“As did I, which is why I came up with my company back when I was a kid.”
“I’m so sorry you went through that.”
Caleb nodded. “Me, too. I think after everything, I just wish she hadn’t painted me as a monster, you know?”
“You’re not a monster, Caleb. You’re a damn good guy.”
“That’s what hurt the most.”
She moved through the water, sitting on his lap, and he grabbed her hips, moving her so that she straddled his waist. “She was wrong about you.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I can tell. You’re too good of a guy to be cruel. You didn’t force yourself on me.”
“I’ve not left.”
She cupped his face and kissed him. “I don’t want you to leave. Do you know how long I’ve been dreading you figuring out I don’t need you?”
