AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Trey sent me a bunch of voice messages,” Ember said. “He told me the whole story. I think he’s still a little gun-shy of Selena, but he knew I’d want to know you got caught up in whatever it was between them.”
Clare winced. “He said something that flipped her lid. Actually, I’m pretty proud of her. She faced her grief in a way that didn’t suck her back into the hurt.”
“What did he say?”
Clare grabbed the next onesie and made folding it far more complicated than it needed to be.
“Uh, spill.Now.”
“Did the CIA teach you that interrogation tactic?”
Ember sighed. “Clare.”
Her friend was going to be an excellent mom to teenagers when the time came. Not something that would happen for Clare. Ever. Not after everything. Clare shook her head to dispel the cloud of thoughts. “He might’ve thought she was my daughter.” She swallowed. “So he asked if she was alsohisdaughter.”
Clare grabbed the next item, a blanket, and started folding.
Ember snatched it out of her hand. “I’m sorry,what?” She collapsed onto the couch, narrowly missing the folded clothes. Clare moved them to the coffee table. “You…and Gage Deluca? I mean, he’s cute and all but…”
“We were seventeen.” Clare frowned. “And what do you mean,but? But what? What’s wrong with Gage?” She slumped into the armchair by the couch and tried to brush off what that question meant.
“Seventeen.” There was no judgment in Ember’s gaze.
Neither of them had always done the right thing. Ember was probably the last person in the world who would condemn Clare for a decision she’d made so long ago.
“So did you…give the baby up for adoption?”
Clare swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Gage disappeared after I told him I was pregnant. Both our moms flipped out. He probably couldn’t handle it.”
Ember frowned.
“He didn’t return any of my calls. His mom told me to get lost when I went to their house. I tried a couple more times, but it became clear he wasn’t interested in being involved, and my desperation started to wane.” Clare felt the burn of tears in her eyes. The only reason she wasn’t outright crying was the years between that day and now. “I spent a couple of days in bed, pretty much devastated about the breakup. I had no idea what to do about the baby. My mom dragged me to the cabin. I spent the summer there after…”
“What happened?”
“I miscarried a couple of weeks after I found out I was pregnant.” Clare sniffed. “I guess God knew I couldn’t handle it. He didn’t want me to wreck a baby’s life, so he took the baby away. He, or she, is in heaven. Happier than how it would’ve been with me.”
She ran both hands to her knees and stood. “Anyway—”
“Clare—”
“It’s ancient history now.” She went to the doorway. “Let me know if you need anything, okay? I’ve got stuff to do.”
“You don’t need to run from me. Not with this.”
Fresh tears pricked her eyes. “I just have to deal with him being part of my life. Until this case is done, and then I can sign a contract with the police department and my people can take care of it from there. I’ll go open another branch of Vanguard in Rio, or something.”
She headed for the door and let herself out quietly. All she had to do was guard her heart. Gage stood between her and what she wanted for her company, but Clare didn’t plan to let that stop her from getting her employees the contracts that would level them all up.
She would face it all for the chance to make Vanguard a success.
ELEVEN
Gage dribbled the basketball twice, then passed.
Liam caught it. “We’re really supposed to let Vanguard come up with all our leads?” He passed it back.
Gage shrugged, then bounced the ball and made a jump shot.
