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He turned at her pleading words, but slowly walked backward, increasing the distance between him and the girl he once thought he might be falling in love with.
“Elizabeth, I have Kristen. You need Brady. You wanted this. I’m giving you what you asked for.” He paused briefly holding onto her gaze for a little bit longer, then turned and quickly got into his car and drove out of the parking lot.
Standing there, watching him drive away, she couldn’t stop the tears which fell down her face.
What have you done, Elizabeth?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts, wiped her face roughly, and turned to walk back to the restaurant.
Standing there when she entered the door was Brady. His eyes blazed with anger and jealousy. Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, speechless.
“I take it you and Jacob were a little more than friends.”
“How much did you see?”Guilt filled her. She didn’t want to hurt Brady and went and tried to comfort him.
He pulled away from her touch and put his hands in the air as if touching her would burn his skin. “I saw enough.”
Knowing there was nothing she could say to explain her actions, she lowered her eyes and walked away from him back to the table.
Elizabeth and Brady did not talk on the drive back to her house. Pulling on her road, and into her driveway, she finally broke the silence. “I’m sorry, Brady. I should have told you about my relationship with Jacob. I broke things off with him soon after I found out about the baby.”
Brady didn’t answer until he put his truck in park and turned off the engine. With his hands on the wheel, and staring straight ahead, he asked her the question that was eating at him.
“So, do you still love him?”
Elizabeth looked at Brady. “It doesn’t matter.”
Brady’s eyes went wide, and his brows were furrowed as he quickly snapped his head toward her. He searched her face hoping she would continue. When she didn’t, he did. “It doesn’t matter? Your feelings do matter, Elizabeth. They matter so much.” He gestured with his hands back and forth between them. “This matters.”
He turned away from her to hide the tears that filled his eyes. “You know what, Elizabeth, when you figure out what you want, please let me know.”
He shook his head when she didn’t fill the silence. “You should go.”
Elizabeth sighed and reached for the truck handle. She opened the door and stepped out. “Brady…”
He didn’t look at her but held up a hand to stop her from saying anything else. “Call me when you’re over him, or when the baby’s born.”
Sighing, with desperation, she closed the door, but leaned in the window. “Brady, what can I say to fix things?”
“Seriously, Elizabeth?” He shook his head, his eyes wide in amazement. “I can’t…I just can’t… Again, when you figure things out, let me know. Now step away from the truck.”
She did as he said and watched as the man, she has had feelings for and a relationship with for four years, pulled out of her driveway, back onto the road, and possibly out of her life forever.
Elizabeth, once again, found herself lost in her thoughts, frustrated and angry. Brady really wanted to be involved in the pregnancy and birth. All the fears she had about him and the baby were unfounded.
He also seemed to have feelings for her. They could be a family and raise the baby together. So why was she making this so difficult? Why didn’t she want to be with him? Why couldn’t she just be happy?
But most of all, why couldn’t she stop thinking of Jacob?
Dragging through her morning routine, Elizabeth found that she was having a hard time getting ready for work and her weekly doctor’s appointment. She only had to work this week, then she was getting time off to prepare for the baby’s birth.
“Good morning, Elizabeth. Is Brady meeting us at the doctor’s today?” Mrs. Parks greeted her as Elizabeth entered the kitchen making her way toward the coffee pot. Elizabeth leaned on the counter waiting for the machine to brew her a cup of green tea, her new favorite morning drink.
“He won’t be coming today, Mom. He’s busy.” Elizabeth was hoping to not have to talk about the fact that she hasn’t talked to him since he dropped her off Saturday. She sent him some texts Sunday, and tried to call him, but all her attempts went unanswered.
“Oh, well, that stinks. I know you mentioned that he was wanting to see the ultrasound. Are you going to find out what the sex of the baby is? It would be great to know before he or she gets here.”
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders and felt herself getting irritated with this questioning. “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
