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“A baby?” Kent whispered. A baby changed everything.
Maeve turned slightly and gazed into his eyes. Right then, everything he’d thought earlier about her aloofness went out the window. They could easily fall in love with each other, share a place together, and raise their family. Kent would make every declaration possible to show Maeve how much he wanted to be with her. He was confident everything would work out for the best.
“I’m so sorry, Kent.”
“Shh, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Maeve shook her head.
“It is. Everything will be fine. We’ll figure it out.”
Maeve cried. “You don’t understand. I’ve been having an affair.”
It took a moment for the words to register, and when they did, Kent sat back in the chair. He opened his mouth to ask the mountain of questions forming, but the words wouldn’t come out. An affair?
Why?
Was he not good enough for her? Had he not shown her how much he enjoyed having her around?
“Wh-what?” he finally croaked out. “What?”
Kent stood and took a step toward the door and then turned to look at Maeve. She was helpless in the hospital bed, bandaged and banged up due to an accident. “The guy in the car with you?”
Maeve nodded. “Let me explain.”
Kent shook his head slowly. “There really isn’t anything to explain, Maeve. I rolled up to an accident today and found my girlfriend with another man. I couldn’t even do my job today because you were in the car, and I thought . . .”
“I’m married, Kent.”
“What?”
“The man . . . oh, God. Where’s Enzo?”
“Who?”
“Enzo. He’s my husband. Where is he?”
Kent’s vision blurred, and the room spun. He gripped the end of her bed and tried to process her words. Kent heard Maeve calling his name, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.
“Please listen.”
“I don’t think I want to,” he said. “I don’t think I can even comprehend what you’re saying right now.”
“When I met you, Enzo and I had separated. We recently started talking, and he asked me to try counseling. I agreed.”
“While sleeping with me? While being my girlfriend?” Kent walked toward the door.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then how was it, Maeve?” He kept his voice low and closed the door. “You had an affair with me without even asking me. You gave me no say in this matter. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“I don’t know, but it’s not the way you’re saying it is. I thought I was heading for a divorce, and I met you, and we had an amazing night together, and then it turned into something more—”
“You mean it turned into an affair. Congratulations. This explains why you wouldn’t move in with me, and why you lied to me the other day about having dinner with your mom. I knew they were out of town, and when you didn’t respond, I didn’t want to believe something was amiss.” Kent turned toward the door just as it opened. He shook his head when he saw one of the RNs he’d worked with before. She closed the door quietly. “You’re pregnant.”
“It’s yours.” Maeve’s voice was quiet.
Kent scoffed and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I don’t really believe you. I want a paternity test. Now. Not later. Not after the baby is born. I don’t want to wait for the next eight months, wondering if I’m going to be a dad or not.” Kent paced. “This is epically shitty, Maeve. All you had to do was be honest from the get-go. Instead, you used me and made me some innocent pawn in your twisted little game. If you want to know about your husband, ask the nurse to call the other hospitals. He’s not here.”
“Kent, wait.”
He paused with his hand on the door. He stared at a pattern on the wood. “I wish you’d just been honest from the start, Maeve. When I started talking to you, all you had to say was that you were separated. There wasn’t a need to lie and get feelings involved. I want a paternity test, Maeve. Don’t make me go to court to get one.” With those last words, he walked out of the room, out of the hospital, and into the pouring rain.
NINE
Kent stood in the parking lot of the hospital, with his face turned upward. He closed his eyes and welcomed the peppering of raindrops coating his skin. He basked in the cold, and only shivered when a gust of wind blew over him. People drove by with their windows down and asked if he was okay. He said nothing. He wasn’t worried someone would go get a security guard because he was still in his uniform. To outsiders, he simply looked like an EMT who needed a moment.
And Kent definitely needed more than a moment.
