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Corey nodded, understanding the outfit, and dying to see her do some yoga moves. The way women could move was—not something he should be thinking about.
“We talked now and again on the phone and she never once told me about Amelie. Not once. I was her best friend and she didn’t even tell me. The first time I saw Amelie was when you were holding her in the bar.”
“You don’t have the information I need. That’s what you’re getting at, isn’t it?” Corey felt defeated once again. He had no idea what he’d tell the doctors or what they would do. Could do.
Then he winced when he saw the flash of pain, the hurt rush across her features. He missed the point of what she was trying to say. How she thought she failed her friend, to the point her best friend wouldn’t even tell her she was pregnant.
“I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard. How did you find out about Amelie? When did she finally tell you?”
Genevieve sighed. “She never did. I learned about her death from the manager at the club where she worked. I came home then. Helped her manager clear out Melanie’s things from the place she rented, which wasn’t much to talk about. I’m such a terrible friend, I didn’t even know she lived in such a shitty place. I never even got to say good-bye.”
None of this made sense.
“You seemed pretty damn positive I’d be a terrible father. You know, with my record and my drug history. If Melanie didn’t tell you about Amelie, I find it hard to believe she told you all about me. Especially since I didn’t tell her much about myself. We had sex a few times, and that was that.”
Damn, that sounded harsh, but it slipped out. The more questions that popped up, the more irritated he became. He wanted to bring Melanie back from the dead and ream her out. Scream in her face, tell her how horrible she was for leaving him in such a lurch.
“One of my brothers is a PI. I had him run your name. When I found the birth certificate, I needed to know where to find you.”
“One brother owns a gym. One is a PI. What does the third one do?” Corey asked, curious, yet trying to process the fact she had someone look into him. If her brother got his arrest record, he must’ve found out everything there was to find. How much did Genevieve know about him?
“He manages a restaurant. But you don’t care.” She stood up. “I found the birth certificate in her things. There was more stuff I didn’t look at yet. It’s too hard. You’re welcome to. Maybe you’ll find what you need. For Amelie’s sake.”
Maybe all hope wasn’t lost.
He followed her down the hallway, although she didn’t tell him to. She didn’t tell him to stay put either. When he walked into her bedroom, the bed rumpled as if she had tossed and turned all night, he debated whether this was a good idea. The space was smaller than he anticipated. He should’ve waited in the living room.
Don’t forget Julio, or why you’re here.
He kept his distance as she went to her closet and reached high for a large box sitting on the shelf. Damn, it was hard to look away—so he didn’t. She had an ass that was delicious to stare at. His cock was jumping to attention once again. He sat quickly on her bed, averting his attention, hoping it would go down and disappear.
He couldn’t sleep with her. Nope. No way. It was wrong on so many levels. The main reason being she took his daughter and he would never forgive her for that.
She eyed him for a moment when she saw him sitting on her bed, then dropped the box at his feet. “All of Melanie’s things.”
He popped the lid and tossed it to the ground, staring at all the papers before him. There were a few things underneath the papers, but despite whatever was hiding below, it didn’t matter. The picture before him made him sad. Made him wish he could’ve spoken to Melanie one more time just to say they could’ve raised Amelie together. That they could’ve muddled through parenthood as a team. Of course, after he got over being superbly pissed off at her.
Because the picture before him painted a sad, dreary life of a woman who lost her life too soon. Who was never given the chance, who had never taken a chance to live its full potential.
“I’m sorry for the things I said about you. You’ve had Amelie’s best interest at heart since the moment I met you. I tell myself not to judge without knowing more facts and here I judged you. I’m sorry.”
Corey didn’t look up until Genevieve was halfway down the hallway. Then she was out of his view.
He still wouldn’t forgive her for what she had done.
But the apology was a nice start to the path of forgiveness.
He dug into the box.
* * *
She inhaleda few deep breaths as if she were in a yoga pose to calm herself down. That was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. The first would be finding out her best friend had died and she hadn’t been there for her during the hardest parts of her life. Getting pregnant, giving birth, trying to raise a baby on her own. Genevieve should’ve been there.
For a lot of moments in Melanie’s life the past few years. And she hadn’t been.
She wouldn’t say she had given up on her friend or their friendship, but she hadn’t put as much effort into it as she should’ve. As she had when they were growing up.
But it wasn’t something she could dwell on. Nothing would bring Melanie back, and looking at the past only brought her mood down. The conversation was over with and now life could move on.
