AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He crunches into a piece spread with peanut butter and gestures at one of the stools, and I perch on the edge, while he leans on the counter on the other side.
“What are you up to today?” he asks.
“I’m going into work for a few hours,” I admit. “What about you?”
“I’ve got Joanna today. Brandy’s dropping her off soon. I’ll take her to the cinema later, I think. We haven’t been for ages.”
I nod. “How’s it going with Billy?”
“Good! He took her and Joanna to meet his family up in Kaitaia. That went well, apparently. And her folks are made up that he’s an accountant. Very respectable in their eyes.”
“I’ve never understood why they didn’t like you,” I say softly. “I think they’re the only people I’ve ever met who didn’t.”
“Ah, I didn’t get the chance to charm them. They’d already made up their minds about me before we met.” His phone vibrates on the table, and he picks it up and looks at it. “That’s them now,” he says, finishing off the slice of toast as he goes over to buzz them in.
I blink and stare at him. “What? They’re coming here?”
“Yeah. I said, Brandy’s dropping Joanna off.”
“Oh shit.” I get up in a panic. “Hux!”
“What?” he says, laughing.
“It’s early morning. They’re going to know I was here all night.”
“So?”
“But… Joanna…” I flush at the thought that his daughter will know we’ve been sleeping together.
“She knows how I feel about you,” he says, amused. “She’ll be pleased.”
“I… what?”
But he’s going over to the door, and I can only stand there, flustered, as he opens it and smiles to see his daughter run up. “Hey you!”
“Daddy!” She throws her arms around his waist, and he gives her a big squeeze. At that moment, Nymph runs up to them and bounces about, and Joanna squeals and bends to kiss her.
“Nymph!” she says, “what are you doing here?” She looks past him, sees me, and waves. “Hey, Auntie Elizabeth!”
“Hi,” I say, blushing.
They come into the apartment, Brandy following, and her eyebrows rise as she sees me.
“Elizabeth!” She beams at me. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“No, I… um… it was a last minute thing… um…” I know it’s clear I haven’t just turned up as my hair is all ruffled. We look like we’ve just got out of bed.
But she just comes over and gives me a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“Are you staying today?” Joanna says. “We ‘re going to the cinema.”
“No, I’ve got to work,” I tell her, touched when she looks disappointed.
“Want a coffee?” Huxley asks Brandy, and when she nods, he goes through to the kitchen and starts making it.
I listen to Brandy telling us what she’s up to today, while Joanna kneels on the carpet to play with Nymph, and watch Huxley move about the kitchen, completely at ease with the strange situation. I know it’s been a long time since it happened, but it feels so odd to think that they were once together, and that he made her pregnant. I have to fight not to rest my hand on my stomach. I still have another week before I’ll be able to find out whether our time on the yacht has resulted in a baby. I don’t know what’s going to happen if I discover I’m pregnant. Huxley said he’ll wait for me, but will he still be okay with me going to England if I’m pregnant with his baby, or will he expect me to stay?
Most importantly, maybe, what do I want? People always say to follow your gut feeling, but I honestly don’t have one. I’m so muddled and confused, and a baby is only going to make that worse.
