“I asked her if she was sure it was mine, and she walked out.”
Mason slaps his hand over his heart. “Ouch!”
“Will you stop?” I snap. “You’re supposed to be making me feel better.”
He pours me another Scotch and hands it over with a wink. “I am.”
Elijah holds up his glass too. Mason refills it along with his own, then he holds it up. “To the first of the next generation, bro.”
Elijah lifts his glass in a toast. “Congratulations.”
I down my whisky, savoring the burn of the liquid in my throat.
Elijah wraps an arm around my shoulders. “She’ll come around.”
I sure fucking hope so.
Sitting in the back of my car on the way home from the office, I dial Mel. Like she has the past six times I called her, she sends me to voicemail. I curse under my breath and dial a different number.
“Nathan!” Her excited voice fills my ear. At least someone is pleased to hear from me.
“Hey, Jessie.”
“Do you have another job for me?” she asks.
“Yup.”
“Who is that, sweetheart?” Shane, one of her husbands, asks in the background.
“It’s Nathan. He has another job for me.”
I hear Shane’s dark laugh. “Tell him I’m gonna put him on a fucking retainer if he keeps working you like this.”
She giggles. “Did you hear that?”
“I did. And I’m sorry to take up your time, but this is personal, and I don’t trust anyone else with it.”
“Hey, you know I love to keep busy. So hit me.”
I quickly explain that I need to know the details of Melanie’s doctor’s appointments. If Mel refuses to speak to me, I don’t have any other choice.
“Let me get this straight,” Jessie says, her tone showing no hint of the giggling, friendly woman who answered the phone. “You want me to invade your wife’s privacy after you were a complete asshole to her?”
I wince. “I know. But I want to not be an asshole in the future. I promise I’m only going to be there for support, whatever form that takes.”
“What if she doesn’t want anything to do with you? If she did, she would have responded to your calls, right?”
I scrub a hand through my hair. “Jessie,” I groan. “Come on. I know I deserve to suffer, but I promise you she doesn’t want to do this alone. She’s hurt, and that’s on me, but I’m going to be this kid’s dad.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Please?”
She sighs. “Fine. I’ll get you the details of her next appointment, but after that you’re on your own.”
I thank her and end the call, but not before she makes me promise again that I will be less of an ass to my wife in the future.
Chapter
Fifty-Three
MELANIE
“Iwish I was there,” Tyler says. “You shouldn’t go to this thing on your own, baby girl.”
I try to infuse my tone with confidence that I don’t feel. “I’ll be fine.”
“That shithead should be going with you,” he adds with a growl.
I sigh, not wanting to get into a discussion about said shithead right now. He tried to call me a few times after I walked out of his office four days ago, but he can go to hell. If he really wanted to be a part of this, he’d show his face and apologize for being such a giant dick. “I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later and let you know how it goes. Now I gotta go.”
I end the call with Tyler and head out of the apartment building, trying to ignore the churning in my gut and the stream of negative thoughts racing through my head. This time it will be okay. Third time’s a charm, right?
The sun is blinding when I step outside, and I shield my eyes from its glare, which is why I don’t see him until I almost bump into him. He holds out a hand to stop me from colliding with his solid chest.
My heart lurches into my throat, and both relief and anger barrel into me, each fighting for dominance. I choose the latter. It’s easier when dealing with him. “What the hell do you want?”
The arrogant asshole has the gall to gently grab my arm and flash me a smug half smile. “You have a scan today, do you not?”
I shrug out of his grip and glare at him, craning my neck to give him the full extent of my fury. “And what the hell has that got to do with you?”
He winces. “I’m sorry about what I said, Mel. That was a low blow.”
