Pulled (9 page)

“I mean, I’m scared to death, Daniel.” She
stepped back, resting her hand on her belly. “Our child is
growing inside me, and I have no idea how we’re going to
do this, but I want her.”

I smiled softly at this wonderful creature in front
of me. She was perfect when I met her two years ago, and
she was perfect today.

“Her?” I had to ask.

Melanie shrugged, and a small laugh escaped
her lips. “I think it’s a girl.”

A baby girl. I could only imagine how beautiful
she would be. I had to chuckle when I realized the picture
in my head was a smaller, chubbier version of Melanie.

If I could only be so lucky to have two of them.

We moved to her bedroom, lying on her bed as
we absorbed everything. We talked about all of our fears
and all the excitement building in us. Melanie eased
every fear I had with a simple solution, and I did the same
for her.

We could do this.

Melanie’s face turned serious. “You know my
dad’s going to kill you, right?”

Shit.

Steve.

There was a very good chance he was going to
cause me bodily harm. There were few people as
intimidating as Steve. The guy was at least six foot three
inches and probably weighed two hundred fifty pounds. I
could never tell if he shaved his head or if he was bald,
but either way, the effect was threatening.

“Oh, come on, Melanie. He’s not gonna kill me…

maybe just hurt me a little,” I teased as I pulled her body
on top of mine, holding her close. She felt so good. The
days in between my weekend visits were complete torture.

I woke up missing her and went to bed missing her. There
was never a moment I didn’t want her in my arms.

She kissed me, humming with pleasure as I
pressed myself into her. Five days was much, much too
long.

But that would have to wait, because just then, we
heard Steve’s truck pulling into the driveway.

I groaned as Melanie rolled off me, running into
the bathroom to grab the test and put it in a garbage bag
in her room.

“So, are we going to tell him right now?” I figured
it was probably best to get this over with. Steve didn’t show
his emotions well, and I could see him ignoring my girl for
the next six months just to make her feel bad. But I was
confident he’d have some choice words for me.

“No!” Melanie shrieked at me, panic racing
across her face.

“Melanie, we’re going to have to tell him
sometime. Better sooner than later.”

“Don’t you think we need some time to sort
through all of this and decide exactly what we’re going to
do? I mean, Dad will handle this better if we have a plan in
place and he sees we know what we’re doing.” I saw her
point. We had some major decisions to make.

“What about my family?” I was nervous she
would feel the same way as she felt about her dad, but
things were different with my mom and dad than they were
with Steve. Yeah, they would be disappointed in us, but I
felt certain they’d support us. Even if they didn’t, we were
all too close to hide something like this from them.

“No, of course we’ll tell them. They’d want to
know.” She smiled tentatively and nodded.

Relieved, I brought my lips to hers. “Thank you.”
The kiss was filled with all the love and respect I had for
her. Her lips were sweet, her skin salty with her tears. I
pulled away when I heard Steve open the front door.

“Melanie?”

“Hey, Dad. Be out in a minute.”

She smiled at me, giving me one last chaste
kiss before grabbing my hand and pulling me down the
hall.

“Hey, Dad.” Melanie squirmed, averting her gaze
to her feet as she stood in the middle of her father’s small
kitchen. I’m sure Steve had to know something was up just
by the look on her face, but he was the best at being
oblivious to everything around him. I didn’t know if he
really didn’t notice or if he put a shield around himself so
he didn’t have to deal with anything.

“Hey, Mel.” He looked her way as he reached
into the fridge to grab a beer, snapping it open before
glancing at me and looking away. He’d always hated me,
barely acknowledging my presence anytime I was in his
house. I tried not to let it bother me, but Melanie was
going to be part of my life forever, and I hated that Steve
and I couldn’t be on better terms. Our current situation
wasn’t going to help the relationship between us.

“Hey, Steve.” The least I could do was try.

He grunted at me and turned his attention back
to Melanie.

“Um, Dad, we were just headed over to Daniel’s,
okay?” She looked uncomfortable, fidgeting with the hem
of her shirt. I hated that she was feeling ashamed of
herself when she had no reason to.

“Not too late.” With that statement, he looked in
my direction. It was my responsibility to have her home “at
a decent hour.” I learned a long time ago that meant ten
o’clock. Of course, that never stopped me from sneaking
in the back door later after Steve had gone to bed.

“Okay, bye, Dad.” She waved behind her as I
took her hand.

I helped her into the car and went around to my
side, feeling relieved to be away from Steve’s scrutiny.

I studied her face. “How are you doing?” I didn’t
want her freaking out every time she was around her dad.

She didn’t need to be putting that kind of pressure on
herself and the baby.

“Fine, I guess. That was just...uncomfortable?” It
came out like a question. She sighed, “I guess I just was
worried that Dad could see right through me, like I look
different or something? Standing there in front of him
made me feel like I had ‘I’m pregnant’ written across my
forehead or something.”

“It’ll be okay, baby. I just don’t think we should
wait much longer to tell him. You don’t need to be feeling
that much stress every time you talk to him, okay?” I
reached over and squeezed her hand, encouraging her. “I
think it’ll only make things worse, like we were trying to
hide it from him or something.”

“Well, aren’t we trying to hide it from him?”
Melanie frowned.

“That’s exactly my point, Melanie.” I agreed with
us making some definite plans before we told him, but we
couldn’t let this go on for very long.

“He has a right to know. Yeah, he’s going to be
pissed.” I softened my voice, hoping to soothe her. I knew
Steve could be harsh, and Melanie didn’t want to face that.

“But we’ll get through it. He loves you, and I think if we give
him some time to deal with the shock, he’ll be okay.”
At least I hoped that’s the way he’d react, but I
didn’t want my own fears worrying Melanie more. I mean, I
was eighteen, and, well, Melanie was not. Steve could
have my ass if he wanted to.

There were so many things we needed to talk
about, and I could see those questions and fears swirling
behind her eyes. I couldn’t even think straight when she
looked at me like that. All the rest of this stuff didn’t matter;
we had each other. Everything would work out. It had to.

Closing the distance between us, I kissed her
gently.

“I love you, baby,” I whispered against her lips.

She giggled. “I think you’re going to have to stop
calling me that because I’m not quite sure who you’re
talking to.” She reached down and rubbed her belly as a
huge smile came to her lips.

I chuckled, reaching my hand down to cover
hers. “Yes, I love you too, baby.” It was true. Sure, I’d only
known about “her” for the last two hours, but I did. How
could I not be in love with something that Melanie and I
had created?

My body trembled as al the regrets of my life washed through me, my heart feeling as if it were on the verge of failing. My soul cried out for her. It had never stopped its search for her in nine years, and I could stil feel her cal ing for me.

It was al I had left of her, this connection that could never be broken no matter how much time and space passed between us.

“Melanie, I don’t want to do this without you. It was only supposed to be you.” I dug my fingers into the carpet, praying I could feel her for just one second more. When my body had no more to give, I succumbed to the darkness that blurred the images in my mind.

My head spun as I slowly drifted toward

consciousness. My body was stiff, muscles aching. My eyes fluttered, and flashes of floor and eyelashes were the only things visible as I tried to get oriented to my surroundings. Rays of sunlight filtered in low through the windows, an indication that the sun was just setting. My mind gradual y al owed my body to come back to life.

I brought myself to my hands and knees, trying to gain enough strength to stand. My phone vibrated on the floor beside me, surely the trigger for my arousal.

I looked to the clock on the wal —five-thirty.

“Shit.” I raked my hands over my face, trying to rub the drowsiness away. I had to get moving, or I would be late. Reaching for my phone, I ran my finger over the faceplate to read the message.

Vanessa’s address.

Acid burned in my stomach. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into this mess. How could I be so stupid?

I dragged myself to the shower and turned the water to as hot as I could tolerate, easing my body into the stream. It washed over me, somewhat easing the tension I felt. I breathed in the steam to try to clear my thoughts.

What was I going to do? I was so lost. Having a child had been the single most important thing to me, but that dream had died when she did.

First off, I needed to find out if this was even my baby. I mean, now after five months she tel s me I’m going to be a father? I did not trust her. I never had, and I wasn’t going to start now. But if the child was mine, what then?

Marry Vanessa?

Not a chance in hel .

The thought of living with that bitch put every fiber of my being on defense. There was no way I could do it.

Yeah, it might be the right thing to do, but I was just not that noble or stupid. I would have a responsibility to the child, but not to Vanessa.

After my shower, I dressed, putting on the suit I’d picked up from the cleaners a couple of days before. I ran my hands through my wet hair and cal ed it good.

I grabbed al the information I needed and stuffed the papers into my bag, praying I was organized enough to pul this off after ignoring the work I had planned to do this afternoon.

Locking my apartment, I headed down to the parking garage to my car and typed Vanessa’s address into the navigation system. It was six-twenty—plenty of time to pick her up and stil get to Cushing Gril on time.

I sat for a moment when I pul ed up to the curb in front of her house. She lived in a little duplex in a nice area, nothing upscale, but it had a family feel. At least she’d have a decent place for the child to live.

I rushed up the sidewalk and rang the bel , nervously glancing around me and trying not to focus on our encounter.

Vanessa answered the door just seconds after I rang. I was taken aback as she stepped out, and I could see the obvious bump showing through her dress. In al the shock of the day, it had never registered just how far along she was. In four months, she was having this baby.