“No.”
“Then what’s on your mind?”
I’m about to get up and go to him when he says, “Tell me again why you don’t want to be a mom.”
I stop. “I’ve told you, I wouldn’t be a good mom.”
“Or is it because you’re on the run from something?”
I frown. “Why would you ask something like that?”
“I had a brother check you out and there’s nothing, Annie. Not since you dropped out of college.”
Blackness creeps around the edge of my vision and the pounding beat of my heart drowns me.
“You snooped on me?”
“You haven’t been exactly forthright with me,” he snaps.
My mouth opens but I don’t know what to say. He’s ruining everything. He’s the gentleman I want him to be, but this is taking it too far. I stand to stall for a few seconds of time, but nothing comes to mind. He’s saying something but I don’t hear a word of it. I sway with dizziness, and he rushes over. I still have a part of him. I haven’t completely lost him.
“Shane, I dropped out of college because it wasn’t for me. I come from money, but I don’t use it. I’m not on the run but I left my family to do my own thing. I’m not who they expect me to be.”
“But not your parents because they died when you were a kid.”
How much did he have his brother dig up on me? “No, not my parents. I’ve been floating around for the last few years and then a few months before I met you, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. When I found out I was pregnant I had to stop treatment.”
“Oh shit,” he mutters and wraps his arms around me. I hold him back and start to relax. He’s not going anywhere. I’m going to get to keep him.
“But you can get treatment once you’ve given birth, right?”
“It doesn’t quite work out like that for me. The type I have is pretty aggressive. Eight months without treatment is a long time. By the time I give birth, it will be too late.”
“So keeping the baby is going to kill you? It was bullshit about you not sticking around cause you thought you’d be a bad mom, it’s cause you’re not gonna be here at all.”
I nod.
“Fuck,” he whispers, pulling me back to his chest. “You should’ve told me.”
“I didn’t want anyone to know.”
He argues, “I’m not just anyone, Annie. We’re in this together.”
“I like the sound of that.” I smile.
I like it a lot and it’s my beginning. He’s finally mine. He fires question after question and while I have no idea what I’m saying, he seems to believe every answer.
Shaking his head, he tells me, “Keep the windows and door shut for the rest of the day.”
“Why?”
“You didn’t see what went down a couple of hours ago?”
Now I shake my head. “No. What happened?”
His laughter is strained. “Leo and Harper set her house on fire.”
“They did what?”
