Chapter 115 116
Honestly, even if she wanted to come over and yell at him some more, he would’ve agreed. He would’ve served refreshments. Anything to see her. Even if it would be painful. He was already hurting more than he could’ve ever imagined.
“Justin, I just need to talk to you, okay? I can’t bring myself to say it over the phone.”
His heart went back to acting as if it didn’t know what sort of speed was advised. Had she decided she could forgive him? Could he really be that lucky? And how long would it last if he was? There was still one indisputable fact—somewhere in the world, a very big shark was circling BenTel, and Justin had dumped the blood into the water. If she lost her dream job because of him, there would be no coming back from that.
“Yes. Of course. I’ll come to you. Are you at the office?”
“Home.”
He frowned. Sherry never missed work. Ever. Had she left her job? Another big blow-up with Adam? Neither of those things made sense. She’d made it clear this was between them. Maybe she really was ready to reconcile. Maybe she felt as he did, that the other things between them, although messy, didn’t usurp feelings.
“I’m leaving right now.”
The entire car ride was a lesson in patience, his curiosity killing him and his hopes refusing to be tempered, however much he wanted them to go away. He couldn’t help it. He hoped she’d reconsidered.
Sherry had left word with the doorman and Justin took the elevator up to her floor, walking double-time down the hall to her apartment.
“Hi,” she said when she opened the door.
The vision of Sherry hit him the way an avalanche throws a mountain of snow down to the foothills. Her cheeks were blanched and her eyes pink and puffy. She’d been crying. Whatever this was, it was bad. He filed into her kitchen, immediately plunged back into the familiar comfort of being with Sherry, the one that made him feel as though he never wanted to be anywhere else, even when she was standing before him with her arms crossed, leaving a barrier between them.
“I don’t want to make this any more of a big deal than it already is,” she said, sniffling. “I’m pregnant and you’re the only person who can be the father.”
“Pregnant?” He remained calm on the outside, but his mind raced so fast he didn’t know which way was up. His brain was a jumble of contradictory thoughts. A baby?
“Yes, Justin. Pregnant.”
Was this some sort of trick? “But I… I thought you were on the pill.”
“I thought the same thing. But I guess they could fail sometimes.”
“Okay. Okay.” He didn't know what to think or say, “You said you didn't want to or weren't ready to have children,”
“I know what I said, Justin. Does it really make that big of a difference?” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe you have superhero sperm. I don’t know. Don’t assume this is my fault. And remember, we were both there. It’s not like I went and did this on my own. We did get a bit careless.”
Superhero sperm. His male ego wasn’t about to argue that point. He started to say something else, to continue the argument, but one thing that had made him successful in business was his ability to accept facts and deal with problems, rather than burying his head in the sand.
A pregnancy—a baby. That was a fact. And he was thrilled about it. He wanted children. He'd told himself he'd never raise his children the way his parents raised him—moving him from boarding school to boarding school, depending on his father’s opinion of whether or not Justin was being challenged enough with his studies. His dad pushed and pushed. There was no other speed and there was no nurturing any skills beyond academic, except for maybe the years he’d been forced to play classical piano when what he’d really wanted to learn was how to play guitar.
His father had given him a mind for business and that was about it. Such was the legacy of Henry Covington—mold your child in your image and tell him hundreds of times that you expect him to stay that way. Justin had done it for the most part. After all, he was exceptional at doing exactly what his father did— making money. He had homes and cars and bank accounts to prove it. But didn’t want to repeat his father’s mistake, and now he had the chance to be a better father. He was having a baby… With the woman he loved.
“Justin? Are you even listening to me? Are you going to say something?” Sherry asked.
He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I never expected that this was what you wanted to tell me. This is just a lot to deal with at one time.”
Sherry's jaw dropped. “This is a lot for you to deal with? Why don’t you ask the person who had to pee on a plastic stick how she’s feeling about all of this?” She wrapped her sweater around her tightly. “I should’ve known better than to think that you would even care about this. You care about money and your pride and your stupid motorcycles and that’s about it. Obviously the man who decided it was perfectly fine to destroy my family wouldn’t care at all about the fact that he was going to be a dad. Everything you said about marriage and wanting children was just part of your plans to get to me and good for you, it worked. Goodbye, Justin. Have a nice life. Don’t make me call the doorman and tell him to come up here.” She whipped around and rushed out of the room.
He chased her down the hall, grabbing her arm just outside her bedroom door. “Sherry, stop.”
She turned, not making eye contact, her chest heaving. “Just let me go, Justin. Just let me go.”
Her words, broken and desperate, gnawed at his heart. How could he let her go? He didn’t want to. He’d spent the last several weeks missing her, desperately. “I’m sorry. Truly.” The words about to roll off his tongue next, the ones about wanting to embrace her, wanting closeness with her just wouldn’t come out. His feelings about Sherry hadn’t changed since the breakup, but being near her was a powerful reminder of how badly losing her had hurt in the first place. “Tell me what I can do.”