As soon as Ashley took the painkillers I brought, I went into the kitchen to make myself some of the tea the girls were drinking. It smelled good, and at that moment, it sounded like it would probably do me good. While I was in there, I sent a text message to Gus. I didn’t want him worrying about me.
I also knew he would immediately think about Maya, and I didn’t want him worrying about her, either. I didn’t know if Quentin had told his father what was going on. I hadn’t specifically asked him not to, but he hadn’t said anything to me about it. I reassured him everything was fine with me, and with Maya, and asked him to let everybody know.
His response came almost instantly, like he had been holding his phone waiting for me to message him. He said he was glad that everything was okay and to keep him in the loop. He wanted to be there to help if there was anything he could do.
When my tea was ready, I went back into the living room and sat down. Ashley was already in the middle of a conversation with Maya, but I was able to catch the last few words.
“It was horrible,” she said.” I had no idea he was going to react like that. I mean, we never talked about having children. It wasn’t something that ever came up in a conversation. We never really talked about anything.”
“I thought the two of you were pretty serious,” Maya said. “You moved in together right after I left.”
Ashley nodded again. “I thought so, too. He really made me feel like I was the most important thing in the world. That he couldn’t wait until it could be just the two of us and we were going to have this amazing life together. But then this happened. And I didn’t even know what to do. Never in a million years would I have thought Marshall would do something like this.”
“I would have,” I said.
Maya shot daggers at me with her eyes. “Not now Greg.”
“Hi, Greg. It’s been a while,” Ashley said. “I’m sorry to show up like this without calling or anything.”
“Look, the reality is, Marshall is a jerk. He always has been,” I said. “It shocked me to hell when I found out that Maya had been in a relationship with him for as long as she was. Back in the day, I knew him to have a short temper and a massive attitude problem. He could be violent and impulsive. I never heard specifically about him hurting anyone, but it’s not something I would immediately put past him.”
Ashley shook her head and dropped her face down into her hands. “I really thought he was going to kill me. I thought he was just going to toss me off the balcony or smash my head into the wall. It was the most terrifying experience of my life.”
“Right,” I said, setting my tea down and looking at Maya. “So, can I kill him now?”
I had held back for far too long. I needed to get it out. I wanted to go to Shelby and throttle the bastard. What he did to Maya was enough. This just pushed everything over the edge. But Maya wasn’t on board with that plan.
“No,” she said. “No, you can’t. That wouldn’t help her at all. It wouldn’t do any good, either. And, frankly, I just don’t have it in me to deal with having to go all the way back there just to bail your ass out of jail.”
“I have nothing,” Ashley said. Her voice sounded as though she had just come to that realization. “I really don’t. I actually told my mother about the baby first. It would be her first grandchild, and I thought she was going to be excited. That was so stupid of me.”
“She was upset?” Maya asked.
“She was beyond furious,” Ashley said. “She was so mad that I was telling her I was pregnant but not married. Right then and there, she told me to leave and not come back. She didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I can’t go home. I have nowhere to go. No job. Nothing. I know it was ridiculous to come here and find you, but it was the only thing I could think of.”
“It wasn’t ridiculous,” Maya said. “We were friends once. And if you needed to escape, Charlotte’s a good place to escape to. Trust me, I know.”
Ashley managed a weak smile. “Marshall found out you were here in Charlotte. He was talking about it every day for a while, like he just couldn’t believe you actually made it without him. It almost felt like he was hoping you were going to come crawling back to him.”
“No,” Maya said. “I don’t think that’s it. But I do think he absolutely wanted me to fail. He didn’t want to think for a second that I could somehow be okay in life without him there to pull me along.”
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” Ashley said. “I needed somebody to talk to, and I just kind of ended up here. But now, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do next.”
Maya looked at me. Our eyes locked on each other over the sobbing woman, and I nodded.
“You don’t need to worry,” Maya said. Ashley scoffed, but Maya leaned so she could look into her face. “Listen to me. You don’t need to worry. Everything is going to be just fine. We are going to figure this out one little bit at a time. And that starts with you knowing you absolutely have somewhere to go. Right here. We have a spare room, and you are more than welcome to crash in it.”
“I can’t put you out like that,” Ashley said. “Not after what I did to you, Maya.”
“You won’t be putting us out,” I said.
“And it’s not forever,” Maya added. “I’m going to call Lindsey. She showed me an apartment behind the bar.”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “You stay with Ashley. Help her get cleaned up.”
I went into the other room and called Lindsey to ask about the apartment. She seemed confused but said it was available. I told her I had a tenant for her and that I would get it set up. She agreed, still sounding befuddled, and I hung up. That night was about making sure Ashley was okay, and then we would focus on actually getting her settled into the apartment.
More than just helping Ashley, that night was about reconnecting with Maya and finding out what was going on. I couldn’t stay away from her anymore. I couldn’t deny my feelings and pretend I didn’t love her with everything I had.
33
Maya
I went into the bedroom and grabbed a pair of stretchy pants and a T-shirt. Bringing them back into the living room, I reached out for Ashley’s hand. I helped her to her feet and brought her into my bathroom.
“Here,” I said, “take a shower. It’ll make you feel so much better. Here’s some fresh clothes for you. There’s all sorts of body wash and exfoliators, everything you can think of. I went a little bit crazy when I found the body products shop in town. And when you’re done, let me know. I’m going to put fresh sheets on the bed in the spare room so you can get some rest. Are you hungry?”
“No,” she said. “I’m fine, really. This is all too much. You’re being way too nice.”
“I’m not being too nice,” I told her. “It’s like you’ve forgotten how close we used to be.”
“I just can’t believe you’re being so kind after what I did to you,” she said.
I shook my head as I put the clothes down on the counter in the bathroom. “You didn’t do anything to me. Marshall did. He’s the one who cheated on me, not you. Maybe your discretion wasn’t the best, but we both know how manipulative he is. Just like you said, he makes you feel like you’re the most important thing in the entire world. Like it’s the two of you against everybody and everything else. Nobody can deny that.”
“I just wish it hadn’t been you,” Ashley said. “You were one of my best friends. And I managed to let him wiggle his way in and ruin all of that. I let him manipulate me into throwing all of that away. I just hate that I was that easily swayed.”
“It’s not like you’re the only one. Besides, I don’t want to talk about him anymore. It’s not about him. This is about you and your baby. I want to make sure that you’re okay. What he put you through is unforgivable. There’s no excuse for him to put his hands on you. Trust me, I know how scary it is to suddenly not know what you’re supposed to do because your life has just completely gone up in flames.”
; “At least you ended up here and much better off,” she said. “Greg is amazing.”
“You ended up here, too,” I said. “And we’re going to make sure that everything works out just fine for you. Hear me?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Thank you. So much.”
I smiled at her and started the shower. “Relax and enjoy. One of the fun perks about this apartment complex is that water is included.” I winked at her, and she laughed. “I’ll be right outside if you need me. You can just call.”
I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind me. As soon as I turned around, Greg was right behind me. I gasped and pressed my hand to the middle of my chest.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m just a little bit on edge. It’s been kind of a rough evening.”
“That’s for sure,” he said. “Can you come into the bedroom with me? I think we need to talk.”
I swallowed hard but nodded. I knew we needed to have this conversation. I just wasn’t completely prepared to have it right then. I was still freaking out about Ashley, and I hadn’t come to a total conclusion about how I was going to handle this talk with Greg. But the time had come, and there was no more putting it off.
I took a deep breath and followed him into the bedroom. He mimicked my breath as we sat down on the bed, and he looked into my eyes. “I’m glad you messaged me today.”
“I’m sorry if I upset you. And that you had to leave work. I didn’t realize you were going to come that fast,” I said.
“There was no way I was going to let you sit around and wait if you were hurting or sick. I just had no idea it was for somebody else.” He hesitated for a second. “I also thought you were telling me you were pregnant.”
And there it was. The big old elephant in the room he didn’t even know was there but had suddenly made its presence known. There was no turning back from this now. I drew in another breath, holding it in my lungs for a few seconds to try to make myself stop shaking.
“I am,” I said.
Greg looked at me with shock in his eyes, like he didn’t know how to respond. He had gone from thinking I was pregnant to thinking I wasn’t, and now he was back to the confirmation that I was. It was a lot to process within a short period of time.
“Is it Marshall’s?” he asked.
That question hit me hard in the chest. It felt like he had reached through my rib cage and was squeezing my heart. Never for an instant did I consider that he might think that. It made me want to cry. I couldn’t even imagine how much it would hurt him to think that. Or how horrible it would be if that was the reality. That made my heart reach out to Ashley even more.
I shook my head. “No. It’s yours. I’ve known for a couple of weeks. I just… it was such a shock. When I found out, I couldn’t really wrap my head all the way around it, and I didn’t know how you were going to react. I needed to figure out how to tell you, but then things got weird between us. You are pulling away, and I didn’t want to make it more complicated by telling you.”
Greg looked at me strangely. “I was pulling away? That’s what you think?”
“Yes,” I said. “When you came back from that race, you were different. It’s like you didn’t want to talk to me. You’ve been strange and distant ever since then. I thought that you had just changed your mind about us, and I was going to have to deal with that.”
“I was strange when I came back from that race because I was waiting for you to tell me you were pregnant,” Greg said.
I blinked at him a few times, trying to process what he just said. “I don’t understand.”
“When I got home from that night, you were asleep. I was really worried about you because you had been feeling so poorly for so long. I didn’t want to wake you up. So, I went to take a shower, and I was trying to be careful, but I ended up kicking the trash can.”
“And you found a pregnancy test,” I said with a sigh, closing my eyes and cringing.
Greg nodded. “A whole bag of them. I had no idea what to think. It was so overwhelming standing in there and looking at all these tests, not having any idea what they meant.”
“And it had been too long since I’d taken them for the results to still be present. So, you wouldn’t have even known what they said.”
“I didn’t,” Greg said. “All I knew is that you had taken a bunch of pregnancy tests. Which, to me, meant you thought you were pregnant. I didn’t want to say anything to you because I wanted to give you the chance to bring it up to me when it was right for you. And then you didn’t. And then you didn’t. And then you still didn’t. And it really started to get to me.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I had to wonder why you weren’t telling me. I figured it had to be something bad, and that you were pulling away from our relationship by not telling me. It was killing me, but I didn’t know what to do. I just kept waiting, but I started worrying that maybe it was Marshall’s baby and that’s why you hadn’t said anything about it.”
I wanted to kick myself. All of this confusion and misunderstandings just because neither one of us had opened up to the other one. I collapsed against him, relieved as hell and just ready to let everything go and put this behind us. I wanted to move forward. He gathered me up into his arms and held me close.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything to you,” I said. “I was just afraid. We’ve never actually had a conversation about what our relationship is. We just kind of fell into it and I was dumb enough to be insecure about it and wonder if we were on the same page. And I couldn’t face telling you I was pregnant and having you only want me to stay because of a baby.”
“I would never do that,” he said.
“In my heart, I know that,” I said. “You’re not that kind of guy. And before you keep feeling guilty, I can completely understand why you would be upset thinking I was pregnant with Marshall’s baby.”
“It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant thought,” he admitted with a short laugh.
“I’m sorry for all of this,” I told him.
He shook his head and a lopsided grin formed on his handsome face. “Me too. And by the way, I’m super excited for this baby.”
“Me too.” I jumped into his arms for another hug. We pulled back and looked into each other’s eyes for a second before he kissed me.
I let out a long breath when our mouths parted. “What are we going to do about Ashley?”
“I feel so bad for her going through all this,” Greg said. “She looks terrified. And those bruises are bad. Unfortunately, I can tell you that if we can see those, there are a whole lot more we can’t see. She needs some help right now.”
“I’m so glad to hear you say that,” I said. “As soon as I saw her, my heart broke for her. I hate that Marshall cheated on me with her. But I would have hated that he cheated on me with anybody. The fact that it was my closest female friend was horrible, but I know how manipulative he is. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done, nobody deserves to be treated the way he treated her. I’m determined to make this better for her. I can’t just leave her hurt like that.”
“No, you can’t,” Greg said. “Neither of us can. Tomorrow, we’ll talk to Lindsey again and figure out how to start getting Ashley on her feet again. You know, maybe this is…”
“This is what?” I asked.
“Maybe this is why I came into that money. It came to me for a reason. With that, we can make sure Ashley is well taken care of until she can figure everything out on her own and take care of our family, too. It’s all going to be okay,” he said.
In that moment, I completely and utterly fell in love with him. I had always loved Greg, but it felt different now. I was completely consumed with my love for him, and I couldn’t imagine spending another moment of my life without him.
34
Greg
Now that we were on the same page about helping Ashley and about
our own relationship, all I wanted to think about was my baby. For that brief amount of time when I thought it was possible she could be pregnant with our child, it was both exciting and terrifying. Being a father wasn’t anything I’d ever thought about, but now that I had absolute confirmation that my little one was growing inside her, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Suddenly, the idea of having a child with Maya was the most natural thing in the world. I had only known about this baby for a few minutes, but already it was real and precious. Never again could I imagine life without my little one.
Wrapping one arm around Maya’s waist, I rested the other hand on her belly and stroked it with my thumb.
“Tell me everything,” I said. “Have you gone to the doctor? What do you know?”
She giggled and pressed her hand over mine. “I don’t know a lot. It’s still really early. But, yes, I did go to the doctor. I missed you so much while I was there.”
“I wish I could have been there,” I said. “What did you find out? Does everything look okay?”
“So far, everything looks really good. There isn’t a whole lot the doctor can tell or see right now because it’s so early, but apparently everything looks good and she has me scheduled for my next appointment in a couple of weeks,” Maya said.
“I will definitely be at that one,” I said. “And every one after that.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said with a laugh. “They aren’t always exciting. It’s not like there’s going to be an ultrasound every appointment or anything. But you can come to as many of them as you want.”
“Deal. When do we get to know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
She laughed again and shook her head in. “It’ll be a while before that. And I’ll do a blood test to find out, or we could wait another couple of months after that and find out with an ultrasound. But I’m not sure I want to know.”
I looked at her with wide eyes. “What do you mean you don’t know if you want to know?”
The Freeman Brothers: A Secret Baby Romance Collection Page 102
