Cory stared at him with a deepening frown as he shook his head. “Whoa. Noah, what are you talking about, man? Tell me what?”
Noah sighed once more. “Earlier that night, when you two came over here for dinner?”
“Yeah?” Cory nodded, giving Noah his full attention.
“Remember when the girls were in the kitchen for so long, while we were out here talking?” Cory silently nodded his head, willing Noah to just spit it out. “Well, I guess while they were in there, Donna confided in Mercy about a few things.”
“What things?”
Noah hesitated, not really knowing how to put it delicately. Finally, he simply blurted it out. “Cory … Donna's pregnant.”
Cory felt as if he had been slapped across the face. His heart rate instantly skyrocketed and he could feel his blood pumping throughout his veins. “What?”
“At least … she was at the time.”
“What do you mean, she was at the time?” he demanded.
“I mean, I don't know if she still is,” Noah answered.
“What!? Noah, what the fuck are you talking about, man?” he said, looking at him in confusion.
“I'm trying to tell you,” he shot back, his voice raised slightly. “Just shut up and listen!”
Cory tried to control his mounting frustration as he looked at his friend with barely contained anger. His muscles tightened and contracted as he gripped the back of the couch, bracing himself for whatever Noah was about to tell him.
“Donna told Mercy that she was about seven weeks pregnant, and that she wasn't sure whether or not she was even going to tell you.”
“No,” Cory practically shouted as he pointed a finger at him. “Donna would not keep something like that from me! She would tell me if we were going to have a baby! Why would she not tell me that?” he yelled. And as the words left his mouth, he thought about how she had kept other information from him in the past, and the constant knot in his gut tightened.
“Because man,” Noah tried to explain. “She was obviously about to bring up the subject of divorce!”
“Donna would never keep a child from me,” he shouted. “That doesn't make any sense!”
“Cory! It does if she wasn't planning on keeping it!”
For the second time during their conversation, Cory felt as though Noah had slapped him. Hard. He stared at him with wild, unseeing eyes, not really comprehending what he was hearing. He shook his head slowly.
“Mercy said Donna told her that if you two couldn't work out your differences and get back together, that she didn't want to raise a baby apart,” Noah told him. “She said she wanted you to be a family. Not co-parents who share custody of their kid.”
“So she was gonna …” Cory let his sentence dangle, finding it too difficult and unbelievable to complete. “No. That doesn't make any sense. Why would she do that?” he asked in bewilderment.
Noah shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know, man,” he said quietly. “I don't even know if she went through with it. I don't know anything more than what I've told you. And if I'm telling you this too late … Cory, I am so, so sorry, man,” he muttered, getting emotional.
“No,” Cory said as he stood abruptly. “No. You have nothing to be sorry for!” He patted Noah's shoulder as he turned quickly and bolted from the room.
He was out of the front door and behind the wheel of his Corvette in under ten seconds flat. Throwing her into gear, he sped down the driveway and out onto the street with abandon. He had to get to her. He wasn't exactly sure where she would have gone after they each left the attorney's office. Her parent's house maybe? Would she go there? Or would she go to their home? Back to the house that they had shared. The house she loved so much. Yes. Maybe she was there. He sped off in the direction of home, not really knowing what he was going to say to her when he found her. He only knew that it was imperative that he did.
He raced through the streets, grateful for the absence of traffic enforcement personnel, and when he finally reached his house, he pulled quickly into their long circular driveway, screeching to a halt in front of the door. He dashed from the car and into the house.
“Donna!” He shouted her name several times as he made his way through the house searching for her. In the bedroom, his eyes darted around the space, quickly ascertaining that she was nowhere to be found. On a hunch, he ventured into their double walk-in closet, and felt his breath hitch in his throat. All of her things were gone. There were empty clothes hangers and vacant shelves everywhere, and only his clothes remained. When had she done this? This was much too big a job for her to have completed since leaving the attorney's office this afternoon. She had to have done this before. Cory hadn't been back to the house since he had left it that night, so he had no idea how long ago she had moved her things out. Was she even still staying here or had she been staying somewhere else?
He turned and walked slowly out of the closet, feeling that familiar sense of abandonment creep over him. He felt so hopeless. As if he had just lost everything that was ever precious to him. And he wondered if his father went through life feeling this way. In a sense, it was a strange thought to have in the middle of his marriage drama, but somehow it made a perfect sort of sense. Was he somehow repeating a history that his own father had lived? Was he doomed to live his life apart from the only woman he would ever love, just like Charles Dutton had done? Was this some sort of Dutton family curse at work?
As he stood despondently in the middle of the bedroom, his eyes suddenly lighted on the table beside the bed. It was the same table where he had found the note from Noah and Mercy when they had returned from their honeymoon just a few months ago. Another note stood in that same spot now. A plain piece of paper with his name written on it in Donna's handwriting. And Cory felt his heart drop into his stomach as he looked at it.
Dreading what it might say, he walked over to the table and picked up the note. Opening it up, he carefully read,
Cory,
When I saw you at the attorney's office today, there was so much I wanted to say to you, but I just couldn't seem to utter a word without tears. And I didn't want to cry in front of you anymore. Plus, you left so quickly, I never got the chance. I don't blame you for getting out of there though. I do understand. But I needed for you to know some things before I go.
I am so sorry that I destroyed your faith in me. I know that I'm to blame for ruining what we had, and if I could go back and fix this somehow, believe me, I would. It breaks my heart knowing that I broke yours. I love you so much. I never wanted to do anything to hurt you. I only hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me someday. My heart bleeds for the family that we'll never have, and the memories that we'll never make together. All the dreams that we'll never share.
You said that you didn't know who I was anymore, and that we were no longer working toward the same dream. I want you to know that you were right. I allowed myself to lose sight of our dream for a while, and I am so sorry. Because the universe showed me that the dream I should have been pursuing was the one I had neglected, and now it's too late. And I will regret that for the rest of my life.
I will love you, always.
Donna
Too late? What did she mean it was too late? Was she talking about the baby? Or did she mean that it was too late for them? Cory didn't know. And he realized in that instant that he didn't care. It didn't matter to him if it was too late for this baby or not. Or if she had already terminated the pregnancy or not. The only thing that mattered was her. The note said that she still loved him. That she would always love him. So maybe there was still hope for them! Maybe they could still find a way to salvage the wreckage, to pick up the pieces of their broken marriage and try again. He had to find her!
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed her number but the call went straight to voicemail, indicating that she had turned her phone off. Convinced that she was probably at her parents' house, he dialed his mother-in-law and waited anxiously for her to an
swer the phone.
“Cory?” came her familiar voice. And he could hear the surprise in it.
“Cindy! I'm trying to reach Donna but her phone goes straight to voicemail,” he said, getting right to the point. “Please tell me that she's there with you?”
“No, Cory. I'm sorry. Donna's not here. You just missed her,” she said sadly.
He sighed heavily, feeling his heart crash into his ribs. “Cindy, please. Where did she go?”
“Oh, Cory. She's so upset right now. I'm not sure another confrontation would be good for her,” she said apologetically. “I'm sorry, but I think you two should just walk away now. Let it be over.”
“I can't let it be over, Cindy, I love her!” Cory nearly shouted into the phone. “I don't want this divorce. I never did! I just want my wife back. Please! Please tell me where she is,” he begged her. “Please, Cindy. If there's a chance that we make this right again, please help me! I love her.”
“Oh, Cory,” she sighed. “She's at the airport. She's chartered a plane to take her back to Toronto to finish filming. But you'll have to hurry. She's got a big head start on you.”
“Thank you!”
Stuffing his phone and the note into his pocket, he ran through the house and out the front door. Climbing back into his Corvette Stingray, he took off like a rocket, screeching out of the long driveway and onto the street like a bat out of hell. He raced through the streets toward the freeway, zigzagging in and out of traffic like he were on the Le Mans circuit. Normally, he never drove in such a devil-may-care fashion, but this was an emergency, and the Stingray didn't let him down.
He was desperate to get to Donna and tell her that he loved her. He had said as much as he left out of that lawyer's office earlier in the day, but now that he had read her note, he felt hopeful. For the first time in days he felt hope again. He knew in his heart that there was still a chance for them. Now he just had to find her and make her believe it too.
He knew that she would be at the airport in Van Nuys that catered to private chartered aircraft, not LAX, and when he screeched into the parking lot he could feel the adrenalin pumping throughout his entire body. He leaped out of his car and sprinted toward the building, his eyes scanning rapidly as he headed straight for the VIP lounge, praying that he hadn't missed her.
The airport was busy, as usual, and he saw more than a few famous faces as he rushed through the fray, pushing his way through the crowds. He spotted Ron first, her trusted bodyguard. And Cory had never been so happy to see the big mountain of a man before in his life. Self-consciously running a hand over his spiked, disheveled hair, he suddenly wished he had taken the time to think about his appearance for a moment before he left the house. But that couldn't be helped now. His heart pounded out a rhythm wicked enough to give anything Buzzy could come up with a run for its money, and Cory wondered if it were trying to escape his chest as he neared her.
She was seated off to the side in a fairly empty area of the lounge, sitting in a chair looking down at something she held in her hands. And her pretty, light green eyes were hidden behind her dark sunglasses. As Cory got closer, he could see that the thing in her hands was a photograph of something. But she also held a tissue, and she dabbed at her eyes as he approached.
“Donna,” he said softly.
She looked startled when she noticed him, and her hands worked to conceal the image in her hands. “Cory! What are you doing here?”
“I came to find you,” he answered quietly. “I had to. I read your note.”
“Oh. I didn't mean for you to chase after me,” she said, her voice soft and quivering. “I didn't expect you to find it for a few days. I thought you'd stay away.”
“I went there to find you,” he said, looking down at her. “Can we talk, Donna?”
“Why were you looking for me?” she asked, slowly removing her sunglasses and looking up at him with red, puffy eyes. Ron stood up and discretely moved a few feet away to give them some privacy, and Cory moved over to the seat the bodyguard vacated. Sitting down next to her, he looked into her eyes with no clue of what to say or how to say it.
Donna stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to say … something. Anything. Whatever he had come here to say. But he just sat there, looking at her. And she got the feeling that he was trying to memorize her or something.
“Cory?”
“Yeah. I'm sorry, I … I just don't know where to begin. In your note … you … you said that the universe had shown you the dream you should have been pursuing, but that it was too late. Were you talking about the baby, Donna?” he asked quietly.
Donna's face grew hot and her heart started to pound. She looked away, focusing on her hands as the tears began to fall once more. “How do you know about that?” she whispered.
“How is not important,” he said as his own eyes grew moist. “Is that what you meant in your note?”
Silently, she nodded her head, still unable to look at him. And she braced herself for his anger. For the fury she knew was about to spring forth from him. But he was silent for a long time, and when she finally got up the courage to glance over at him, he was wiping the dampness from his face with his hands.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I am so sorry, baby.”
Donna broke down at his words, sobbing uncontrollably. She covered her face with her hands as she cried, and the muffled sound of Cory crying with her made her heart break even more. She felt his hand on her back, pulling her gently to him, and she allowed him to fold her into his arms. They cried together for several seconds, until finally she began to pull away. She looked up at him shaking her head slightly.
“Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one who should be apologizing.”
“I'm apologizing because you should never have had to go through something like that alone,” he answered, looking into her eyes. “You should never have had to go through it at all!”
“But, Cory …”
“I'm sorry, Donna! I'm sorry for everything,” he said, his words coming out in a rush. “I should have been a better husband to you! I should have been more supportive of your dreams! I should have listened to you more. To what you wanted. What you needed. I don't know what I was so afraid of! But I'm sorry. I am so sorry!”
“Cory, it wasn't you. It was all me!”
“No! That's not true, baby,” he told her, reaching up to caress her face. “It wasn't all you, it was me too! Can you forgive me?”
Donna couldn't believe what he was asking. “I don't have anything to forgive you for! Can you forgive me?”
Cory smiled at her, taking her face in both of his hands. “I already have, baby! I'm so sorry, Donna!”
He hugged her tightly then, and they held onto one another for the longest time. Cory wasn't certain where they went from here, but at least it was a start. He let go of her and looked into her eyes. He needed to ask her a question but he didn't want to upset her again.
“Donna? I have to know … why didn't you tell me about the baby?” he asked quietly, searching her eyes.
“Because I knew you would never walk away from a baby,” she explained tearfully. “And I didn't want that to be the only reason you stayed. I didn't want us to use the baby to try to fix us. That would never have worked. And if we truly wanted different things … I just didn't want to trap you, Cory.”
“Baby, you should know by now that I want to be trapped by you! I love you, Donna. I always have. I always will!”
“What are you saying?”
He caressed her face once more as he stared intensely into her eyes. “I'm saying that I don't want this divorce! I never did. I love you and I want to stay married to you. Whether we ever have a baby or not … I love you, Donna! You are my life, okay? And I want my life back!”
Donna was speechless as she listened to his passionate plea. And the tears began anew as she watched him leave his seat beside her and get down on one knee. He took her hands in his as he held her shocked gaze with his eyes.
Donna was on her knees in an instant, her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders as he held her close.
“Is that a yes?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes! Yes, yes!” The words came in a stream of laughter and tears, and the airport lounge erupted with applause. He kissed her deeply. And he was vaguely aware of Ron asking a couple of passers by to put away their cellphone cameras and respect their privacy. An airport worker suddenly appeared beside them with two glasses of champagne.
“None for me, thank you,” Donna said, laughing through her tears. “Unless you have sparkling cider. I'm pregnant.”
Cory looked at her in wonder. “What did you say?”
She smiled at him as he continued to hold her. Then she turned suddenly and picked up the picture that had fallen to the floor when she dropped to her knees, and handed it to him. “I couldn't go through with it,” she told him. “I'm still pregnant.”
It was Cory's turn to be speechless as he held the sonogram in his hands. Then he wrapped his arms around her and held her so close he could feel her heart beating. “I love you,” he whispered. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby,” she said softly. “Cory?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Can we get off of the floor?”
He laughed at her question. “Come on,” he said as he stood and helped her up.
“Hey, did you mean what you said about leaving Jagged Ivory?” she asked quietly, watching his reaction closely.
Cory felt the bottom give way as his stomach plummeted inside of him. He regretted his earlier words, but he was prepared to stand by them. “Yes,” he answered softly.
The Essential Jagged Ivory (Jagged Ivory Boxed Set) Page 38
