Despite my mood, a genuine laugh left my mouth. “Oh Libby, what am I going to do?”
“You’re just going to take things step-by-step,” she said. “First thing’s first, have you told Anderson?”
I shook my head. “That’s all I can think about. I don’t know what to say.”
“How do you think he’s going to react?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, does he strike you as a family-oriented man? Have you ever heard him talk about wanting kids before?”
“No. No to both of those.”
“Have you ever heard him say that he doesn’t want kids?”
“Well, no…”
“So technically, you’re on neutral ground. That’s a good thing. Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions.”
“I guess I never looked at it that way,” I said after a pause.
“You know there’s only one way to find out then, right?”
I nodded. “I’m going to need time to get to that point though.”
“Take all the time you need,” Libby said after taking a sip of her wine. “And you can stay here for as long as you need.”
“Thanks.”
“I think you should tell him sooner than later though,” Libby said. “Your absence at the office is bound to start raising some eyebrows, especially his.”
“If he asks you about me, please don’t tell him anything,” I said. “I just need some time…”
“Of course,” Libby said, giving me another hug.
“I think I need some more ice cream too,” I said. “You know, since I can’t have any wine.”
Libby laughed.
CHAPTER 25
Joanna
While I knew Libby had a point in suggesting that I should tell Anderson about my pregnancy sooner rather than later, it was far easier said than done. As the days went by, I still couldn’t work up the nerve. His calls remained unanswered, and my resolve continued to waiver.
“Talk to him,” Libby had said to me one day after she’d returned from work. “He asked me about you today, you know. He’s worried. I can tell.”
“I’ll tell him soon,” I’d said, although I had been saying that for several days already.
The next thing I knew, Sunday evening had arrived and I had Libby’s house to myself. Her cousin had come to town, and the two of them were going out to dinner and catch up with each other.
“You’re welcome to join us,” Libby had offered. “It’ll be fun, and it’ll do you some good to get out the house.”
But I’d turned down the offer, not feeling in the mood to socialize. “I think I’m going to do it tonight,” I told her. “I’m going to call Anderson. Maybe invite him over so that we can talk. Is that all right?”
“Yes!” Libby said. “In fact, I’ll even stay out. I can crash at the hotel with my cousin to give you two some privacy.”
“Thanks, Libby. I owe you big time.”
Yet as the evening wore on, the only call I had succeeded in making was to a Chinese restaurant to order some chicken-fried rice and eggrolls.
It’s still early though, I told myself. I’ll wait until the food gets here, and then invite him over to eat.
I sat on the couch, staring at Family Feud reruns and trying to collect my thoughts. Growing antsy, I began to pace the floor, trying desperately to find the right words to say when I called Anderson.
“Anderson, I’m pregnant,” I practice out loud and then shook my head, knowing I couldn’t spring into such a major confession right from the start. I’d have to work my way up to it.
Besides, I knew that when I called, the first thing he’d want to know was why I’d been ignoring him…
I continued pacing the floor, my mind running wild as I envisioned all the possible scenarios that could happen.
Would he be happy to hear from me, or would he be angry? Would he agree to come see me, or would he demand I just told him over the phone, right then and there, what was wrong with me?
Would he be happy about becoming a father, or would he panic and try to worm his way out of it?
Had he talked to Tobias at all since the gala?
The doorbell rang, catching me off guard and making my heart leap to my throat. I let out a long breath. “Goodness, Joanna, get a grip,” I said to myself. I reached for my wallet and headed to the door, my stomach growling despite the ridiculous amount of ice cream that I’d eaten over the past few days.
“How much?” I said, as I opened the door.
I looked up, stopping dead in my tracks. My blood turned cold and my stomach dropped as if the floor beneath my feet had suddenly disappeared.
I wanted to believe that I was dreaming, and this was only a nightmare that I would wake up from at any moment…
But I already knew that wasn’t the case, and that Zander really was standing there in front of me on the porch, sloppy drunk with a bruise across his left cheek. His eyes were glassy with intoxication, but that didn’t prevent him from sneering, proud to have successfully tracked me down.
“Told you I was coming, didn’t I, love?” he said.
Survival instincts finally kicking in, I quickly moved to slam the door in his face. My mind raced with what I needed to do, like lock the door and call the police…
But even in his state of drunkenness, he was able to react quickly enough to grab the door and force his way inside.
“Did you really think you could get away from me?” he spat, painfully grabbing my arms.
I twisted, panicking and trying to free myself from his grasp. I kicked him in the shin with every ounce of strength I could muster, catching him by surprise.
“You bitch!” he yelled, momentarily releasing my arm.
I turned to run, but his hard and heavy footsteps followed closely behind me. A scream got stuck in my throat.
And just as I reached the edge of the steps, he lunged forward me, sending me crashing down. My body exploded in pain as I landed roughly on the steps, right on my stomach. The wind was knocked right out of me.
“What did I tell you about trying to run from me?” Zander bellowed.
CHAPTER 26
Anderson
To say that I was a nervous wreck was probably the understatement of the century. Ever since Tobias had revealed that Joanna had left his house without leaving any indication of her whereabouts, there had been a ball of dread in my stomach, especially since I had learned the full details about her fucking asshole ex. Something just wasn’t right, and Tobias and I both knew it. But with Joanna not answering her phone, returning our calls, or showing up for work, we just had no way of figuring out what was going on.
We had tried in vain to find her, visiting places she had frequented—such as favorite restaurants, bookstores, shopping malls—all to no avail. Tobias had even resorted to calling a few of her friends, but no one had heard anything. It was like she had somehow disappeared right into thin air.
“She’ll turn up,” Tobias had kept saying. “She always does.” But the more he said it, the more it became apparent that his words were solely an attempt to comfort himself.
When we had exhausted all of our ideas of places she could potentially be found, we were forced to throw in the towel.
“Maybe she’ll show up for work this week,” I had offered, but my words were just as hollow as Tobias’. I strongly doubted she would just report to the firm after avoiding everyone for a full week.
“Maybe so,” had Tobias said. But we both knew we were kidding ourselves.
Nevertheless, Monday morning, I had managed to fool myself into believing she might actually turn up and that I would walk into the office to find her stepping off the elevator, wearing a pencil skirt with her curly hair pinned on top of her head, grinning at me and saying, “How’d you fair with the latest set of numbers?”
I woke early, deciding that I wanted to get to the office early, just in case…
When I got to the firm, it was mostly empty, just as I had expecte
d. I headed to the break room to make myself a cup of coffee that I didn’t really want. I took a sip, grimacing at how bitter it tasted because I’d been too distracted with my thoughts to make it properly. But I kept it anyway, and then proceeded to Tobias’s office, hoping with bated breath that he had managed to make contact with Joanna at some point over the weekend. I wanted nothing more than for him to look at me and say, “Oh, I forgot to tell you—she came back Sunday evening. She’s fine. In fact, she’ll be here in a little while.”
But the second I stepped foot into his office, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case judging from his tensed expression. He looked up at me expectantly. “Heard anything?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Nope. Was hoping you had,” I said, staring down into my bitter coffee.
“Shit,” Tobias said, flopping down into the chair behind his desk and staring out the window beside it. The day outside was dark and gloomy, the clouds in the sky threatening thunderstorms even though rain hadn’t been in the forecast.
“Look, I’m not feeling good about this at all,” I said. “Don’t you think it’s time to file a missing persons report? It’s been too long now, hasn’t it?”
Tobias bit his bottom lip. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I’ve thought about it, believe me I have. But I also know how Joanna is. On one hand, I’m worried sick, but on the other, I get the feeling that she’s just holed up somewhere, wanting to be alone and not wanting to answer to anybody. She can get like that sometimes. She has before. If I file a missing persons report and she isn’t in any real danger, she’ll be pissed. And that will just push her farther away. She’ll accuse me of meddling in her business, like always.”
“Okay, fair point. But what if something really is wrong?” I argued. “Better safe than sorry, right? This just isn’t something we should be risking at this point, especially if there’s even the slightest chance that bastard Zander is on the loose.”
Tobias shook his head. “I don’t think Zander is involved. If Zander was the problem, she would have said something. That’s probably the only thing that would make her say something.”
I sighed in exasperation. “So what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and do nothing?”
“I’m thinking about giving it a few more days. And if we don’t hear anything by then, I’ll be ready to go ahead a file a missing persons report. And if it turns out that she’s all right and she gets pissed off at me—then oh well. She shouldn’t have been acting like this. It’ll be partially her own fault.”
I bit my tongue, refraining from saying that a big part of this was really his fault for throwing such a temper tantrum. If he hadn’t reacted so negatively to finding out about us, I had a strong suspicion we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
But I remained quiet, knowing that the time for pointing fingers was long gone.
“So you want to wait a few more days?” I said. I wasn’t sure I could stand waiting that much longer, and was just about to say as much when someone knocked on Tobias’s office door.
Tobias and I exchanged glances, each of us silently asking if the other was expecting anyone. It was early in the morning, and the official working hours hadn’t started yet.
I shrugged my shoulders, letting him know that I hadn’t scheduled a meeting with anyone.
“Come in,” Tobias said, eyeing the door curiously.
It slowly creaked open and Libby poked her head through.
“Hey, Libby. What’s up?” Tobias said.
“Hi, Tobias. Anderson. I…I’m glad you’re both here, actually,” she said, her eyes locking with mine. She stepped all the way inside and closed the door behind her. Her face was pale, and she looked worried.
“What is it?” I asked, alarmed.
“I don’t really know where to start,” she said, “so I guess I’ll just get straight to the point.” She locked eyes with me once again. “Was Joanna with you last night?”
“No…” I said.
“Shit,” Libby shook her head.
Tobias stood from his seat. “Libby, do you know something about Joanna?”
She nodded her head. “She’s been staying with me, actually. She just didn’t want me to say anything to you guys about it. When I last saw her, she told me that she was going to call you.” Libby turned her gaze back to me. “She said she was inviting you over to talk. That was last night.”
I shook my head. “She never called me,” I said, the blood in my veins seeming to turn cold right on the spot.
Libby ran a hand through her hair. “Something’s wrong. I’ve been trying to call Joanna for a few hours now, but she’s not answering. I haven’t been back to my place. I stayed out last night with my cousin, and just left for work from there. I thought I was giving you guys some privacy at my place…to talk and…work things out. But now it seems like she’s not there, and hasn’t been there for a while. Not long ago, I saw that I had a message from my alarm system company reporting a broken window at my place…”
“I’m calling the police,” Tobias said, rushing to his office phone.
“Libby, what’s your address?” I asked, grabbing my cell phone and heading for the door.
* * *
I couldn’t remember ever feeling so afraid in my life as I hurried to Libby’s house. The emotions that had been running through me all morning were too much to handle. First, I’d merely been concerned, although that concern had been steadily rising. Then when Libby admitted Joanna had been staying with her, there had been a brief moment of relief.
But to find out the whole story, that Libby hadn’t been home, a window was broken, and Joanna had become unresponsive to even Libby’s calls, that was when ice cold fear seized me and refused to relent.
I sped down the highway, my only thoughts being of getting to Libby’s house and praying that Joanna was there, unharmed.
“You call me immediately when you get there,” Tobias had said as I ran out the building. He’d called the police, giving them Libby’s address. He was staying behind to meet with other detectives, show them her picture and fill out a report.
“I will. I promise,” I told him.
Now I could only hope that I would have good news to tell him when I got there.
Turning off the highway, following closely behind Libby’s car, I knew I had reached the right block when I saw the ambulance and police vehicles parked along the street. My heart practically dropped to my toes.
I hastily parked right behind Libby, and both of us leapt out of our respective cars, racing toward Libby’s house.
“Hey! Hey!” several police officers called after us. They hurried over, blocking our paths.
“I live here!” Libby shouted. “I live here! My friend was staying here! Is everything okay? Is she okay?”
“Calm down, ma’am,” one of the officers said.
“Where is she? Where’s the woman who was staying here?!” I demanded.
“And who are you, sir?” another officer said, stepping over, while the other proceeded to speak with Libby.
“I’m…I’m looking for the woman who was here…I…” But then my eyes landed on the ambulance truck. In the back of it, I saw a headful of curly hair that I instantly recognized as Joanna’s.
“Sir! Come back, sir!” the officer yelled after me, but I paid him no mind as I rushed toward the ambulance.
“Joanna!” I yelled.
At the sound of my voice, she raised her head. “Anderson?” she said weakly.
My stomach turned with nausea. Her face and arms were bruised and full of scratches.
“Hold on, sir. Are you family?” an EMT said, stopping me just before I could get to Joanna.
“Yes,” Joanna answered for me. “He is. Let him through.”
The EMT reluctantly stepped aside, and I wasted no time scooping Joanna into my arms. Her body shook as she sobbed into my shoulder.
“Who did this to you? What happened?” I asked.
“It was Zander,” she sai
d. “My ex. He found me.”
“I’ll kill him,” I said, not even caring if police officers were around to hear me make such a statement. I grabbed her face and kissed her, my relief at seeing her alive and well so immense that I almost felt like I was going to faint.
“I don’t know how he found me,” she said in disbelief.
“We’ll handle him. I promise,” I said, reaching to pull my cell phone out my pocket. I sent Tobias a quick message, letting him know that I was with Joanna and that she was all right.
“Sir, we have to take her to the hospital,” a different EMT said. “Only family members are allowed to ride with the patient.”
“He is family,” Joanna said again.
The EMT turned toward me. “What is your relation?”
“He’s…he’s the baby’s father,” Joanna said to the EMT.
I felt another powerful wave of lightheadedness. “I’m…I’m the what?” I said, sure that I must have misheard her. “Joanna, what did you just say?”
Joanna’s bottom lip trembled as she stared up at me. She took a deep breath. “I…I have to check on the b-baby. I wasn’t sure how to tell you. But…but…” She paused and took another deep breath. “Anderson, I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER 27
Joanna
Anderson opened the door to his apartment and escorted me inside. After I’d been released from the emergency room, and it was determined that the baby was all right, he had insisted that I go home with him.
“I don’t want you alone tonight,” he had said. “And I don’t want you back at Libby’s, no offense. I know that’s probably the last place Zander will show up to again, but still…I just want you with me. Is that all right?”
I’d nodded. “Yeah. That’s all right.”
“By the way, you should know that everything is fine with your brother now. We talked. He’s okay with us.”
At that, I couldn’t help smiling despite how freaked out I still felt about everything. That was at least one weight lifted off my shoulders. “Then it’s even more all right.”
February Burning: A Firefighter Secret Baby Romance Page 33
