Thirty Days to Win His Wife

by Andrea Laurence

  Amelia hung up the phone and turned off the ringer. She was certain her sister would immediately call back and demand answers, but she wasn’t ready to give anyone anything—aside from giving Tyler a piece of her mind.

  Grabbing her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk, she got up and headed for the door. The short drive back to the house only served to make her angrier, especially when she rounded the fountain out front of their ridiculously big home.

  Standing in the driveway, looking up at the massive house, she realized this place was a metaphor for their entire relationship. Everything had been his way since the moment he arrived in Nashville. They didn’t divorce because he didn’t want to. They were dating because he insisted on it. They drove around in his car, moved into the house he chose, took the trips he needed to take, even when she had to work.

  He knew just how to dangle the carrot to get her to go along with the way he wanted things to be. But this time he’d gone too far. She stomped up the stairs and through the living room to the keeping room, where Tyler had his desk and computer. He was happily typing away on his laptop, his mind probably focused on rubies and diamonds, giving no thought at all to what he’d done.

  “You know,” she started to speak, her voice trembling with anger she could barely contain, “I thought we had an agreement.”

  Tyler looked up, his pale eyes wide with sudden concern. “What? What’s wrong, Ames?”

  She held up her hand to silence him. “We went into this with just a few ground rules, but they were important ones. One rule was that we would give it thirty days, and if necessary, we’d part friends. Another was that we’d live together in this house the whole time. But the most important of all was our agreement that no one would know we were married and pregnant until we were ready to tell them. No one, Tyler! How could you do this?”

  Tyler’s expression hardened for a moment, his eyes unfocused as he seemed to be trying to piece things together. “What do you mean, how could I—”

  “Facebook!” she shouted. “Of all the places.”

  “Facebook?” His eyebrows drew together in a confused frown. “I don’t even have a Facebook account.”

  “Well, you know who does? My sister. And my mother. And apparently, your bigmouthed sister Emily, who just announced to God and country that we eloped and we’re having a baby.”

  The color instantly drained from Tyler’s face as he processed her words. “Emily posted that on Facebook?”

  “Yep,” she said. A quick check of her account had confirmed that, plus a few more details that made it all the worse. She hadn’t logged in since she’d gotten back from London, but there the post was, big as day, with lots of likes and congratulatory messages for the happy couple. It was when she saw the responses from her own friends, people who didn’t even know Tyler, that she realized she’d been tagged in the post. “And Emily tagged me so it showed up in the news feed of everyone I’m friends with, too. The cat is out of the bag in a big way, so thanks a lot.”

  * * *

  “Oh, no.” Tyler groaned and covered his face with his hands. Now he was the nauseated one. He knew it. He knew he shouldn’t have said a word to Jeremy. Now it had come back around to bite him. “Amelia, I had no idea that was going to happen.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze at him in disbelief. “You told your gossipy sister the biggest possible secret and actually expected her to keep it? Are you insane? You should know better than that.”

  “No,” Tyler insisted. “I never would’ve told Emily, and for that very reason. I told my brother. Only my brother. And it was almost a month ago, right after we got the house. He was needling me about why I was moving down here and wouldn’t let it go. I told him in confidence. He was the only person I told. If my sister found out, it’s Jeremy’s fault.”

  “No, Tyler,” Amelia corrected with a sharp tone. “It’s your fault. You’re the one that told our secret when you knew you shouldn’t. I don’t understand why you would do that.”

  “I told you why!” He stood up from his seat and his fists pounded into the top of his oak desk to emphasize his answer. “I wanted someone in my family to know where I was, because unlike your neurotic crowd, I actually like my family. I chose Jeremy because I thought he would be the least likely to pry, but I was wrong and I ended up having to tell him. I assure you that he and I are going to have a long talk about keeping confidences.”

  Amelia shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. She winced slightly and squeezed her eyes shut, not responding immediately.

  “It was an accident,” Tyler continued. “I’m sorry that it got out, but we’re only a few days away from telling everyone anyway. Of course, I didn’t want my family to find out on the internet, but there’s not much we can do about it now. The sooner we stop fighting, the sooner we can start calling everyone and doing damage control.”

  “And tell them what, Tyler?”

  Tyler opened his mouth but paused. “What do you mean, tell them what?”

  “What are we telling them? The thirty days aren’t up. We haven’t declared our undying love for one another. You haven’t proposed. None of this is wrapped up in a neat bow yet. Tell the truth, Tyler. You leaked this to your family because you were afraid you weren’t going to get your way.”

  “You think I did this deliberately? To what? Blackmail you into staying with me?”

  “You always get your way, no matter what. The clock will be up come Wednesday. Falling in love so quickly is nearly impossible. Were you nervous that you might not succeed this time? There’s nothing like taking out a little insurance policy to make sure you still got what you wanted.”

  Somehow this whole scenario seemed to be his doing. Why? Because he didn’t want to raise his child bouncing between two homes like a Ping-Pong ball? Because he was willing to sacrifice his own personal needs to do what was best for everyone? That made him the bad guy? The big manipulator, pulling all the strings, tricking her into moving into a beautiful house and going on expensive trips. He was such a bastard.

  Tyler chuckled bitterly and shook his head. He was tired of handling her with kid gloves. “And what makes you think that any of this is what I wanted?”

  Amelia opened up her mouth to argue, but the sharp tone of his words silenced her. He watched as her cheeks flushed red and glassy tears rushed into her eyes. The words had been harsh, and he knew it, but he couldn’t keep them from flying from his mouth.

  “You think I’m just like your father, trying to manipulate and browbeat you into getting my way. Well, guess what? This isn’t what I would’ve chosen, either. I came to Nashville to get a divorce, and instead I got a whole damn family and a life a thousand miles away from my business and my home. I’ve tried to make the best of a bad situation, but you make it really hard, Amelia. You want to talk about telling the truth? Here’s a dose of honesty for you—you’re a coward!”

  “A coward?” she gasped, taking a stumbling step back as though he’d slapped her.

  “Yes. You tell people you believe in love and that you want it so desperately, but you’ll use any excuse to avoid any relationship with potential. You use the guise of looking for this mythical, perfect love to reject anyone that tries to love you.”

  “You don’t know anything about me and my relationships,” Amelia said through her tears.

  “I know everything about you. Remember, I’m your best friend, not the latest guy you’ve tried on like a pair of shoes and cast aside when you decided they don’t fit. I know you better than you know yourself. I thought we had something good going between us. I thought that in a few days we would be telling our parents some good news. But you’re such a chicken, you’re grasping at the tiniest excuse to destroy this relationship and throw all the blame on me.”

  “I am not! You broke our agreement.”

&n
bsp; Tyler shook his head. “You’re so deep in denial, you can’t even see it. The only reason you’ve even given our relationship half a shot is because of the baby.”

  “Then that makes two of us, Tyler. That’s the only reason you’re here, so don’t be so self-righteous. I—” Amelia paused, her eyes widening with fear, but they weren’t focused on him. She gasped and doubled over, clutching her lower belly. “Oh, no,” she cried.

  Tyler rounded his desk and ran to her side, clasping her shoulders to offer support. “Are you okay? What is it?”

  “Something’s not right. I think I’m—” she started, and then groaned. “Help me to the bathroom, will you?”

  He helped Amelia to the master bathroom, waiting patiently outside the door. It wasn’t until he heard her agonized sobs that his stomach sank and he realized what was happening. She was having a miscarriage.

  “Come on, we’ll get you to the hospital right now,” he shouted through the door.

  “I just need to call my doctor.”

  “No. We’re going to the hospital first. Let them tell us to go home.”

  When she came out a moment later, her skin was as white as paper and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He could see her hands shaking as she gripped the door frame to come out. She was in no condition to be walking around. He grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped her in it, then swept her up off her feet. He carried her out to his car and loaded her into the passenger seat. He didn’t stop to lock the door or worry about anything other than getting Amelia to the hospital as quickly as he could. St. Thomas West wasn’t far; hopefully they could make it in time to save the baby. If they could.

  Tyler’s heart was racing in his chest as he flew through the streets. This couldn’t really be happening. It just couldn’t. She’d said this baby was what was keeping them together and she was right, but only to a point. The baby wasn’t the glue that held them together, but it was the steel beam that reinforced them so that even strong winds couldn’t knock them down. It was what gave him hope that they could make it. It was what made her stay even when she had reservations.

  And now, he was certain, they were losing that. What would happen to them? Would this relationship spiral out of control without the child to anchor them? Would the loss bring them closer together or rip them apart? Tyler didn’t know.

  He occasionally stole a glance at Amelia as they drove. She was bent over in the seat, curled up against the door with her eyes closed. She was biting her lip, holding back tears of pain and fear. Even with the blanket, she was trembling. It broke his heart to see her that way.

  Especially knowing that it was all his fault.

  He had ruined everything. He’d opened his big mouth and betrayed her trust. He’d used her own harsh, hurtful words as an excuse to lash back at her and say the most horrible things he could think of. And now she was losing their baby.

  Tyler whipped around the corner to enter the emergency area. Coming to a stop, he threw the car into Park and leaped out. Scooping Amelia into his arms, he rushed through the front door. “Please!” he shouted to the women at the front desk. “Please help, I think my wife is losing our baby.”

  A nurse rushed into the lobby with a wheelchair. Tyler stood helplessly as Amelia was transferred to the chair and taken away. “Please wait here, sir,” another nurse told him. “We’ll take you back as soon as we can.”

  Tyler’s knees gave out and he slipped down into one of the waiting room chairs. He wished to God he could go back—back in time so he could keep this from happening.

  Eleven

  “There was nothing you could have done, nothing you did to cause this. About ten to fifteen percent of pregnancies fail in the first trimester.”

  “The baby was fine at our first appointment. The doctor even said he had a strong heartbeat,” Tyler argued with the doctor even though he knew it wouldn’t change the outcome.

  Amelia was lying silently in her hospital bed, recovering from the procedure she’d undergone shortly after arriving at the hospital. Tyler didn’t know all the details, but the end result was the same. No more baby.

  “At this stage, a lot changes in two or three weeks. And from the sound of things,” the doctor said, “the baby stopped growing at around seven weeks, and it just took this long for your body to deal with it.”

  Tyler frowned. “How can you know that?”

  “Ms. Kennedy said her morning sickness had suddenly ceased and she had more energy. This early in the pregnancy, that’s a big sign that the baby is no longer developing.”

  “So it wasn’t anything that happened today...?” Tyler’s voice trailed off. He didn’t want to outright ask if the emotional upheaval he’d put his wife through had caused her to lose the baby, but that had been the question tormenting him all afternoon.

  “No, no. This was just nature dealing with a problem. But the plus side is that there’s no reason why you two can’t try again. Take some time to recover from this, give your body a few months and then you can give it another try. Just because you miscarried this time doesn’t mean it will happen again. You don’t have any of the risk factors, Ms. Kennedy, so I wouldn’t worry.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” she said at last. It was the first time Amelia had spoken since she’d greeted the doctor and told him how she was feeling.

  “Well, everything else seems to be okay, so the nurse will be around shortly with your discharge paperwork and a few prescriptions to help with the discomfort. Take it easy for a few days. Feel free to have a glass or two of wine to help you unwind, just don’t overdo it until your symptoms fully clear up. If there are no other questions, I’ll get out of your hair.” When they didn’t speak up, the doctor shook Tyler’s hand and then slipped out of the room.

  Tyler slumped down into the chair beside her bed, not certain what to do now. He felt completely helpless, and he hated that. She’d accused him of always being in control, of always getting his way, and she was right. He didn’t like it when he couldn’t fix things, and this was one thing he simply could not fix.

  How quickly things had changed. A few weeks ago, neither of them had even considered having a child, much less together. And now that the child was gone...he felt as though a part of him had been ripped away. He knew that it was a piece of him that he could never get back.

  At this point, he didn’t even know what to say to Amelia. She was his best friend, and he’d never felt the awkward lack of words when he was with her. But now, he wasn’t sure where they stood. He was fairly certain that she wouldn’t want to try getting pregnant again. Where did that leave them? Their last real words to one another before the miscarriage had been cutting and painful. He wasn’t even entirely sure he would walk out of the room with a best friend, much less a wife.

  “Tyler?” Amelia said at last.

  “Yes?” Tyler leaped up from his chair to stand at the rail of her hospital bed. She seemed so small with the oversize hospital gown and all the wires and tubes hooked up to her. Her color was better now, but that wasn’t saying much. The faint gray circles under her eyes spoke volumes. She might be healthy, but she was not fine. “Can I get you something?”

  “No.” She shook her head and winced slightly. “I’m okay.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better than I was,” she said, attempting a small smile, but it didn’t make it to her eyes. “Tyler...I want you to go home.”

  “I’m not going home without you. The doctor said you’ll be released shortly.”

  “You don’t understand. I want you to go home to New York.”

  Even though a part of him had been anticipating this eventuality, he didn’t expect the painful blow to his midsection that accompanied it. It was excruciating, worse than anything he’d experienced, even his breakup with Christine a week before their wedding. “Amelia—” he beg
an, but she held up her hand.

  “Tyler, please. You were and are my best friend. But we never should’ve been anything more than that. We made a mistake and compounded it by trying to force ourselves into a different mold for the sake of our baby. I’m sorry that all this happened and that I put you through this, but now it’s done. Things have worked out the way they were meant to. Without a baby, there’s no reason for us to continue on.”

  Tyler tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, but it remained stubbornly lodged there as he struggled to breathe.

  “If you don’t mind,” she continued in his silence, “I’ll stay in the house a few more days until we can arrange the movers to put my things back in my apartment.”

  “We don’t have to make any quick decisions. Give yourself a few days.”

  Amelia sighed and reached out to pat his hand. “Tyler, you and I both know we don’t need a few days. We were ending it this morning before everything else went wrong. Now we just don’t have to face the endless custody complications and awkward eventuality of seeing each other with other people. You can travel the world without worrying about me and the baby at home. I can go back to my little apartment and continue my quest for love. This is the way it needs to be.”

  Tyler felt his grief morph in his veins to a low, simmering anger. She’d been angry with him this morning, yes, but if they had finished that fight, he would’ve seen to it that it was just a fight. Couples fought from time to time; it didn’t have to put an end to the whole relationship. She was using the Facebook leak as an excuse to push him away, just as she was using the miscarriage to push him away. Whenever she got close to anyone, she panicked.

  “This wasn’t just about the baby, Amelia. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for me. Tell me you’re not in love with me and I’ll walk right out the door.”