Cooper

by Hazel Parker

“No.” Monica shook her head. “It wasn’t. He and I….” She paused. “He and I started to fool around a bit after the Christmas party last year.”

  Grant had not expected that either.

  “Well, I didn’t know.”

  “You didn’t.” Monica took a deep breath. “That was my point. But Grant, you need to understand.”

  “Understand what?” Grant pressed her.

  “You need to understand that I want to get back together, but not necessarily for the reasons you’re thinking. While I’ll always care about you, I want to make a life for our baby. It needs both of its parents, and it needs us together.”

  “I suppose.” Monica looked surprised at his words. Had she really expected that he would do nothing but jump back into her arms?

  “You suppose?” Monica asked. “You don’t want to get back together? Are you really that angry?”

  “No.” He was not angry. He had come to accept that he had been out of real love with Monica for a while now, and it was only natural that he would find it in another woman. “But things are different now.”

  “Different how?” Monica took a step closer to him. “Grant, we’re a family. We’re going to have a baby. Things can’t change between us. This is us.”

  “Not anymore,” Grant told her gently. “Monica, I’m sorry. But I have feelings for someone else now.”

  That stunned her. Monica’s eyes widened. She recoiled instantly from him. Any look of sympathy or affection on her face was replaced with a growing anger.

  “What? Who? Who is she?” He could hear the anger rising in her tone. Grant did not feel as bad as he thought that he probably should.

  “It’s Kelly,” he told her honestly. “She came over here a few weeks after you left and…she spent the night.” He might as well tell her everything. Besides, had he not been the one to catch her cheating in the first place?

  “What?” Monica snapped. Now the anger had risen to her eyes. “Grant, you cannot be serious. You’re one of the richest men in this country and you’re falling for a broke, little, college girl who has to carry other people’s babies just to earn money?”

  “Yes,” Grant answered flatly. “Yes, I have. And I will tell you, Monica, that I have feelings for Kelly that I have never had for you.”

  She looked as though someone had poured ice water on her. Grant was glad to get it out into the open. It made him feel that much better about the entire situation.

  “What is actually wrong with you?” Monica growled. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

  “Maybe I have!” Grant snapped back. “But what can you expect after I caught my wife in my bed with one of my coworkers!”

  Glaring at him, Monica shook her head.

  “Well, I clearly made a mistake coming here!”

  “Apparently you did!” Grant told her. “Because I won’t be reconciling with you for anyone sake—including the baby’s!”

  “You,” Monica turned for the front door, “are making a terrible mistake. But if you want to throw your life away, that’s just fine with me!”

  “I can assure you that it is no mistake.” Grant followed after her.

  “Oh, it is.” Monica yanked the door open. “It is. You will be hearing from my lawyer.”

  “I’ll save you the trouble.” Grant told her. “I will call mine right now and get the divorce proceedings in place.”

  “Fine.” Monica smiled coldly at him. “You go right ahead and you do that—but don’t you even think that you’re getting that baby! It belongs to ME!”

  Monica spun on her heel, storming out of the door and slamming it shut behind her. He heard the sound of her high heels clattering down the walk. Grant shook his head. He had a suspicion that he was about to find himself in the fight of his life.

  Chapter 11

  Kelly was feeling good—really good. And it was not just the pregnancy aspect, although that was a part of it.

  She had stopped feeling so incredibly nauseous all the time, which was huge. For a while, she had thought that it was never going to go away. While she was still tired a lot, she had enough energy to get herself out to class, and for the occasional run. Dr. Landis had told her that exercise was not going to hurt her, so she was trying to take his advice and keep herself moving. After all, she did not want to see how much weight that she could gain.

  Further, things with Grant seemed to be good. He had started texting her fairly regularly. At first, Kelly had not really known what to make of it, but now she was feeling more comfortable.

  Grant was now texting her multiple times a day, mostly just for chatter. It felt good, and natural. Kelly had come to accept that there was something between them. It was more than just a one night of passionate sex. They could really communicate. She was finding herself growing closer to him—and finally being able to accept her feelings for him. She felt giddy with happiness just thinking about it.

  He had told her that Monica knew, and that she was less than happy. It was not that Kelly blamed her. No woman would be happy if another went after her husband, but it was even worse when the woman was a surrogate that was intended to give them their long-awaited child. Kelly still felt bad about breaking up their family, but that dissipated when she thought about Monica cheating on Grant with his own coworker. That right there was just awful.

  Kelly glanced at her phone. She had class in twenty minutes. She needed to get on her way. Quickly, she thumbed a text back to Grant, adding in a smiley emoji just for fun. She thought maybe it showed her age, but she had recently begun reminding herself that Grant was not really that much older than her. It was not that bad, right?

  Kelly put her backpack over both shoulders. She was trying to be careful that she balanced the weight of her books so that she did not put too much pressure on her body. She did not want to hurt her back, or run the risk of falling. Nothing to potentially hurt the baby…Grant’s baby. She smiled at the thought.

  It was an off time for classes. Not many students had three o’clock times, so Kelly was mostly alone on her walk. She headed onto one of the quiet, tree-lined paths towards the classroom building. She saw some people ahead with their backs to her. A boy was in the distance, coming towards her. She thought she saw him fussing with an iPod, or his phone. Probably listening to music.

  It was a nice day. The weather had been good lately. Kelly wasn’t looking forward to winter, but…

  Something slammed into the back of her head. Kelly staggered forward, almost losing her balance. Jerking herself to her feet, Kelly turned to see just what had hit her.

  “Monica!” she gasped the word in surprised.

  The beautiful older woman stood facing her on the pathway. Her eyes had a dark, angry look in them masked by something else. That was the look that frightened her. Kelly had never see someone look that type of angry before. It was almost…manic.

  “Monica…I…” Kelly’s voice trailed off. “I…I know why you’re here. And let me start out by saying I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Monica’s tone sounded mocking. “You’re sorry?” She took a few steps towards Kelly. Feeling threatened, Kelly quickly glanced over her shoulder. The guy who had been coming towards her must have walked into a building, or taken another path. At the moment, there was no one in sight to call for help.

  “I really am!” Kelly exclaimed. “Look, Monica, I’m so sorry. I never meant to—”

  “Of course you didn’t,” Monica snapped. Her arms were folded over her chest, her eyes glaring into Kelly’s. “You’re just a sweet, naïve, little girl. You would never, ever steal another woman’s husband.”

  “No! No I wouldn’t.”

  “Of course not,” Monica growled. She moved, coming to stand face to face with Kelly. “But the truth is—you did. You did just that. You stole a man who is so far out of your league that you can barely see him!”

  “He fell for me too!” Kelly cried. “Really, Monica, I’m sorry that you lost Grant. But he has feelings for me too!”


  The other woman’s hand raised and slapped across Kelly’s cheek. Kelly did not have time to cry out. She merely stepped back in shock as her own hand raised to cover her now reddening cheek.

  “I bet that this was your plan all along!” Monica hissed, her voice rising. “You came to us with this sweet, little story about how you wanted to give us a baby and pay for school, and what you actually planned was to land yourself a rich husband!”

  Kelly glanced over Monica’s shoulder. Two other students were coming down the pathway. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Hey!” she called towards them.

  “Of course!” Monica reached forward, shoving Kelly backwards. “Of course! Call for someone to protect you!”

  Monica shoved Kelly again. The weight of the books in her bag pulled her backwards, sending her sprawling onto the pathway. Monica was then looming over her, the raging manic look burning in her eyes.

  “You need someone to help you!” Monica screamed.

  Her foot raised, and one high heel cut into Kelly’s ribs. Kelly gasped as the breath left her body. Monica kicked her again, this time directly to her abdomen.

  Pain shot all through her body. Kelly cried out. She wrapped her arms around her, trying to protect herself. She ducked her head, feeling another kick hit her head.

  Kelly became conscious of the sounds of other voices shouting, starting to drown out Monica’s screams of rage. Then suddenly Monica was gone, but Kelly could still hear her shrieking through her haze of pain.

  “Hey! HEY!” A boy was kneeling beside her. He was focused down on Kelly, staring into her face. “Can you hear me?”

  “I…” Kelly whispered out. “I…I’m…pregnant.”

  She was in so much pain right now. She knew that something was wrong. Something was happening to her. Monica had done something—something bad. Kelly buried her face into her arm, feeling like she was ready to doze off.

  Above her, she was vaguely aware of the boy talking on his phone. Paramedics…police. Kelly could only assume one of them. Maybe both.

  She felt like she was starting to lose consciousness. The baby. She hoped that they could do something. She hoped she had not failed it. Before the blackness took over, Kelly was aware of her palm pressing firmly over her belly…one last attempt to protect the unborn child.

  Chapter 12

  Kelly’s eyes batted open. Immediately, she registered a stiffness that was tinged with underlying pain. She groaned.

  “Hey,” a strong male voice beside her spoke, “just lay still, okay?”

  Kelly did not try to sit up, but she did turn her head. Grant was sitting beside her. One of his hands was resting over hers. He smiled faintly.

  “I’m glad to see that you’re awake.”

  “What…” Kelly started to ask what happened, but she knew what had happened. Monica had happened. But then she remembered her last thoughts. “The baby?”

  Kelly turned her head to look at Grant. She met his eyes, desperately seeking her answer. Grant bit his lower lip. He shook his head.

  “The baby didn’t make it.”

  Kelly felt tears rising in her eyes. She pressed her right hand over her mouth, trying desperately to fight back sobs.

  “Hey.” Grant squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. You’re okay. The doctor said there was no major damage. You’ll be able to have more children.”

  “But it was your baby,” Kelly whispered softly. “I lost your baby. I’m so, so sorry Grant.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Grant told her. “You were doing all of the right things. It was Monica’s fault. And in that regard, Monica killed her own child.”

  Kelly knew that what he was saying was true, but at the moment it just hurt so much.

  “What happened to Monica?” she forced herself to ask the question. She needed to think about something else…focus on something else.

  “The boys that found you two pulled her off of you. They held her until the police came.”

  “So?” Kelly pressed gently.

  “She’s been arrested, pending assault charges.” Grant’s face hardened. “The police told me I could explore pressing further charges against her for the death of the baby.”

  “Oh!” Kelly had not considered that aspect. “What do you think? Will you do it?”

  “I…don’t know.” Grant shrugged. “The baby couldn’t have survived on its own. And I’m just not sure it’s a good idea.”

  “Why?” Kelly turned her hand over beneath his, taking his hand.

  “Because I just want to be done with her.” Grant squeezed her fingers tighter. “I think I’m going to have my lawyer tell her that I won’t pursue any further charges if she just gives me a clean divorce.”

  “That seems fair.” Kelly’s brain registered that he was going to be single. It was the wrong thing to think right now. She should not be considering this right now.

  “Yeah,” Grant smiled. “And I will be free to start a new life—without her.” His eyes roamed over her for a minute. Kelly felt her heart skip a beat.

  “So everything’s going to be okay?” she asked gently. “I mean, the doctors have said….”

  “You’re going to be just fine,” Grant assured her. “The doctor said he’s going to keep an eye on you for a couple of hours, and then you’re going to come home with me.”

  Kelly’s face lit up.

  “Really? Home to your house?” She tried to lighten the mood.

  “Home to my house.” Grant squeezed her hand. This time, there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. “Kelly, I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.”

  She smiled at him, turning more to face him.

  “I’m right here.”

  “Yes, you are.” Grant met her eyes. “And I mean to keep it just that way.”

  “What do you mean?” She hoped that she knew what he was saying, but she wanted to be sure. He couldn’t really be…could he?

  “Kelly, I have come to realize that you are the true love of my life.” Grant looked down at her hand, and then back to her eyes. “You are the only woman in this world that I could see myself loving. The things that I have felt for you, they’re not the type of feelings that you find every day.”

  “Oh, Grant,” Kelly whispered.

  “I’m in love with you, Kelly.” He raised his hand to her lips, kissing it gently. “I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else, or ever will.”

  Kelly felt tears beginning to form in her eyes once more. Smiling, she reached for him. Grant instantly moved to meet her, not allowing her to sit up.

  “I love you too,” she whispered. “I never meant to fall in love with you, but I did.”

  “Sometimes the best things are unexpected, and happen in the strangest ways.” Grant leaned down, pressing his lips to hers.

  She had never imagined that this type of love could come between them. She truly had never meant to find this love in this situation. But now that she had, she could never imagine being with anyone else. If she was the love of Grant’s life, then he was the love of hers as well.

  Chapter 13

  As eventful as the beginning of her term had been, the rest of the school year passed quietly. Kelly fell back into a fairly normal swing of life for a college student. She went to class, and ate on campus. She spent her nights in her dorm room. The only change to this situation occurred when Grant came into the picture.

  Since their declaration of love to each other, the two had been inseparable as much as possible. That did not negate the importance of their individual lives. Kelly wanted to finish school—no matter what the future might hold for she and Grant. Grant wholeheartedly encouraged it. So after she had recovered from Monica’s attack, Kelly went right back to her classes.

  Grant still had a business to run. He still had to travel for his company and attended all of his meetings, but he also had to clean up his life. True to his word, he had sent his lawyer to have a serious discussion with Monica about any further charge
s. He had found that Monica actually felt bad about the baby’s loss. It did not particularly surprise him. It had been her all along who had wanted to have the child, and now it was gone. She had lost the chance at what she really wanted in this world because her own jealousy had overcome her. She had agreed to all of his terms without hesitation. He figured that a lifetime of guilt would be worse than any charges he could pursue.

  The months had seemed to fly by. Kelly had told her mother that she was seeing an older man, but she had left out the details of how they had met. She figured that her mother did not need to know about the surrogate deal, or the money that she had lost. Grant was helping her pay through the last semester of school. So at the end of the day, Beth’s theory on what Kelly had needed to get her through school was correct—and it had worked.

  Finally, the months had wrapped up. The end of the final term had come. Kelly had spent the last month studying for her finals. She was in no risk of not graduating. Despite everything that had happened, she had not let her grades slip. What was on her mind now was the job market.

  It was not an easy place for college graduates to enter. She had put out her resume, but had not heard much back. Most of her friends were in the same boat. If they were getting jobs, it was not necessarily in their field. Kelly had a feeling she would need to think about doing that. It was either that, or go back for further education. Kelly was too enticed by the idea of her life with Grant to really entertain that. She would find another plan before she came back to the education world.

  She was already planning to move in with Grant after graduation. Her mother was not thrilled about it, but since Kelly was still looking for a job it was not so bad. Kelly just kept wondering to herself what living with Grant would mean. Should she stop looking for a job? Was he going to be set on taking care of her? Did she really want him to?

  She also wondered if she was getting ahead of herself. She could not expect Grant to take care of her for her entire life if he had not even talked about marriage to her. She did not blame him. His divorce had been finalized not long ago. She would not blame him if he did not want to jump right into marriage again. But she knew that her mother was going to ask. And she had to have an appropriate answer. Which right now, she did not.