Even the tears shining in rivers down her cheeks didn’t touch him now. He couldn’t afford to let them.
‘Believe it or not, I do understand why,’ Max grated out. The anger was receding now, leaving him with a dull ache.
And a void.
‘Then we can work through this?’ she breathed hopefully.
He shook his head.
‘I’m here for Imogen. I’ll always be here for her—she’s my daughter. But as for you and I, there is no longer any we.’
‘You just said you understood.’ She choked back a sob, and he could see her struggle to stay in control, refusing to break down in front of him.
Part of him could even admire her for it. A lesser woman might have cried and yelled and begged.
‘I understand you were frightened for your future. You had no idea if the transplant would be successful and you wanted to secure our daughter’s future in the event that you weren’t able to pull through.’
‘And I didn’t know you well enough. When your parents told me you wouldn’t want to know about a child, I had no reason to distrust them.’
‘I understand that, too. We had a week-long fling. Neither of us had any idea that Imogen would be the result of it.’
Evie bobbed her head, her hair bouncing wildly in her confusion.
‘So you understand why I did it, even if I didn’t go about it the right way?’
‘Yes. But what I don’t understand—what I can’t forgive—is that you continued to keep it from me.’
‘I was scared. I’m sorry,’ Evie cried. ‘I wanted to tell you. I tried so many times. But it never seemed like the right time.’
‘It would never have been the right time, Evie. But the closest right time would have been when I found out I had a daughter you’d been keeping from me. Or when I asked you and Imogen to move in with me here. Or when I told you everything my parents put me through as a kid.’
‘Stop. Please.’ Evie held up her hand, a distraught expression clouding her features. ‘You’re right and I’m so, so sorry I never said anything then.’
‘What I can’t accept is that you probably never would have told me.’
‘I would have. Somehow.’ She shook her head in despair. ‘I was intending to tonight. Remember?’
Yes, he remembered. But that didn’t mean anything.
He’d been ready to marry Evie. To make them a proper family, once and for all. Now it was all lost.
He turned for the door.
‘I’m going into the hospital after all. I’ll drop you off at the house and I’ll leave straight from there.’
‘Please, Max. Can’t we just talk about this?’
‘I don’t want to waste my time. Or yours. And I don’t want to risk saying something that either of us will regret.’
‘When will you be back?’
‘In a few days.’ That should give him enough time to think.
‘Fine,’ she said dully. ‘Then we’ll be gone by the time you get back.’
Max sucked in a breath and turned around.
‘Gone?’