“Not yet, but she will. They always do. And I want to be ready when she does. I also want an ironclad custody agreement drawn up.”
“So there is a chance this child could be yours.”
“Yes. And if it is, I need to be prepared to do what I did with those twins.”
“You really know how to pick them, Mr. MacDonald.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” I said. “Do you have any advice outside of what I’ve already asked?”
“Are you in touch with this woman? Because you know I’ll have to deliver these papers formally to her.”
“I’m not yet. Like I said, all I have to do is sit back and wait,” I said.
“Or I could track her down. The sooner we can get all of this recorded and on paper, the sooner we can get the agreement signed and in action.”
“Court-ordered paternity test, then we’ll discuss how much I’m willing to pay her for the child.”
“And you’re sure this is what she’ll want?” he asked.
“It’s what they always want, Brett. Come on. If she’s not carrying my child, it’s done. If she is carrying my child, there’s no fucking way that kid is growing up in Stillsville or wherever the hell she’s run off to. I can provide that child a better life than some twenty-something year old girl with no Bachelor’s degree, no job, and no future.”
“This is where I keep my mouth shut.”
“And do as you’re told, yes,” I said.
“Sure you don’t want me to track her down? Serve her the papers myself like we did with the last one?”
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as I gazed out over the shithole town I kept getting dragged back to.
“I’m sure,” I said. “If it’s necessary, I’ll find her.”
“I’ll get started on the documents, Mr. MacDonald.”
“Thanks.”
Chapter 4
Michelle
The bus smelled terrible and with every stop we made I had to get off and throw up. Between the eighteen hours of bumping along highways and stopping at out-of-the-way truck stops, I was more than relieved to be home. Which was a first actually, considering I’d never ever felt that way. I mean, it wasn’t home. Williston was simply where I grew up. It had never felt much like a home, especially after I’d left it while at Andy’s side. That man had been my ticket out of this hellish place, but now I chastised myself for ever leaving.
Had I done what my mother told me to do and stayed put to accept my fate, I wouldn’t be in the situation I was in now.
I wasn’t exactly excited to be returning, but it was better than staying in Stillsville and running into Gray. And Andy. And Cecily. And Brad. And everyone else in that shitty place. But as the bus came to a stop in the middle of the town I grew up in, I could already hear my mother’s voice. Mocking me for running home so quickly. Mocking me for getting pregnant. Mocking me for thinking I was better than her for getting a two-year degree and leaving with a man, only to return in the same shape she had found herself in when she was my age.
Pregnant, jobless, with no man to speak of in sight.
I could already hear her snide laughter.
Nothing about what I was walking into was not going to suck. But it was going to suck less than sticking around Stillsville and waiting for Gray to show up and make me feel less than human. Part of me hoped I’d never see that man again. That he’d drive himself straight off a damn cliff.
And the rest of me simmered and stewed inside the crevices of my broken heart.
As I stepped off the bus, I felt the last of my life hit the rocky bottom I was lying on. Beaten, battered, bruised, and broken. Lying there, trying to catch my breath. I felt defeated, depressed, and hopeless. But one thing was for certain. This time, I’d do things right. This time, I’d get a job and do everything I could to stick with it. This time, I’d apply for the governmental help I was entitled to instead of finding it to be a shameful thing to be on. I’d save back money and turn my sights on my child instead of using men to try and fill the hole in my heart.
I’d be honest with myself instead of inflating myself with lies of a grand future.
It seems I had been far too willing to rearrange my life on someone else’s terms for far too long. I left home because Andy asked me to. Then I let him treat me like crap and kick me out. Gray came along and insisted I stay with him, so I did. Not that I didn’t appreciate his help when he gave it, but it was always on his terms and I was always expected to comply. But no more. As I walked the streets of my hometown, passing diners and restaurants and shops I never thought I’d see again, I made myself a promise.