“Well, since Harper currently doesn’t have anything to do with me, she’s not going to find out from me. I’m sure you can come up with some explanation.”
She stared at me, shaking her head. “An explanation about how I got pregnant and then how I don’t have a child when the pregnancy is over?”
“So, tell her I hired you. I don’t have a problem with that.”
Anne rolled her eyes. “She’ll see it as a betrayal that I am doing this for you. Her friendship is important to me. She’s the only person who…”
“Who what?”
“Who doesn’t care that I’ve been kicked out of my family and am poor.”
“I don’t care about that. In fact, I find it helpful.”
“You have a way of saying things that should be nice but are actually rude.”
I sighed. “I’m not trying to make friends, Anne. I’m trying to set up a business deal. If you don’t want Harper to know, come up with some other excuse. If you don’t want her to know, I won’t tell her.”
“How will you explain the baby?”
“The truth. I hired a surrogate. I just won’t tell her that it was you, if you don’t want me to.”
Anne didn’t say any more as she finished her dinner. I didn’t speak either, deciding she was thinking my proposition through. I didn’t want to say anything that would work against me.
When she finished her meal, she wiped her mouth with her napkin, setting it on the table, and then stood. “You might be buying my time and my womb, but you’re not buying my friendship. Expect me to act the same way I always do when it comes to you.”
Her words excited me. That was exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want her friendship. I didn’t want her thinking anything more than a business arrangement would come out of the deal.
I picked up the envelope and handed it to her. “Then we have a deal.”