As she pulled a teabag from the box in the pantry she forced herself to acknowledge that it would take more than a cup of herbal tea to make things better. There was only one thing—one man—who could make a difference in her life. The only one who had ever mattered. Xander.
She’d just finished brewing the tea when the phone rang. She recognized the number on the caller display with a sinking sensation that pulled at her stomach. Her lawyer wasted no time on pleasantries.
“Mrs. Jackson, we’ve been instructed by your husband’s lawyers to expedite matters relating to your dissolution of marriage. Do you need us to forward new forms to you, or do you still have the ones we originally sent?”
So, he hasn’t wasted time, Olivia thought as she acknowledged the lawyer’s request. “No, I still have the originals.”
“All you need to do is sign them, put them in the enclosed envelope and post them today. Or I could arrange a courier to collect them from you if you’d prefer. It seems Mr. Jackson is in somewhat of a hurry.”
Olivia closed her eyes against the burn of tears. Her voice shook as she spoke. “I see. I’ll get the papers back to you. There’s no need to organize a courier.”
There was a brief silence on the other end before she heard her lawyer clear his throat. “Thank you,” he said. “And, Mrs. Jackson? I’m so very sorry things didn’t work out for you.”
“I am, too, Mr. Clement.”
She hung up without saying goodbye, and the phone fell from her hands to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her waist and bent over as uncontrollable sobs racked her body. It was over and it was all her fault. If only she’d been up front with Xander from the beginning, he might have been receptive to starting again. But now, with the stupid decisions she’d made, with her inability to face the pain of the past, she’d ensured they had no future together at all.
Eventually she dragged herself back up the stairs and into her en suite. She pulled open the drawer where she’d stowed the papers and reached inside, her hand hesitating as it hovered over the sanitary products stored there. Something wasn’t right. She reached into the drawer and grabbed the little pocket-size diary she kept a record of her cycle in and counted back the days. She was two days late. Nothing really to worry about. Unless you factored in the minor detail that her periods always came every twenty-eight days without fail.
Her hand trembled as she shoved the diary back in the drawer and slammed it shut—leaving the folded envelope exactly where she’d put it, forgotten now in light of what she was dealing with. She’d been under a lot of stress, hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly. No wonder she was out of kilter, she tried to tell herself. But all the while she knew her excuses were a waste of time. She knew the signs as well as she knew her face in the mirror each morning. The lack of appetite, the need to nap at odd times of the day, not to mention her reaction to the coffee she’d made this morning. And then there was the metallic tang that had been in her mouth the past couple of days. A tang she remembered vividly from when she’d become pregnant with Parker. She’d been ignoring each and every sign. Choosing oblivion over reality—which was what had led her to this situation in the first place.
Pregnant. With Xander’s child. What the hell was she going to do now?
* * *
Three days later Olivia had her confirmation. The nurse at her doctor’s surgery had been filled with quiet excitement on her behalf. An excitement that Olivia was hard-pressed to feel. She had to tell Xander straightaway. This wasn’t something she could, or would, withhold from him.
The minute she got home she called his cell phone. It rang only a couple of times before switching to his answering service. Olivia disconnected the call. He must have diverted her call the moment he’d seen her number on the caller display. The knowledge that he wasn’t even willing to speak to her on the phone was a blow she hadn’t expected. Not prepared to give up at the first hurdle, she dialed again. This time it went immediately to the service and she left him a message.
“Xander, I need to see you. It’s urgent. Meet me tomorrow, please.” She named a café in Devonport, a short ferry ride for him across the harbor, and stated what time she’d be there.
Now all she could do was wait.
Sixteen
Xander arrived before the time Olivia had indicated, but she had still gotten there ahead of him. She saw him the minute he came through the door, and he watched as her cheeks suffused with color and her eyes grew bright.