An Unplanned Life (Unplanned Series) (18 page)

Chapter 40

Dailan

I walked out of my hotel room to head off to the airport. I couldn't find my phone and was hoping that I had left it down at the bar last night. I was just closing the door to my room when Paul came walking out of his. 

"Oh man, did I get lucky last night. That Rachel
; she's something else.” I just shook my head. He was just about to go into explicit detail about their night together when I cut him off. 

"You know what, I really don't care. I need to try and find my phone before I leave for the airport."

 "Oh, it's in my room. Rachel picked it up for you. You left in on the bar last night. Let me go and get it. I would invite you in, but Rachel is still sleeping after being up all night."

"Yeah, that's okay. Just get me my phone."
 

He went back in his room and came back out within a matter of seconds. "Thanks," I said as I took the phone from his hands. I got in the elevator and dialed Nicole's cell. It went right to her voicemail. I hung up and called her on the home phone. I was surprised when her mother answered this early in the morning.
 

"Oh
, hey, Dailan, Nicole just called. The baby is okay; her fever went down and she's coming home in a few hours." 

"What are you talking about?" I asked.
 

"Didn't Nicole call you? She had to rush Ella to the ER last night
. She was running an ungodly temperature."

 
"No, she didn't."
What the fuck, Nicole?
 

"Well, maybe she just didn't want you to worry with being so far away. All is well now, so that's all the matters."
 

I
was pissed when I hung up the phone. I doubled checked my voice mail and text messages, but there was nothing. I couldn't believe Nicole didn't even bother to call me and let me know. I dialed her cell phone again. It went straight to voicemail, but unlike last time, this time I was leaving a message. 

"What the fuck
, Nicole, my daughter is in the hospital and you can't even call me and let me know. Call me back as soon as you get this message." I didn't know what the hell her problem was lately. Actually, I did know, but there was nothing more that I could do to reassure her that I had no interest in Rachel. I walked out of the hotel and headed to the airport, knowing I needed to have a serious talk with Nicole so these stupid games she was playing would finally stop.

Chapter 41

Nicole

Ella and I walked out of the hospital, into the bright morning sunlight. She was in much better spirits than when we had arrived. I put her in her car seat and plugged my phone, which was completely dead, into my car charger. 

"Let's go home
, baby," I said as I began to back out. My phone began to beep once the battery started getting a little juice to it. I looked down at my phone to find a voicemail notification from Dailan. I pulled back into the parking spot and hit the password for my voicemail. My jaw dropped when I listened to his message and the arrogant tone of his voice.
Was he freakin’ kidding me?
The mature side of me was telling me just to deal with him face to face when he got home. Unfortunately, the immature, angry, wanting-to-rip-his-eyes-out side of me took over instead. My blood was boiling as I waited for him to answer the phone.
Voicemail, of course; when does he ever answer his phone?
My heart was beating hard as I waited for the beep. "You have some nerve! I
DID
call you last night and Rachel told me you were too busy with her. I hope she was worth it, Dailan, because I am done." I was shaking when I hung up the phone and I couldn't stop the tears. Now that I knew Ella was okay, the reality was starting to sink in about Dailan and Rachel, and it hurt like hell.

I pulled it together and drove home, stopping off at the pharmacy along the way to have Ella's prescriptions filled. Ryan was sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast with my mother when I walked in.

My mother got up and took Ella from my arms. "Oh, there's that pretty smile," she said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "She still feels a little warm, but much cooler than last night." 

"Yeah, she's due for her next antibiotic in an hour."
 

"Well, Mr. Ryan here had four pieces of French toast
, so his belly should be full. Your sister is still here and your dad wants to take all the kids crabbing, so do you mind if Ryan comes home with me so they can go?"

 
"Sure," I answered.

 
Ryan jumped up from the table to go get ready. "You should go lie down when you put her down for a nap; you look exhausted. Oh, and Kitty called. I assured her that Ella was okay, but she wants you to call her."

 
After my mom and Ryan left, I sat down on the couch and cuddled with Ella. She was a lot clingier when she wasn't feeling well, so she didn't put up a fight. I thought back to just a year ago when I was still pregnant with her. Dailan and are were so happy and Rachel was just a bad memory. How could my life have gotten so screwed up in just a matter of months? Ella fell asleep in my arms. I held her for a while longer and just watched her sleep before carrying her up to her crib. I took a quick shower and finally decided to call Kitty back.

 
"Nicole, how's my little baby doing?" Kitty asked with concern. I gave her a complete update on Ella. “And Dailan wasn't home for all this?” she asked. 

I felt a lump in my throat at the mention of his name. "No, he wasn't." My voice cracked with emotion. Kitty picked up on it right away.

 "Oh, Nicole is everything okay between you two?" 

I took a deep breath. "No, it's not
." I began to cry. I spilled my guts and told her everything. 

"What the hell is wrong with him? Well
, I will give him a good talkin’ to when I hear from him again."

 
"No, please don't.” The last thing I wanted him to think was that I was ratting him out to his mother. 

"Well, you better give him hell when he gets home. He should have just settled on that case, instead of working all these late hours with loose women."

 "Did he tell you they offered him a settlement, Kitty?"

 
She took a deep breath as if she was unsure of herself. "Yes, he didn't want you to know. But I don't care, I'm so angry with him right now. Apparently, this case he's working on has something to do with Ryan's natural father and his family. He was offered some kind of settlement, but he refused because he wanted to win it for you and Ryan." I was so confused. Why would Dailan have kept that from me? Apparently, there were a lot of things Dailan seemed to be hiding from me. Kitty and I said our goodbyes and I went to lie down. I fell into a deep sleep and was awakened by Dailan when he walked into the bedroom. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I couldn't even look at him. I was beyond disgusted.

 
"Okay, let's hear what the fuck I'm getting accused of now?"

I stood up and whisked past him. I wasn’t awake enough to deal with this right now. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward him. “Get off of me!” I shouted.

“No, Nicole. Why the hell are you accusing me of sleeping with Rachel?”

“Um, I don’t know
, Dailan. Could it be because she answered your phone when I called you last night and said that you were busy with her, before hanging up on me!”

“I left my phone at
the bar in the hotel when I went up to my room last night. She must have answered it.”

“And I’m suppose
d to believe that?”

“You can believe it or not. I know it’s the truth and that’s all that matters. Maybe you should call Paul and ask him who Rachel spent the night with
. You need to pull it together, Nicole. This hatred that you have for her is making you paranoid.”

“I'm paranoid! I love it! That bitch answers your phone that
you supposedly left at the bar, tells me that she’s basically having sex with you when I was trying to call you about our daughter, and you still defend her. You are unbelievable, Dailan!"

 
"I'm not defending her, Nicole. I never defended her, but you've got it in your head that I want to sleep with her and I don't! If you want to know the truth, I could have last night, but I told her I love my wife; something that you're making very difficult to do lately with your attitude."

 
"You know what, Dailan, sleep with her then, because I don't really care anymore! If I'm such a bitch that you are finding it hard to love me, then go have an affair!"

 
He rolled his eyes and shook his head at me. "What the fuck is your problem anymore, Nicole?"

 
"I'm going to tell you what my problem is. I'm sick of feeling like I'm raising Ryan and Ella on my own. Even when you're here, it's like you're not. Your mind is always on that stupid ass case. Which by the way, you failed to mention to me the offer that was made to you."

 
His eyes widened. "Yeah, Dailan, I know all about it. Are you really that obsessed with winning that you're willing to sacrifice your family for it?" 

"I don't make deals with scumbags, Nicole."
 

"This could have all gone away if you did. You wouldn't be running yourself ragged with work and we wouldn't have to be worrying about him getting custody of Ryan."
 

"You're the only one that's worried about that. I know it will never happen."

"Why couldn’t you have just taken that offer for me?" 

"Because I'm not your
dad."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
 

"If you had taken their offer years ago, you and I wouldn't be standing here having this conversation right now, would we?"
 

"You are such a bastard sometimes
, you know that."

"Truth hurts
, doesn't it? If you want to keep letting these people rule your life, then go right ahead, but I will be dammed if I'm going to let him use Ryan to get what he wants."

 
"You are the most insensitive person that I know!"

 
"Why, Nicole? Just because you don't like what I have to say? I'm sorry if I'm being honest." 

I closed my eyes to try and fight the tears. "I can't deal with this anymore."
 

"Yeah, well that makes two us. I'm sick of Ryan asking me why you're so angry at me all of the time. I'm sick of being accused of shit that I'm not doing when I'm just trying to do my job and
, most of all, I'm sick of the person that you've become ever since Rachel started working for me." I bit my lip and looked away. "Nicole, I need to leave for a while if we ever want to try and salvage our marriage." 

I felt my jaw drop to my knees. I knew things were bad
, but not this bad. "What! What are you saying, Dailan?"

 
"I'm saying that I can't continue to give one hundred percent to anything as long as we’re fighting like this. I love you to death, but right now I have to win this case and it has nothing to do with my own selfish needs of wanting always to win. It has to do with never allowing him or that family to walk all over you or Ryan ever again, Nicole. Don't you see I'm doing this all for you?"

 
I shook my head. "No, I don't. I don't need you to do this for me. I just want my husband back, the one that I was married to before he took on this case." 

"
Well, I'm sorry, but that guy isn’t coming back until this case is over. I took this on and now I have to finish it."

 
I had an instant headache. I sat back down on the bed and rubbed my temples as the tears flowed down my face. "Where are you going?" I asked. 

"I'll stay with Tommy."
Great, stay with Tommy; one big frat party every day!

 
"And Ryan and Ella? You're just going to walk out on them too?"

 
"I'm not walking out on anybody, Nicole. I will still see them just as much, and if you need me for anything, just call me." 

"Oh yeah, just like I needed you last night," I said under my breath.

 "Do you see? This is why we need time apart. You can't go five minutes without getting your digs in."

I looked away. This wasn’t what I wanted by any means. I loved Dailan with all my heart. But I knew how stubborn he could be and I knew that he was not
going to sway from this case. “Do what you gotta to do.” Ella began to wake from her nap. Dalian looked at me one last time before going into her room to get her while I buried my face in my hands and let my tears flow freely.

Chapter 42

Dailan

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Ella. Nicole stayed upstairs, except for the few times that she came down to give Ella her medicine. I felt really bad seeing the sadness on her face, but I knew in my heart that this was what we both needed. I still loved her with everything that I had and I wanted it always to remain that way. I didn’t want to be one of those couples that just stayed together for the sake of their kids. What Nicole and I had was special and I didn’t want to lose that and end up with us hating each other forever. I knew that she didn’t understand why I was doing this or why I was so hell bent on taking on this case. I only hoped that once it was all over with that she would understand. I was happy to see Ryan when Nicole’s dad dropped him off and, at the same time, dreaded the news that I had to break to him.

“We caught a bunch of crabs and cooked them up!” Ryan’s smile was a mile wide.

“Oh yeah? Did you eat them?”

“Yup!
They were really good too.”

Nicole came downstairs to get Ella
. “Hey, Ryan, did you have fun?” she asked, trying to sound as if nothing was bothering her.

“Yeah, lots!”

Ryan’s smile was quickly replaced with worry. “What’s the matter?” he asked Nicole.

“Umm, nothing.
I’m just not feeling too great. I’m going to give Ella a bath if you need me.”

“Okay,” Ryan answered
. I could tell that he wasn’t buying it. The look on his face tore me up inside. “Was she crying?” he asked as he sat down next to me on the couch. I never lied to him and I didn’t intend to start now. I nodded. “Why?”

I took a deep breath. “Look
, Ryan, you know that me and your mom have been arguing a lot, right?”

He nodded.

“Well –”

He cut me
off before I could even finish. His bottom lip dropped and his eyes filled up with tears. “Are you guys getting divorced?” he asked as the tears rolled down his face.

“No, no, no!” I tried my best to reassure him that was not happening, but I could still see doubt in his eyes. “I need to completely focus on this case right now
; it’s really important. So that means I will be spending a lot of extra time at work and your mom gets upset when I do that because she wants me spending time with you guys. So, I’m going to stay with Tommy just until this is all over.”

Ryan gasped. “No! I don’t want you to leave! What if she promises not to get mad at you anymore, then will you stay?”
The tears were streaming down his face.

“Ryan, listen to me
, buddy. I will still see you all the time. I will spend all my free time with you and Ella, I promise. I’m just fighting with your mom all the time over this and it’s not good for any of us.”

“I don’t care
; it doesn’t bother me if you guys fight. Just please, don’t leave!”

“Ryan, it won’t be for long, I promise. And then things will be so much better for all of us.”

He shook his head and tried to catch his breath between his sobs. “I love you and I love her. Why can’t you just stay?” I pulled him closer and kissed him on the head. I waited until he calmed down a little. “Hey, do you want to watch that horror movie that we watched the previews for the other night?”

“My mom said I can’t watch it,” he said sadly.

“Well, I say you can. But only if I see a smile first.”

He did his best to form something that resembled a smile. I messed up his hair and found the movie on-demand
. About a half hour in, I looked over at him and he was fast asleep. He was such an awesome kid, I hated that this asshole had to come out of nowhere to use him for his own personal gain. I lifted him up and carried him up the stairs, realizing for the first time just how big he was getting. He sat up, half asleep, and I helped him put on his pajamas.

“Good night
, Ryan.”

“Night,
” he replied in a groggy voice.

I went into Ella’s room and kissed her on the head as she slept. “I love you
, baby girl,” I whispered. I took a deep breath before heading into the bedroom to get my things. Nicole was on her laptop. She didn’t even look up when I walked in. I started to throw my stuff into my bag and turned around when I heard her close her laptop and begin to speak. “Two years.”

“What?”

“We lasted for two years.”

“Nicole, stop talking like that
; we’re not getting divorced.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

“I told you why.”

“But that’s not what we agr
eed to.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Two years ago, we promised that no matter how hard it got, we would work it out.”

“And I am trying to work it out, Nicole.”

“How? By running away?”

“I’m not running away. I’m doing this to make things better for us.”

“Are you? Or are you doing this so you can figure out exactly what it is that you want?”

I sat down on the bed next to her.
“I know what I want. I want you, Nicole. I want us the way it used to be. I look at Paul from work. He and his wife hate each other; he’s fucking other women every chance he can get. I don’t want that to be us ten years from now. I know you don’t understand why I’m doing this and that’s okay. But I promise you things will be better once this is all over.” I went to kiss her on the cheek and she backed away.

“I don’t see how it’s going to get any better. All it’s going to do is make me resent you more and more.”

There was no getting through to her. “Well, I guess we’ll have to take that chance. Because nothing that you do or say is going to make me back down on this case and as long as I’m working on it, I cannot be living in this house.”

“Yeah, how convenient.
Leave your wife and have all the time you want now with your slutty assistant.”

I stood up and shook my head. She just was never going to let up with this Rachel thing and it was seriously pissing me off. “If I’m gonna keep getting accused of shit
, then maybe I should just do it. At least your relentless digs would then be justified.” I quickly threw the rest of my things in my bag. “There’s just no talking to you, Nicole.” She bit her lip and looked away. I walked down the steps and headed out the door with a heaviness in my chest. That was not the same girl that I had married. She had changed so much in such a short time. I knew that a lot of it had to do with all of these old ghosts from her past. But why couldn’t she see that I was her present? I loved her so much and I hated to see her feeling this way, but there was nothing that I could to do fix the situation and chase away those ghosts for her permanently until this case was over.