Wayward Hearts (20 page)

Stunned surprise spread over her features. “Marco?”

“Yeah, you know, my former best friend you cheated on me with. I assume he's the father, unless you've moved on to someone else.”

The hurt expression on her face pricked at his conscience. Even though she deserved it, he probably didn't need to rub her nose in it at this particular moment.

She shook her head. “I never slept with Marco.”

His brain refused to comprehend what his ears had just heard. “Don't lie to me, Gloria. There's no point at this late date.”

“I'm not lying.”

The quiet dignity of her words rang with truth. Icy fingers of panic began a slow climb up his spine. His breathing slowed to almost nothing. “Then who's the father of this baby?”

Seconds passed like hours as Jason watched a lone tear slide down her heavily made-up cheek, leaving a trail in its wake. The tear reached the edge of her jaw, hung suspended there for a moment, then plopped onto the table below.

“You are.”

 

 

 

 

 

22

 

“I'll be back in a few days at most, Mama.” Maxi flew by her mother's wheelchair in the Hanleys' living room to toss another pair of jeans into her bag on the couch.

“Don't worry about a thing, dear. I'll be fine with Peg and Jason.”

Something about Mama's lighthearted tone made Maxi straighten to scrutinize her mother. The usual lines of worry and tension had disappeared from her mother's face. She wore a smile which brightened her pale eyes and made her seem years younger. Maxi hadn't seen her this content for a long time.

Peg poked her head out of the kitchen. “We'll take good care of her. In fact, I might put her to work at the shop. Our new receptionist isn't working out so well.”

Mama beamed. “I'd love to help. I haven't felt useful in years. And I'd get to hear all the good gossip first hand.”

“It's settled then. You go solve the world's problems in New York, and we'll be here when you get back.” Peg gave Maxi a sly wink. “Just don't stay away too long. That boy of mine will drive me crazy with you gone.”

Heat rushed into Maxi's cheeks. Had Jason told his mother about their date? About their kisses? In one jerk, she yanked the zipper closed on the duffel bag. “I'm sure he won't even notice I'm not here.” She tried to keep her tone light.

“Oh, he'll notice all right.”

The two older women grinned at her. Discomfort made her fumble with the strap of her bag before she hauled it over her shoulder. “I'll wait for Jason outside.” She bent to kiss her mother's cheek. “Stay well, Mama.”

Maxi tried to escape Peg's knowing look, but the older woman blocked her exit and pulled Maxi into a bear hug. “I haven't seen Jason this happy in ages,” Peg told her in a low voice. “Hurry back now. We'll miss you.”

Maxi swallowed a lump of emotion. “Me, too.”

Out on the little cement patio, Maxi breathed in the fresh air to calm her nerves. Why was she dreading this trip so much? Maybe she was afraid that while she was gone Jason would come to his senses and decide it was all a huge mistake. Maxi didn't want her absence to change the fragile momentum of this new turn in their relationship.

She carried her bag down the walkway to the lawn and set it by the driveway. Jason would be here in about five minutes to pick her up, and she needed to figure out what to say to him before she left.

Her sneakers squeaked on the grass as she paced. Nerves jumped in her stomach when she recalled their good-night kiss in the truck after their date. She could still feel Jason's arms around her, smell his subtle aftershave, and taste his warm lips. The enclosed front seat of his truck had become their private refuge. She hadn't wanted to leave, fearing reality would rush in and break the spell between them.

Now in anticipation of seeing him again, the same weak-in-the-knees sensation swept over her. At the same time, a bubble of joy threatened to burst up through her throat.

A taste of her dream was not enough. She had to find a way to let Jason know how much he meant to her before she left, give him something to look forward to when she came back. Despite her fear, she planned on telling him she was falling in love with him. He needed to know that she had a serious stake in this relationship, and that she would definitely be coming back to Rainbow Falls, at least until she could figure out how to make all the pieces of her life fit together.

Because even if she had to take a mallet to them, she'd make them fit.

Just then Jason's truck roared into the driveway and slammed to a halt. He jumped out without turning off the engine. The scowl on his face threw a momentary damper on Maxi's plans. The bubble of joy deflated like a leaky balloon.

“Hey.” He barely glanced at her as he picked up her bag and hefted it into the back of the truck. He opened the passenger door and waited for her to get in. The blank expression on his face caused prickles of alarm to skittle down her back. If she wasn't sure Peg was watching from the window, she'd have laid a huge kiss on that handsome face to make him smile.

“You OK?” she asked instead.

“Great.” His face was carved in stone. “Let's go.”

In the time he took to round the end of the truck, Maxi tried to think of what she could have done to make him angry. True, he wasn't thrilled she was going to New York, but he swore he understood and that he was OK with it. What else could have happened?

The truck vibrated with the force of Jason's door slamming shut. He didn't even bother to put on his seatbelt but threw the vehicle in reverse and gunned out of the driveway.

After a few miles of silence, Maxi took the bull by the horns. “What's up with you? Bad day at the station?” She prayed that's all it was.

“You could say that.”

His terse answer did nothing to help her. She opened her mouth to ask another question when he shot her a dark look. “I don't want to talk about it. Let's get you to the airport.”

Maxi swallowed hard. Why did this somehow feel personal?

Very personal.

The hour-long drive to the airport felt like five. Maxi stewed the whole time, wondering what had happened to make Jason so miserable. Had he decided their relationship was not what he wanted after all? She found herself lifting a silent prayer for him not to close his heart. Not after she'd finally had a taste of what romance Jason-style could be like.

God had answered when she'd prayed for Lily and the baby. Maybe he'd listen to her now. Her mind raced as she tried to form the right words, to put her plea into some semblance of clarity. All she could manage was
Please, God, please.
A few miles outside Bismarck, Jason suddenly pulled over to the shoulder of the road and shut off the engine. He sat staring over the steering wheel, not looking at her. Dread squeezed Maxi's stomach. This didn't seem like a romantic stop over before leaving. Something else was going on.

Courage failed her, rendering her silent. She couldn't bring herself to ask what was wrong. He'd have to bring it up himself.

Finally he heaved a huge sigh and turned to look at her. The abject misery in his eyes scared her more than any display of temper ever could.

Her palms slicked with sweat. “Jason? What's wrong?”

“I'm so sorry, Maxi.”

She tried to swallow, but the lump in her throat prevented it. “Sorry about what?”

He was breaking up with her. She knew it.

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “This…whatever it is between us…isn't going to work out after all.”

Searing pain sliced through her chest, more intense than the stab of a knife. She clutched her hands together in her lap to keep them from shaking. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

He turned to focus on her face, which she knew had gone white. “No. It's nothing to do with you. It's me—”

Fear morphed into explosive anger. “Don't you dare say ‘It's not you. It's me.' That's the oldest brush-off in history.” Her hands itched to slap some sense into him.

Then she saw the sheen of moisture in the corner of his eyes. Her breath lodged in her lungs, her mind whirling with horrible possibilities. Was Jason sick? Or worse, dying?

Jason straightened against the seat, hands clenched on the steering wheel. “Gloria's pregnant with my baby.”

Maxi's mouth dropped open. She blinked once, then twice. Nothing could have prepared her for that statement. As her mind struggled to grasp what he'd said, white noise buzzed in her ears, muffling every sound. Jason's lips moved, but she couldn't hear a word he was saying. The air in the cabin seemed suffocating. She had to get out of the car. She needed air, or she'd die right here in the front seat of his truck.

The handle stuck, then the door flew open, and she almost fell out onto the gravel. Blindly she ran down a gulley, then up into a clump of trees. Faster and faster her sneakers flew, as if trying to outrun the panic that throbbed in her temples. A gnarled tree root caught her foot, sending her sprawling onto the earthen floor. Pain shot through her leg. She moaned and lay still, not having the strength to get up, not caring about the dirt on her hair and in her mouth.

Jason had created a child with that…woman. How could he have been intimate with her?

Betrayal stung worse than the pain in her ankle. She lay there for several minutes until she heard footsteps pounding toward her. Strong arms lifted her to her feet and brushed the grime from her face.

“Don't cry, Maxi. Please.”

She wiped her forearm across her cheek, surprised by the wetness there, and stepped back to stare at him.

A sickening thought crossed her mind. Had he been sleeping with Gloria all the time she'd been here? Surely he wasn't that low. “When did this happen?” Her voice came out as a croak.

Crimson bled up his neck. “Months ago. I realized it was a huge mistake right after it happened. I broke up with her the next day.”

Maxi's breath came in choppy gasps. “Why did she wait so long to tell you?”

He raked his hand through his hair. “She says she didn't realize until a few days ago. She took a home test, and it came back positive.”

The buzz of anger burned through her. “She's probably been with several guys since then. How do you know it's even yours?”

“She swears there's been no one else since.”

“And you believe her? That lying—”

His finger on her lips silenced her. “Yes, I believe her. I've never seen her this upset.”

Maxi wrenched away and then forced herself to take in two deep breaths. Forced her mind to slow down and focus on the problem. A child would be a complication, but not one she couldn't handle. She raised her eyes to his. “This doesn't have to be the end. If a DNA test proves you're the father, I know you'll provide for the child. And I understand you'd want to be part of its life. We can work around this.”

Instead of looking relieved that she could accept his child from another woman, from one of her worst enemies, in fact, Jason paled. “I'm going to marry her, Maxi.”

His quiet voice and steady eyes told her he was deadly serious. She bit her bottom lip that had begun to quiver. “No. You don't mean it.”

His brows shot together in a fierce scowl. “I won't let a child of mine grow up without a father. The way I did.”

“You'd still be part of his life. You don't have to marry
her
to do that.” Her body shook from repressed emotion, a toxic blend of anger, hatred, and betrayal.

“Yes, I do. I never planned on having a child, but now that it's a reality, I
will
be a father in every sense of the word. My child will have the family stability I never did.”

“Stability?” Her tone bordered on hysterical. “You think you'll have stability with that man-hopper?”

The veins in Jason's jaw popped from being clenched so hard. “I'll make it happen.”

Shallow breaths moved in and out of her lungs. She knew that look on his face, the inflexible set to his chin. He'd made up his mind and nothing would change it. Defeat crept over her like fog over water. “Well, I guess Gloria got what she wanted all along. She finally got you.”

Maxi started to limp toward the road.

He caught up with her in two seconds and grabbed her arm. “Please believe me. This is not what I wanted. But it's the way it has to be. I'm so sorry, Max. I have no choice.”

At that moment, she felt his anguish as keenly as she felt her own. “You always have a choice, Jason. You're just making the wrong one.”

Their eyes remained locked for one heartbreaking moment where hope leaked out of every pore and drifted away on the breeze. Jason lifted one finger to touch her cheek, but she moved aside and shook her head. “Don't.” She bit down hard on her bottom lip, determined not to give in to the torrent of pain that threatened to erupt.

Her gaze dropped to the fullness of his lips—lips she would never again kiss—noting that they also trembled. But the stubborn set of his jaw told her he wouldn't change his mind.

“Come on. You're going to miss your plane,” he said.

Her daydreams of a life with Jason swirled up and evaporated into the clean country air. Suddenly the noise, crowds, and pollution of New York became the exact distraction she needed to once again escape the pain of Jason's rejection.

This time permanently.

 

 

 

 

23

 

Seated in Philippe Baronne's office the next day, Maxi fought to clear her mind of every thought, every emotion, to keep her mind a blank slate.

She'd cried herself out on the flight to La Guardia yesterday, much to the apparent consternation of the flight attendants. But at least they'd left her alone, curled up in her window seat for the duration of the flight. When the plane landed, she walked out of the airport with her carry-on bag and hailed a cab, feeling like a person underwater, where everything appeared muffled and slow moving. Once she got to her apartment, the crushing depression magnified. There was no way she could face Philippe in this condition. So she'd called, told him she was in New York as promised, but felt ill after her trip. Although annoyed, Philippe had grudgingly agreed to meet with her the next day. A twelve-hour reprieve. Could she pull herself together enough in that time to convince her boss of her suitability as a partner?