“That’s what I thought.” Her face fell, eyes to the floor. “I’d like to see Theo again after school tomorrow before I leave. I’ll notify the nanny agency that the position has been vacated.”
The door slammed behind her. Her perfume lingered and wouldn’t let go, cruel punishment.
I stood there a long time, staring at the space she left, while her words burned a hole straight through me.
Not a crisis. A miracle.
I’d built empires out of strategy and ironclad terms. The IPO was to be the crown, the culmination of years of hard work—and if I didn’t lock every variable down, it all fell to pieces.
Jessa was the biggest and most unexpected variable I’d ever let into my life. And I just watched her walk right out of it.
Chapter Twenty-One
FEARFUL
Jessa
I wokeup on Sophie’s couch with mascara-stained cheeks and a headache splitting my skull.
A wave of nausea rolled through; my palms pressed to my belly—automatic now. Outside, delivery trucks hissed to a stop, and a siren stitched through above the noise. The city kept humming. I didn’t.
I grabbed my phone from the coffee table, noticing a text from Sophie:
Sophie: Had to run to a meeting. Keaton left for Holly Creek. Coffee is in the pot. We’re talking when I get back at lunch. Text if you need anything.
I forced myself to get up and shuffled to the kitchen. I poured myself a cup, warming my hands around it, but forgetting to sip it. Thoughts plagued me, keeping me there, staring off into space.
Everything hurt, emanating from the epicenter of my chest and out through every limb. I’d known Griffin would be a complicated man when he first ventured into Holly Creek Hops.But somewhere between telling bedtime stories to Theo and being the fake fiancée Griffin needed, I’d convinced myself he could love me back.
Idiot.
My phone buzzed.
I grabbed it, half-hoping it was Griffin with some miraculous apology.
It wasn’t.
Aunt Patty: We haven’t heard from you lately. Is everything okay?
I’d ignored other texts from my sisters and Mom lately. My eyes burned with fresh tears. Before I could think better of it, I hit the call button.
Aunt Patty answered on the second ring. “Jessa? What’s wrong?”
“Everything.” My voice cracked. “How could you tell?”
“Just a feeling. Oh, sweetheart. Talk to me.”
I told her about the gala and the pregnancy reveal.
“You didn’t tell him yet?”
I continued on about Sam’s cruel words and Griffin’s silence. About the fight in the penthouse and the panic in his eyes.
“I became too inconvenient for his life,” I finished.
She was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, “Men can be absolute fools when they’re scared.”
“He’s not scared. He just doesn’t want to be a father again.”
