I shake my head.
“But, how did you take out the loan? Both our names are on the business.”
“Before you joined the military, you gave me power of attorney.”
He nods over and over, being hesitant and careful with his words. “Well, okay then. I guess I can hardly blame you for things you did before I can even remember what or who I was.”
I blow out a relieved breath. “I’m really glad to hear you say that.”
“Ava, it’s only twenty-four thousand dollars. It’s not that big a deal in the overall scheme of things. Most people have much more debt than?—”
“That’s not all.”
He cocks his head in confusion, questioning me with his slanted brows.
“It worked.”
“What do you mean?”
“It worked. The last embryo transfer. It worked. I’m… we’re...” —I look down and put a hand on my stomach—“having a baby.”
Nowhis hand pulls away. It pulls away as quickly as if mine were on fire.
“We’rewhat?”He slides out of the booth and stares oddly at my stomach. “No. No, no, no. I’d have felt it.”
“I’m only eleven weeks. I didn’t even find out until the day of your funeral.”
Hands rake through his hair—both of them this time, as if he’s doubly frustrated. “How in the hell could you not tell me about this?”
“I tried. I tried so many times. I didn’t say anything in the hospital because everyone was thinking your memory would return at any second. And then that first day back, under the tree, I was going to tell you then, but you stopped me and said you didn’t want to hear anything else about our life.”
He scoffs loudly. “And you thought that meant I wanted you to withhold crucial information from me? Jesus, Ava. Who does that? I’ve been back for a month. You’ve had plenty of opportunities. We’ve slept together a half dozen times for Christ’s sake. What the hell were you waiting for?”
“I was waiting for the blood tests. They came this morning. The baby is healthy.”
“Fuck.” He stomps across the floor, looking madder than I’ve ever seen him.
I stand. “Trevor, you just said what we did before didn’t matter. You were ready to accept the fact that I didn’t tell you about the loan.”
“Yeah? Well that was before you dropped a nuclear bomb on me. A fucking baby? We don’t even know each other.”
I step toward him and put a hand on his chest. “Wedoknow each other, Trev.”
He backs away. “We’redatingAva. Jesus Christ, we’re nowhere near ready.”
“We’d been ready for years. We wanted a baby.Youwanted a baby.”
“Maybe that other guy wanted one, but…fuck…” He walks around the counter. “I can’t deal with this right now.”
Tears collect in my eyes as I follow him up the stairs to the apartment. I watch him as he looks around, his eyes darting from the coffee table to the end tables, to the kitchen counter. “Where are all the baby books and shit? Have you been hiding those from me as part of your deception?”
“I hadn’t gotten any yet. I was waiting until the first trimester was over.”
He turns, his stare harsh and unforgiving. “Who else knows? Do Chuck and Dawn know?”
I shake my head. “Only Maddie, Regan, and Patrick.”
He belts out a desperate laugh. “Just fucking great. So the guy I’m about to work for knew even before I did. Wow.”
