“It will.” Blake patted her arm, and she held herself stiff like it hurt to have him touch her. Might as well gut him right now. “Why are you brushing off what we have? Maybe I didn’t make it clear how I felt about you. Guys are stupid that way, but I love you, Carli. You’re important to me.”
At his words, her eyes filled with moisture, and she pursed her lips. Her gaze flittered away for a few moments, then looked back at him. “No, I’m not. I can’t keep doing this.”
“Doing what?” For the love of God, what was she talking about?
“I can’t keep seeing you if this doesn’t have the possibility of going somewhere.”
“Why do you say it’s not? I thought what we had was good.”
A tear streaked down one cheek, and he clenched his fist to keep from brushing it away. Her body language showed it wouldn’t be welcome.
Looking around, she lowered her voice. “I don’t want just sex. Eventually, I want to get married and have kids. I know we aren’t there yet and that’s okay, but someday I want that. I need to be with someone else who does as well.”
The urge was too strong to resist. He lifted his hands and captured her shoulders. “What are you talking about? That’s my ultimate goal, too.” Had this all been a simple misunderstanding about where they were heading? He could only hope.
“But not with me.” Her head shook, and her voice broke.
“Why are you saying that?” His hands pressed against her shoulders, willing her to know how he felt. He’d told her he loved her. What else could he say?
“You know there’s a good chance our kids would be deaf, right? And if Parker’s hearing loss is genetic and Harrison has a recessive gene, you might also have that recessive gene, which ups the chances of having a deaf child even more. Are you willing to take that chance?”
His hands dropped from her shoulders. Is this what was bothering her? It wasn’t something he’d really spent any time pondering. Parker being deaf had certainly spurned some emotion and opinion regarding the options available. But he hadn’t given the idea any further thought. Maybe because he’d convinced himself marriage was still a long way off. Would he want to take the chance of having a deaf child?
Carli stared at him, waiting for an answer. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “That’s something to worry about in the future. Why would I even think about it at this point?”
“You should. I don’t want to get more involved with you, then have you realize being with me is too risky and you don’t want to take the chance. And truthfully? If it’s something to worry about, to really stop and think about, then obviously it bothers you and you aren’t willing to take that risk. Or you think there’s something wrong with being deaf, even after all I’ve shown you.”
“Carli, I—”
Turning away, she whispered, “Bye, Blake.”
“Wait, Carli. We can talk—”
She pulled her processors off and stuffed them in her purse.
Ready to call out again and chase after her, he realized the atrium was crowded and people had begun to stare. Okay, maybe not the place for this. But they would talk again. No way he’d simply let her walk away. There were a few other people he might need to consult, and he’d definitely needed to do some soul searching, but when he told her he loved her, he’d hadn’t been spouting platitudes. Now to make sure she truly understood what that meant.
“Harrison, what a lovely surprise. We didn’t expect you here today.”
Harrison gave his mother her preferred air kiss, then shook his father’s hand.
“Did you need advice or have some problems with that new contract? You were planning to get that done this weekend.”
Moving into the living room, Harrison took Parker from Annie and kissed the top of his head. For some reason, holding his son always gave him strength and a sense of peace. More so now that he’d made some decisions.They’dmade some decisions. He and Annie were a team. They needed to stick together.
“Dad,youwanted it done this weekend. There’s no reason it can’t be finished up next week. There honestly is no rush. We don’t meet with the board until Friday.”
His father threw him a strange look but didn’t argue. Good. He needed them both to be amenable.
“We actually stopped by for another reason. We wanted to tell you something.”
His mother seated herself demurely on the Queen Anne chair, her hands folded in her lap. “Is it the date Parker will be having the implants done? His first birthday is next month. We thought they’d be in by then.”
“His six-month hearing aid trial isn’t even over until May.” Annie fidgeted next to him. It was obvious she was nervous that he’d back down with his parents again. Not today. He’d let her down too many times in the past, thus letting his son down, too. It wouldn’t happen again. He was standing his ground.
“Can’t Blake get that moved up?” His mother fluttered her hands, showing how silly she thought the rule was. And thinking Blake had that kind of power? Seriously?
“No, he can’t, and I would never ask him to, even if he could. It doesn’t matter, anyway, because after quite a bit of discussion and research, we’ve decided not to do the surgery.”
