“She doesn’t see me what way? As a man who wants to buy things for his kid?”
“No. You know that’s not what I mean.” His father set down his fork. “She doesn’t see you as a meal ticket. She’s not thinking about you in terms of what you can provide. Do you understand how rare and special that is? I’m sure that if she had given the matter any thought, she’d have known she was well within her rights to ask you for the most expensive crib available on the market. And I’m sure she knows you would have given it to her. But she doesn’t think like that. She’s not trying to figure out what she can get from you, even though she knows you have the means and the willingness to provide. She doesn’t think of you as a rich man.”
That hadn’t occurred to Miles until now, and he frowned as he processed the thought. His father had put it in such callous terms—she doesn’t see you as a meal ticket. As though that was what most women would have seen.
But then — maybe it was. He had never had a serious relationship before, and part of the reason was that whenever he tried to get to know someone, he felt as if they couldn’t see past his name. He was Miles Aspin, heir to Gold Standard, and it was always that subject that people wanted to talk about. It didn’t seem to matter much whether those people were men or women, whether they were looking for romance or just camaraderie. He never felt as if the connections he shared with other people were as genuine as he’d have liked them to be.
But his father was right. Chelsea was different. She did seem to see him for who he was as a person, and not just what he could offer her. She really didn’t seem to have even thought twice before buying that crib. She could have asked him for something nicer. He wouldn’t have been angry — in fact, he’d have liked thechance to get something for the baby. But she just didn’t think that way.
“I guess you have a point,” he conceded. “That isn’t the way her mind works.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Silas cut a bite of his pie and used the crust to scoop up some filling that had spilled out onto his plate.
“Do?” Miles repeated. “Why would I need to do anything about it? It’s a good thing. You said so yourself.”
“It is. That’s why youshoulddo something about it, Miles. You should embrace this. You should do what you can to keep this person in your life, because she’s rare.”
“Dad, she’s going to be in my life forever. What are you talking about?” A prickle ran down his spine. “She’s having my baby. Even if… even if our relationship doesn’t last forever, there’s no reason we would ever be without each other, because we’ll be raising our child together.”
“But you should keep her closer than that,” his father insisted. “Miles, there’s something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you from the moment I met Chelsea.”
Miles’s gut clenched. His father sounded so serious. He had, if he was honest, expected that a serious conversation was coming his way, but he had hoped to dodge it for a little longer. “Don’t you like her?”
“I like her very much. Which is why I think you should consider making your relationship official.”
“Dad…”
“She’s a beautiful girl, Miles, and she’s kind and loving and wonderful to spend time with. Now, I know the two of you are expecting a baby together, and you might think that ties you together. But the fact of the matter is that she is not committed to you, only to your child. She could leave at any time. And if you don’t give her what every girl wants, I’m sure someone else will offer it to her.”
“Not every woman wants to get married, Dad.”
“Oh?” His father’s eyebrows lifted. “So, you and Chelsea have discussed this?”
“Well, not in so many words — but I know that isn’t what she wants. I know her better than that.”
“Miles, listen to me. If you haven’t had a real conversation about it, then you don’t know what she wants. You might feel like you understand her, like you know everything about her, but she could be concealing her true feelings from you, and you need to make sure. You need to talk to her about the idea of marriage.”
Miles shook his head. “Dad… you can’t push this on us. I don’t think either one of us is ready for it.”
His father’s voice grew stern. “You need togetready,” he said firmly. “You’re about to have a baby with this woman, Miles. And she is far and away the best thing that has ever happened to you. If you let her slip through your fingers then you are a damn fool, and you don’t deserve to keep her.”
Miles sighed. “I know this is what you want.” He paused. Maybe the right move here was to just give in. After all, everything he had done so far when it came to his relationship with Chelsea had been part of a plan to make his father happy. That was all he had wanted.
But this is different. This isn’t something I can fib about. The baby was one thing, because I really did plan on having a baby. The only thing I lied about was the timeline… and the circumstances.
But I can’t tell him I’m going to marry Chelsea. I can’t lie about that just to make him happy, because Chelsea and I aren’t going to get married. There would never be any follow-through. In fact, we’re planning on breaking up. I can’t raise Dad’s hopes for something that’s never going to happen.
But he couldn’t quite bring himself to tell his father that it wasn’t a possibility. The whole point of the arrangement he and Chelsea had staged was to let his father think they were going to be something like a traditional family. He certainly couldn’t let his father know that the arrangement between them had been a completely unromantic thing between near-strangers.
“I’ll think about it,” he said. “All right? I’ll give it some thought.”
“I’m sure you’ll come to the right decision once you’ve thought it over,” his father said with a smile. “And that’s why I have something for you.”
“What do you mean?”
Silas reached into his pocket and produced a small box containing a diamond ring.
Miles stared. “Dad… what?”
