The phone on his desk rang. He stared at it for the first few rings, struggling to snap out of his thoughts, and then he grabbed it. “Miles Aspin speaking.”
“Mr. Aspin, it’s Trudy.” She sounded rushed and out of breath. “Thank goodness I was able to reach you.”
“Trudy?” Miles frowned. “What’s going on?”
“I just got a call from Chelsea,” Trudy explained. “She’s gone into labor. She’s on her way to the hospital to deliver the baby.”
Miles froze. “And she… what did she say? What did she sayexactly?”
“I asked her which hospital she would be at,” Trudy said. “But she didn’t want to tell me.”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t she tell you which hospital she was going to?”
But he didn’t need Trudy to tell him the answer to that question. He knew. His heart sank.
She doesn’t want me to come. She doesn’t want me to meet her at the hospital. She called so I would know the baby was being born—but not because she wants me with her for the birth.
He couldn’t have been more devastated if she had stuck a knife through his heart.
Trudy’s voice turned brisk. “Well, that wasn’t going to stop me,” she said firmly. I called around to find out where she was going to be.”
“How did you do that?”
“I just gave your name,” Trudy said. “Apparently, she listed you as the father on her documents when she registered, and they released the information to me. She’s at St. Thomas’s. If you want to, you can meet her there.”
“You think I should?”
“I think you’re a fool if you don’t,” Trudy said. “And you can fire me for saying that if you want to. You need to hear it.”
Miles nodded. “You did the right thing,” he assured Trudy. “By finding out where she was and by giving me a kick in the pants. You’re right. I should be there. I’m going now.”
He had a meeting with Henrik Bekken scheduled in an hour, but Bekken was just going to have to understand. And if this meant Miles lost the man’s business, he would deal with that. He could stand to lose Bekken. He couldn’t stand to lose Chelsea. He just hoped it wouldn’t prove to be too late to keep her close.
“Should I call her back and tell her you’re coming?” Trudy asked.
“No.” Miles was on his feet, gathering his things as quickly as he could. “No, don’t tell her.”
“But don’t you think she’s going to want to know?” Trudy pressed him.
“Maybe, but…” He couldn’t give voice to his fear. What if the reason she hadn’t told Trudy where she was had to do with adesire that Milesnotshow up for the birth? What if it was more than indifference to his presence? It could be active hostility.
If I knew for a fact that she didn’t want me there, I would have to respect that. I would have to stay away. Well, if that’s how she feels, she can tell me to my face. I’ll let her go if it’s like that. But I have to at least try to convince her that I have a place in this day. And to do that, I have to speak for myself—not through a member of my staff.
“I’m sure she’s not in any state to be taking phone calls,” he told Trudy. “I’ll just get over there as quickly as I can. Thank you for calling me.” He hung up and pocketed his phone.
For a brief moment, he glanced at his computer. He really ought to send emails out to Bekken and some of his own partners. If he was going to miss this meeting, he should try to make arrangements for someone else to handle it. But that could end up taking too long. He might be here for half an hour if he tried to sort out the meeting, and he didn’t have that kind of time. His assistant could handle it. He called out to Henry as he passed, but he had no time to explain. He had to get to Chelsea — and to his child.
He hurried through the building and paused at the elevator — but the idea of waiting, even for that, was more than he could stand right now. His child was being born. The woman he loved was on her own?—
The woman I love? Where did that come from?
But the word felt familiar and obvious the moment it formed in his thoughts. It was as if he had said it a thousand times.
Oh, my God. How did I get this so wrong? How could I have thought anything was more important than— than the two ofthem? How did I ever let them get away? I’m the biggest fool on the planet.
He had to get to the hospital as quickly as he could — to witness the birth of his child, and to beg Chelsea for her forgiveness.
CHAPTER 22
