Chapter Two
Eric’s hand flew to my back and caught me before I fell. Just this morning, I had discovered I was pregnant, and my plan had been to tell Mitch tonight over our special anniversary dinner, but how could I tell him now?
Mitch stood frozen in place. He hadn’t yet blinked or swallowed.
After nudging Eric, I too, was unable to move.
How could that boy be Mitch’s? Aside from the same kind of hair, they looked nothing alike. The boy had the same shape of face as his mother’s, if anything, the boy was a male image of her. Not of my boyfriend. And they were American, where Mitch was as Canadian as could be.
It wasn’t possible.
It couldn’t be.
Had to be a mistake.
“Why don’t you come over and say hi to Jackson, Mitchy?”
He blinked rapidly but slowly moved his gaze from the woman who stood a few inches shorter than him, over to the boy – his son. Allegedly. The Adam’s Apple bobbed, and he cleared his throat. “Uh, hey there, little guy.”
However, his gaze didn’t remain on the boy. For a heartbeat it flickered to me, and behind those dark blue eyes, I saw fear. Unbridled fear.
Eric walked over to the three of them. “Why don’t you sit over in the waiting area there and take a minute to breathe.”
He pointed to the long couch and a couple of boxy chairs management put out for the guests, however, they were rarely used. Jackson’s sitting on them was giving them more love than they’d received in a long while.
I stepped back and leaned heavily on the top of my desk, unable to fully comprehend what was going on. Mitch, my Mitch, had a kid? With someone else? But I was going to be the one to tell him tonight. And now this other lady has arrived, unannounced, and totally dropped the bomb on my boyfriend. On us, really. Judging by the terror in Mitch’s eyes and the worry all over his face, having a child wasn’t in his future plans and my heart broke knowing that.
Eric walked back over to my desk. “Didn’t see that coming.”
Mitch sat on the arm of one of the chairs, while Jasmine fell into one of the seats and Jackson opened his backpack and took out some toy cars, zooming them all over the floor.
“I know I’m just dropping this whole situation on you, but I needed you to sign off on a few documents.” Jasmine tried sounding sympathetic, but it wasn’t working to soften Mitch at all.
He remained ramrod straight, still pale, and no discernable expression on his face. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was true shock.
“Eric?” My own voice quivered as I spoke.
He was back at the desk, his pen scratching across the papers. He glanced up quickly. “Yeah?”
“Is he going to be okay?” I whispered from the side of my mouth as I couldn’t bare to tear my focus away from my man.
His focus flew over to Mitch. “I think it’ll take a bit for the news to sink in, but yeah.”
“He doesn’t look good.”
“His whole world just flipped upside down.” The pen tapped against the desk. “Imagine what that would do to you?”
It had. This morning, at 6:46 am. I was late, so yesterday I took a leisurely drive to the next town over to buy a pregnancy test. I knew everyone at the local drugstore, and if they saw what I was purchasing, gossip would spread faster than wildfire. Small towns talk. A lot. And they don’t forget, something my new friend Lily had learned the hard way.
“How’s Lily doing?” Lily, Eric’s girlfriend, was due any day with her first child. The child wasn’t Eric’s, but he said he was going to treat it like it was. No doubt, he was going to be a great dad.
“She’s good. Tired. Slept a lot yesterday.”
“I’m so excited for you guys.”
“I’m excited too. Any day now.” He closed the binder and filed it back on the shelves. “Alrighty. Heading home.” But he paused and stared at his best friend. “First, I’ll go and check on Mitch.”
Eric walked around, his footsteps echoing against the concrete floor. “Jasmine, right?” She nodded. “Obviously, this is big news for Mitch. Why don’t you leave me the number of the place you’re staying at and give him a day to work through this? He’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
“We’ve rented a cabin on Bay Drive, near the end.” Jasmine dug through her purse and pulled out some papers, hastily flipping through them until she found what she was looking for. “Here’s the place.”
Eric held his phone over top and took a picture. “Thank you. Give him time.”
“We’re only here for a week, and I need him to sign a few documents.” She gathered her things. “Pack up, Jackson, and let’s go.”
When all was collected, the hurricane of change breezed by me.
Whether I wanted to be a part of West Coast Air at the moment or not, I was still in uniform and had to act accordingly. I swallowed down the budge at the back of my throat. “Do you need a ride?”
She lifted her phone. “Nah, my cousin is enroute.” She tugged her son’s hand, who had a firm grip on his teddy bear. “Oh, crap. His suitcase. I’d hate to ask, but do you mind grabbing it for me?”
I slowly shook my head. “Not at all.” While she made her way to the door, I walked over to Mitch. “Hey, honey.” For assurance I rubbed his leg but got no response out of him. Wanting this day to be over with, for an entirely new reason, I grabbed Jackson’s suitcase and raced it over to them. “You have a great day.”
Normally I would thank them for flying here, but polite words failed to produce. Instead, I wanted to scream, but I also wanted to be back with my man, so I left her outside under the darkening clouds. Back in the building, I sat next to Mitch.
“Take him home. We’re done for the day anyways.” Eric sat back at the desk and grabbed my walkie-talkie to announce we’re closing for the day.
With our things in hand, he gave me a pat on the back as I tugged Mitch outside to the car.
Guess I was driving home since there was no way Mitch was in any condition to drive. The man could hardly move properly.
“Say hi to Lily for me.” I waved at Eric.
“I’ll have her call you later.” Eric stood by the door. “And I’ll come by later too, to check up on things.”
“Appreciate that.” I fell into the driver’s seat. “Mitch?”
“After all this time, she shows up now?” He sounded far away, and he turned to face out the car window.
“Should I cancel our reservation?” Just thinking about having to pick up the phone was like a knife through the heart.
“I don’t know. I just need to think.”
Mitch was in bad shape, so my plan for tonight went straight out the window. Probably wouldn’t be able to share our exciting news with him for a while, but how long is too long to wait? Obviously whatever time between him and Jasmine, so if I told him within that time frame, it should be good, right? One day later wasn’t too much to ask, was it? Damn. I hated arguing with myself.