“Yes, organized to the teeth,” Serena said as she poured a dollop of cream into her cup. “God, I’m going to miss her so much.”
“She’ll only be gone for three weeks.”
“Oh, come on,” Serena said quietly. “Once she gets pregnant, do you really think she’ll stay?”
“She promised she would.”
“But she’ll have a baby to take care of.”
“Duh,” Marianne said. “But she loves it here.”
“Of course, who doesn’t? But come on, what kind of life will she have trying to raise a child on Alleria?”
“Hello?” Marianne said. “I have two kids and I live here quite nicely, thank you.”
Serena slapped her arm lightly. “I know, goofball, but you got yourself a husband first.”
Her friend frowned. “True. Hmm.”
“If Ellie’s determined to have a baby, she’ll want a husband eventually and she’s sure not going to find one here.”
Marianne sighed. “I have to agree with you there. The men who come to Alleria are only looking for short-term action.”
Serena gazed at her. “And yet you found Hector here.”
“Sure did,” Marianne said, winking as she rolled her shoulder seductively. “He came here looking for one hot mama and he found her.”
They both giggled and Serena said, “You got lucky and so did Hector. But the last thing most men come here for is a mama, no matter how hot she is.”
“I guess you’re right,” Marianne said. “It breaks my heart.”
“Mine, too, but Ellie will soon realize her child needs a father.” Serena leaned closer. “Remember I told you about my sister being a single mother? She’s struggled for years just to get by. It’s not right.”
Marianne sighed. “Alleria is no place for a single mother to go looking for a father for her child.”
The two women continued to chat as they walked away, never looking back to notice Aidan’s stricken look. He gazed at their backs until they disappeared into the hall. Then he sat down and thought about what he’d heard.
Those women were two of Ellie’s best friends on the island. If they expected her to leave, how could Aidan expect anything different?
That settled it. He had weighed all the options and there was only one clear way forward. Serena and Marianne were right. Aidan couldn’t take the chance that Ellie would realize she’d need to leave the island once she was raising her child on her own. He had to take action. He’d been tossing ideas around for the last three days and it was driving him crazy. But after hearing what those women had said, he knew there was only one solution.
Now he just had to convince Ellie.
“No. No way. Absolutely not,” Ellie said as she jumped up from her chair and faced him. “Are you crazy?”
Maybe he was, Aidan thought. When this same thought had occurred to him a few days ago, he’d dismissed it out of hand as a sure sign he was losing his mind. But after he’d overheard that conversation yesterday, he’d reconsidered and now this seemed the most logical solution to his problem. He could give Ellie a baby. They could do it the old-fashioned way. One problem solved.
“More importantly,” he continued, ignoring her protests. “I could support the child and you. You wouldn’t have to worry about being a single mother. It’s the best possible solution to the problem.”
“I don’t have a problem,” she countered.
“Not yet, maybe. But look at what this would mean in the short run. You wouldn’t have to travel back and forth and worry about getting jet lag, you know, in your ovaries.”
She whipped around. “Seriously, Aidan? Jet lag in my ovaries?”
“Hey, I’m just repeating what you said.” He shook his head, knowing he sounded ridiculous. But it was too late to turn back now. “And another thing. On the off chance that the injections don’t take the first few times, you wouldn’t have to drag yourself back and forth from Atlanta.”
She didn’t say anything in response, but he could tell she was thinking about that one.
“Plus, you can stay here on the island,” he pointed out reasonably, “as you said you’d prefer to do. Plus, I’m right here to support you through it all.”
“Uh-huh,” she said softly.
“I did some reading,” he continued. “There’s often a lot of anxiety attached to this whole process. You need to be careful or you could sabotage yourself. You know, you could make yourself infertile or something.”
“First, you’re nuts,” she said, counting off with her fingers. “And second, you did some reading? That’s so sweet.”
He shrugged. “I’m your friend. I’m concerned.”
“You’re my boss. You don’t want me to go.”
“That’s secondary,” he insisted so strongly he almost convinced himself. “Your health and well-being are my main concern.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Look, I appreciate it and everything, but your idea would never work.”
He leaned closer. “Why, Ellie?”
She gazed back at him intently. “Because you don’t want a child.”
“But you do.”
“Yes, and I have a perfectly sensible and practical way to make it happen. And it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
He drew a breath and changed tactics. “We’ve known each other a long time, right? We get along great. And hey, we’re in the same vicinity. So if you were, you know, ovulating and, you know, the time was right, all you’d have to do is call me and I’d be there for you.”
“You make it sound so romantic,” she said, patting her heart wryly.
“What? A turkey baster in some clinic is more romantic?” He chuckled. “Besides, this isn’t about romance, right? It’s about the baby you want. And it’s about your child knowing who his father is. Don’t you want that for him?”
“Him?”
“Ellie,” he said, “just think about it. This makes a lot of sense. I can have our lawyers write up a contract that spells out the terms for child support and whatever else you want it to say.”
She blinked at that. After a moment, she said, “I’m not sure I want you obligated to support my child.”
He’d never met a woman who didn’t want his money, but Ellie wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever known. He was still determined to provide support, though, but right now the exact terms didn’t matter. What mattered was that she would have the baby she wanted. And she would stay and continue to work for Sutherland, which Aidan wanted. And the deal would be done.
Just to be sure they were on the same page, he said, “I would want a clause that says you and the baby will stay and live on Alleria.”
“I always planned to do that.”
“But you might change your mind after the baby’s born.”
She shook her head. “I won’t.”
“You never know,” he argued. “You might want to get married someday.”
“I have no intention of getting married,” she insisted.
“You