“He says he has DNA proof. But I don’t believe it. We, you and I, can’t have children, and so this has to be some sort of awful mistake.”
Grace struggled to put on her earrings and finally gave up, throwing them on the floor. Aidan grabbed them from where they landed on the plush cream carpet. “I gave these to you,” he said, in a disbelieving tone. “They’re your favorites.”
“I don’t want jewelry bought out of guilt,” she said, striding into the bathroom. She combed her fingers through her hair, applied a little blush and gathered her cosmetics bag. She may just have been totally humiliated by her husband, but she was a Southern woman, and she would not leave the suite without looking in control and in charge.
In the bedroom, she shoved the remainder of her things into her suitcase. So many thoughts were crashing around her mind, each delivering yet another blow to her self-esteem. Her husband had had an affair and a child by another woman. “If this is true, it means that I’m the one who can’t have children, doesn’t it?”
“Grace, we’ve been over this dozens of times before. The doctors told us it was no one’s fault that we couldn’t have children. That some people simply can’t conceive. Please don’t do this.”
“I have no choice. I’ve waited our entire marriage for a baby, and now I learn that you are a father.”
“Grace, honey, I recognize this is hard for you. I wish I didn’t have to bring it up,” he said, his head lowered, his expression downcast.
“But you did and now I have to deal with it. How could you do this? To cheat on me, on us, is unbearable. And the fact that you didn’t recognize how hard this would be for me, to know you had a child when I couldn’t. You have destroyed everything.”
“Please, Grace, don’t say that. It’s not over between us. It can’t be. We love each other. I’ve hurt you and I will make it up to you somehow. I should have told you about the weekend with Deidre, but I didn’t want to hurt you over nothing. And it was nothing. Just a mindless fling because I was feeling so isolated and alone in our marriage. But that’s no excuse. I broke the promise I made to you. Please understand I never meant to hurt you. You, of all people. I love you, Grace.” His face was ashen, his eyes pleading.
“A mindless mistake showing your total disrespect for me, for our marriage, and I’m to believe that it’s as simple as you making a mistake? How stupid do you think I am?”
“I don’t think you’re stupid. I’m the stupid one for ever having anything to do with the woman.” Aidan stood still, misery an almost tangible aura around him.
“Well, it’s too late now. You can’t go back and undo what you did. And because of what you did, there is a child and you’re the father. Is it a girl or a boy?” she asked, feeling nothing, as if her body were floating off somewhere, that none of this was real.
“It’s a girl,” he said, his voice flat, as if the realization hadn’t yet dawned on him that he was a father.
“How old is she?” Grace demanded.
Aidan glanced around the room his hands shoved deep into his pockets. “I guess she’d be four or so.”
“What do you intend to do about her?” Grace asked.
Aidan gave a long sigh. “I don’t know. I figured it would get cleared up tomorrow.”
“If you’re so sure the child is not yours, maybe you should take our lawyer with you,” Grace said, trying to sound reasonable and in control even as her heart crumpled in her chest.
Her husband had fathered a child with a woman he’d had a weekend hookup with. That hurt in the worst way possible. All those times they’d hurried to make love while she was ovulating, only to be disappointed. All those times...the heartbreak she’d had to face...while he’d sought the attentions of another woman.
“Grace, I need to learn what I can about the situation. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should take our lawyer, but first I’d like to see for myself what is going on.” He rubbed his palms together. “I know it’s asking a lot, but would you go with me to Spartanburg?”
She was halfway to the door when he said the words. She stopped and turned around so quickly her overnight bag banged into the back of her leg, delivering a stinging blow. “Me? You’re asking me to go with you? You destroyed my faith in you, and now you want me to help you solve a problem all of your making.”
“I have no right to ask this. And you have every right to refuse me.”
“You got that right. For now, all I can think about is how you deceived me and slept with another woman while we were trying so hard to have a child of our own... Or, at least, I was trying,” she said, her voice failing her as betrayal and anguish swept through her. Without warning, humiliation burned her throat. Her head swam. “I don’t understand how you could have done this to me, to us,” she cried. “But you did. You destroyed our marriage.”
Instantly, he was at her side. “It was a stupid mistake. I was feeling as if the life we wanted together would never happen. I wanted a child so much. I wanted our life to be complete. I thought that you would be happy if only we could have a child. Then I started to feel trapped by all the doctor visits, the appointments, the expectations.”
She stepped away, her back straight, her eyes boring into him. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. Not ever again.”
“Grace, please listen to me. I was in Spartanburg working with a client, working hard and wishing I could be home with you, instead.”
“A client? You mean this Deidre MacPherson person?” Grace asked, trying to decide how much longer she could stand to be near him, knowing what he’d done to her.
Aidan held her shoulders, his touch gentle and kind, the way he always behaved when he wanted her to understand something going on with his work Without warning, the time he’d come to her, telling her they’d have to mortgage their home in order to meet a loan payment flashed in front of her. The threat that they might lose their home had been one of the worst moments of her life. To lose her home meant she would lose the place she dreamed of raising their children.
“Yes, it was Deidre MacPherson’s business. She had just landed a major contract and we were providing technical support. I had to stay over the weekend with my technicians to get the system up and running. We went out to celebrate and something happened. I never saw her again or had any form of contact. I swear—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” She glared at him, gritting her teeth.
He stepped back. “I didn’t mean to remind you... All I want you to know is that I have nothing to hide where she is concerned. And that includes whatever this lawyer has in mind for us. There is simply no way I am the father of that child, but this Larry Knowles isn’t going to let it go. He has to do what his client laid out in her will.”
The warmth of Aidan’s body mingled with his cologne, filling her nostrils, and for a few pain-filled moments she wished they could simply forget everything that had happened and go back to bed. Feeling deflated and faced with the anguish in his eyes, she relented a little. “Oh, Aidan, you have ruined everything. Everything you and I ever wanted or needed is gone for good. I don’t know you anymore.”
“Please don’t say that. I’ve gotten us into a terrible mess. And I will find a way out of it, if only you’ll give me a little time to make things right,” he said, his voice shaking.
Aidan looked into her eyes, into the depths of her, her heart and her soul. They had always had this connection, this one-to-one sensation whenever they spoke about those things close to their hearts. She wanted to reach out to him, to soothe him, but the agony of what he’d done left her feeling so betrayed and angry she could barely breathe. She couldn’t touch him knowing that another woman had touched him, probably in much the same way. “I don’t want to deal with this, any of this.”
“Neither