be angry? Don’t be fucking angry?” He cries out as he kicks the sofa.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, I lied and said I didn’t have children on the paperwork. I… I didn’t want to get in trouble,” I stammer in a rush.
He closes his eyes and shakes his head in disgust.
“This isn’t about us anymore, Cam. We don’t matter in this equation,” I whisper.
His eyes rise to meet mine.
“I knew that once you found out that we had a son, I would become your child’s mother and nothing more—the psycho that turned up with your kid.” I scrunch up my face, tears still falling. “I’d no longer be the woman desperately in love with you.”
“Don’t you dare,” he shouts as he points at me. “Don’t you fucking dare tell me you love me like this!”
“But I do Cameron,” I cry.
“Stop messing with my head! He’s not mine, he can’t be. I wore a condom. I was there, remember?”
“I know,” I sob. “One of them must have broke. I was on the injection too. I didn’t even find out about him until I was sixteen weeks pregnant.”
He frowns, staring at the floor as he listens.
“Do you have any idea of the shame I’ve carried for five years? I didn’t even know my child’s father’s name,” I whisper.
His eyes rise to meet mine.
“I had no way of contacting you. I didn’t know anything about you.” I shake my head. “My parents were distraught that I was pregnant to a man whose name I didn’t even know.”
He swallows the lump in his throat.
“Cameron, I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to myself for a week.” I sob. “Just one week. And I know it was selfish, but it was the happiest ten days I have ever had.”
“Don’t.” He growls.
“This isn’t about us anymore. This is about Owen.”
He drops his head. “I can’t do this.”
“You have to.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“Yes, you do. Owen needs a father, so you are going to step the hell up and be one.”
“Go to hell!” he yells.
“It’s time to grow up, Cameron.”
His dark eyes hold mine. “I will never forgive you for this as long as I live.”
My face screws up. “I love you, too,” I whisper.
With one last look, he leaves in a rush and slams the door, my heart physically hurts my chest.
I hear the car start outside and screech off down the street.
Dear God, help me.
It’s just gone light when something wakes me from my sleep.
Bang, bang, bang.
What the hell is that?
I’m delirious and feel like I’ve only just fallen asleep. It’s been a rough night. I grab my robe and head downstairs to whoever is banging on the door.
Is it Cameron?
I open the door in a rush to find a sheriff in front of me. My face falls.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
“Are you Ashley Tucker?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see some identification, please?”
I frown. “What’s this about?” I go to the table and retrieve my wallet and hand over my licence.
“Sign here, please.” He points to the signatory line.
I sign and he hands me over the envelope and leaves.
I tear the envelope open and pull out the document.
A court injunction for paternity and DNA testing.
My eyes rise as a cold shiver runs through me.
He’s about to get nasty.
19
Ashley
I sit at the kitchen table and blow into my coffee cup, deep in thought.
“What are you going to do?” Jen asks.
I shrug. “Go to work, do my job.” I pause for a moment. “Ring Eliza and beg for my bar job back. Carry on as usual.”
She picks up the letter for the DNA testing and rereads it for the tenth time. “So you have to go to this medical centre tonight?”
I nod. “He’s meeting us there.”
She blows out a deflated breath and shakes her head. “Shit, this is horrible.”
I smirk. “This isn’t horrible. This is a relief. What’s horrible is not being able to tell your son who his father is.” I widen my eyes. “That’s horrible.”
“What’s going to happen when you see him at work today?”
I shrug. “He’ll probably carry on acting like a spoiled brat, as usual.”
“What about you and him?”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “That’s over. He screwed any chance of that last night when I told him I loved him and he threw it back in my face.”
Jen frowns and grabs my hand over the table. “He’s just in shock, Ash.”
“I don’t care.” I sip my coffee. “I may be a lot of things, Jen, but weak isn’t