She nodded. “I know that. I know that, Sylvie, but we both know the love we have for a child is not the same as the love of a lifetime. I know he loves them. He’d do anything for them. That’s not what we’re talking about. That’s a different kind of everything. And if he’s told you even a little bit about me, you know I love him. I want the best for him. That will never change, he’s with me or he’s not. I know from what he told me, you’re the best for him. You were with him since the beginning, you came into his life just a year after his Dad died. So that girl before, that girl that became the woman he loved was everything to him. But time has passed. Now, I need to know you’re still the woman who will see to him, who will make him look like he looked at lunch even though he tried to hide it so he wouldn’t hurt me. Who made him look like I’ve only seen twice in my life and that was when Kara and Brand were new to this world and placed in his arms. Who made him look happy.”
Holy shit.
Creed was not wrong. She actually was happy he found me again.
“Okay, Chelle, gotta say you’re kinda freakin’ me out,” I admitted.
Her body gave a start then her lips twitched. “There it is, he didn’t tell you much about me.”
I grinned. “He did. I just didn’t believe him.”
Her lips tipped up but she didn’t commit fully to the smile before they untipped and she said softly, “You can believe him.”
I had to say, this was pretty cool and since it was, since she put it out there, since she paid two hundred dollars to do it and since she did really care a lot about Creed, I gave it to her.
“He’s my world. I’ve been lost for sixteen years without him. Lost, broken and lonely. Having him back makes me feel whole again. I’d die for him.”
“I hope you don’t have to but… good,” she replied.
I grinned at her. “I hope I don’t have to either. That would suck.”
She gave me a small grin back before she looked at my satchel then back at me. “Okay, well, I um… that’s kind of all I wanted to say or, uh… to hear. I don’t want to take up too much of your time so I’ll just head out.”
I nodded and stepped aside so she could pass. I followed her down the short hall and stopped away from the door where she stopped, hand on the handle, her head tipped down to look at it. She stood there a beat like that and didn’t move so I was about to call her name before her head snapped up and, not taking her hand from the handle, she turned to me.
“He didn’t tell you.”
Oh crap. This wasn’t good. Not only that she was clearly about to impart something on me that Creed had not gotten around to telling me but the look on her face that said not good things.
“Chelle, I don’t think –”
“It’s very him not to tell you,” she cut me off to say.
“If there’s something you’ve figured out he hasn’t told me, maybe we should let Creed tell me.”
“He might not and you should know. I know you don’t know already because you aren’t angry. You aren’t acting like a bitch.”
Okay, seriously did not like this.
“Again, how about we let Creed tell me.”
She ignored me. “He’s a good man. He feels guilt he shouldn’t feel. I did it to myself.”
“Chelle –”
“I deliberately got pregnant with Kara in order to trap him into marrying me.”
Holy shit!
I stared, mouth hanging open and everything.
Unfortunately, words kept coming through her lips.
“I knew he didn’t love me. I always knew he didn’t love me but I loved him. Too much. I did that to him and he loves Kara, Brand and when I got pregnant I knew something was wrong. He was battling with something in his past. He didn’t tell me what it was but I knew it was holding him back from living a full life. So I got pregnant, convinced him to try to get on with his life and he settled for me. I knew it the whole time, Sylvie. He’d never gotten over you, though I didn’t know the issue was you, and if I hadn’t done that to him, he’d still be alone. He could have come to you free and clear. You could have your own kids you’d named those names. It could have –”
“Please stop,” I interrupted her and before she could begin again I kept going. “I gotta say, it isn’t cool, doing that to a man, not deliberately. Shit happens, I get that but deliberately?” I shook my head. “And babe, I can tell you get that he feels shit for breaking your heart but there’s no going back now. There’s only forward and this is between you and Creed. You need to sit down with him and talk. It isn’t fair to any man to carry the load he’s carrying from breaking it off with you when the whole time you knew it was a possibility.”
She turned fully to me. “I’ve talked to him, he won’t listen.”