talk about,” I said.
Helen stared at me without speaking. “May I be your big sister right now?”
“I’d love that,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Give Alex a chance to tell you his side of things. Don’t jump to conclusions. Your past rush to imagine the very worst caused you so much pain. You don’t want to make a harsh judgement without facts. What appears to be is not always the reality.”
Her words sounded familiar. All air left my lungs when the memory came to me. It was the conversation that Alex and I had when I thought he’d stolen Kayden and taken him to New York. His words came to me as if he was right there speaking them.
Is it so difficult to trust me? I can’t believe you’d think such horrible things about me. From the very first day we met Chaz, I’ve done nothing but show you that you can trust me.
But this was different. A woman was pregnant with his child. A woman that he had proposed marriage to or at least promised that they had a future together.
“She couldn’t have lied to me!” I said.
“How do you know? The only person you know is Alex. A man who refused to be bullied out of marrying you by his family. I’ve never seen two people who loved each other as you did. From everything I know there must be a rational explanation to this,” Helen said.
“I wish I was more trusting, like you,” I said. Fear coursed through my veins as I spoke. What if I did as she suggested and gave Alex another chance and he broke my heart?
But what if, like Helen said, there was an explanation for it? Alex had asked me to trust him. I squeezed my fist together. I wanted to take that leap of faith so badly. I stood on the edge of the cliff, frightened to make that leap that would lead me to calling him. To open my heart to him.
Before I could make up my mind, a rapt knock came on the door before the knob turned and the door swung open. The subject of our conversation appeared, his face tight in barely suppressed anger. Alex looked like he was about to pounce on someone.
Charlotte
“Hello Helen,” he said tightly.
“Nice to see you too,” Helen said and jumped to her feet. How about I entertain the kids in my suite while you two talk.”
“Thanks,” I said.
She shepherded Kayden and Kacy out, amidst Kayden’s protests after seeing his father. The door shut behind us and Alex came and stood in front of me.
“I don’t get this Charlotte. What did I do this time?”
I raised my gaze. I needed to see his reaction when I told him about Abigail. “Your fiancée came to see me.”
“I don’t have a fiancée. How can I have a fiancée when I’m already married?” he asked without flinching.
“Abigail. Will you deny knowing that such a person exists?” I said.
Alex sighed and sat on the chair, his shoulders slumping. “I know you have trust issues Chaz from your past or whatever but please don’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“You said you’d try and stay before running off. I do know Abigail and we were in a relationship, but the rest of it is not true. If she’s pregnant it’s not with my child, and we are not getting married.”
I wanted to believe him so badly. “Why would she say such things?”
“That’s something you’re going to have to ask her. The reason I know that she’s not pregnant with my child is because I used my own condoms every single time and had a vasectomy. If I wasn’t going to have a child with you, I was never going to have one with anyone else. Least of all her.”
I felt as if I’d been punched in the chest. “You did?” I closed my eyes and willed the pain in my chest to dissipate.
“I shouldn’t have agreed to a relationship with Abigail in the first place knowing that I was still in love with you and always would be. I thought maybe it would help me move on from the hurt. It didn’t so I ended it. She chose to ignore that and concocted this story about being pregnant and then went about telling anyone who would listen.”
“What do your parents say about all this?” I asked.
Abigail was the sort of woman they wanted their son to marry. The way she spoke, the way she held herself, she was obviously