Chapter 17
MILES
“You’re telling me she ordered a crib for your baby from a furniture warehouse?” Miles’s father asked him.
They were sitting at the table at Silas’s house, each with a piece of one of Chelsea’s apple pies in front of them.
She had been baking nonstop over the past week, which Miles supposed was probably some kind of pregnancy side effect that he didn’t understand.
He couldn’t complain. The products of her new hobby were to die for.
He hadn’t told his father that this particular pie had been made low-fat and sugar free, because he knew his father would have objected.
He didn’t want to argue about it, and he was grateful to Chelsea for preparing something that was both heart-healthy and delicious.
“I know it’s crazy,” he said now. “But the crib actually seems pretty sturdy. I mean, I’d have gotten her a nice one if she asked me to, but it seemed like she never even thought of that. I don’t know why.”
“Because she doesn’t see you that way, Miles,” his father said slowly. “Do you realize that?”
“She doesn’t see me what way? As a man who wants to buy things for his kid?”
“No. You know that’s not what I mean.” His father set down his fork.
“She doesn’t see you as a meal ticket. She’s not thinking about you in terms of what you can provide.
Do you understand how rare and special that is?
I’m sure that if she had given the matter any thought, she’d have known she was well within her rights to ask you for the most expensive crib available on the market.
And I’m sure she knows you would have given it to her.
But she doesn’t think like that. She’s not trying to figure out what she can get from you, even though she knows you have the means and the willingness to provide.
She doesn’t think of you as a rich man.”
That hadn’t occurred to Miles until now, and he frowned as he processed the thought. His father had put it in such callous terms—she doesn’t see you as a meal ticket. As though that was what most women would have seen.
But then — maybe it was. He had never had a serious relationship before, and part of the reason was that whenever he tried to get to know someone, he felt as if they couldn’t see past his name.
He was Miles Aspin, heir to Gold Standard, and it was always that subject that people wanted to talk about.
It didn’t seem to matter much whether those people were men or women, whether they were looking for romance or just camaraderie.
He never felt as if the connections he shared with other people were as genuine as he’d have liked them to be.
But his father was right. Chelsea was different.
She did seem to see him for who he was as a person, and not just what he could offer her.
She really didn’t seem to have even thought twice before buying that crib.
She could have asked him for something nicer.
He wouldn’t have been angry — in fact, he’d have liked the chance to get something for the baby. But she just didn’t think that way.
“I guess you have a point,” he conceded. “That isn’t the way her mind works.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Silas cut a bite of his pie and used the crust to scoop up some filling that had spilled out onto his plate.
“Do?” Miles repeated. “Why would I need to do anything about it? It’s a good thing. You said so yourself.”
“It is. That’s why you should do something about it, Miles. You should embrace this. You should do what you can to keep this person in your life, because she’s rare.”
“Dad, she’s going to be in my life forever. What are you talking about?” A prickle ran down his spine. “She’s having my baby. Even if… even if our relationship doesn’t last forever, there’s no reason we would ever be without each other, because we’ll be raising our child together.”
“But you should keep her closer than that,” his father insisted. “Miles, there’s something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you from the moment I met Chelsea.”
Miles’s gut clenched. His father sounded so serious. He had, if he was honest, expected that a serious conversation was coming his way, but he had hoped to dodge it for a little longer. “Don’t you like her?”
“I like her very much. Which is why I think you should consider making your relationship official.”
“Dad…”
“She’s a beautiful girl, Miles, and she’s kind and loving and wonderful to spend time with.
Now, I know the two of you are expecting a baby together, and you might think that ties you together.
But the fact of the matter is that she is not committed to you, only to your child.
She could leave at any time. And if you don’t give her what every girl wants, I’m sure someone else will offer it to her. ”
“Not every woman wants to get married, Dad.”
“Oh?” His father’s eyebrows lifted. “So, you and Chelsea have discussed this?”
“Well, not in so many words — but I know that isn’t what she wants. I know her better than that.”
“Miles, listen to me. If you haven’t had a real conversation about it, then you don’t know what she wants.
You might feel like you understand her, like you know everything about her, but she could be concealing her true feelings from you, and you need to make sure.
You need to talk to her about the idea of marriage. ”
Miles shook his head. “Dad… you can’t push this on us. I don’t think either one of us is ready for it.”
His father’s voice grew stern. “You need to get ready,” he said firmly. “You’re about to have a baby with this woman, Miles. And she is far and away the best thing that has ever happened to you. If you let her slip through your fingers then you are a damn fool, and you don’t deserve to keep her.”
Miles sighed. “I know this is what you want.” He paused. Maybe the right move here was to just give in. After all, everything he had done so far when it came to his relationship with Chelsea had been part of a plan to make his father happy. That was all he had wanted.
But this is different. This isn’t something I can fib about. The baby was one thing, because I really did plan on having a baby. The only thing I lied about was the timeline… and the circumstances.
But I can’t tell him I’m going to marry Chelsea. I can’t lie about that just to make him happy, because Chelsea and I aren’t going to get married. There would never be any follow-through. In fact, we’re planning on breaking up. I can’t raise Dad’s hopes for something that’s never going to happen.
But he couldn’t quite bring himself to tell his father that it wasn’t a possibility.
The whole point of the arrangement he and Chelsea had staged was to let his father think they were going to be something like a traditional family.
He certainly couldn’t let his father know that the arrangement between them had been a completely unromantic thing between near-strangers.
“I’ll think about it,” he said. “All right? I’ll give it some thought.”
“I’m sure you’ll come to the right decision once you’ve thought it over,” his father said with a smile. “And that’s why I have something for you.”
“What do you mean?”
Silas reached into his pocket and produced a small box containing a diamond ring.
Miles stared. “Dad… what?”
“Your mother and I always agreed that we wanted you to have this when the time came,” his father said.
He placed it on the table in front of Miles.
“There’s something special about the thought of my son proposing with the same ring I used when I asked your mother to marry me.
And I’m sure it will look beautiful on Chelsea.
You don’t think she’ll mind that it’s an heirloom, do you? And not a new one?”
“No, of course she won’t,” Miles said, feeling numb. Chelsea would never have objected to something like that. In fact, from what he knew of Chelsea, she would love it more than anything. The struggle here was much greater than the origin of the ring.
“I didn’t think she was the type to mind,” his father said, beaming. “Of course, you should probably get her another piece of jewelry to mark the occasion, too. Something that’s only hers.”
“Dad, hang on. You’ve got me halfway to the altar already, and I haven’t even spoken to Chelsea about this. I said I would think about it. That doesn’t mean I’ve decided to propose to her.”
“But you should,” his father said firmly. “Listen, Miles, just take the ring. You’ll make whatever decision you’re going to make, but take the ring now. Keep it with you, so that when the moment comes, you’ll have it ready. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Miles sighed. There was no point in an argument with his father about this.
In fact, arguing was probably bad for the old man’s health.
He picked up the ring. “You understand this doesn’t mean I’m going to ask her,” he said firmly.
“I’ll take it with me. I’m grateful you and Mom wanted me to have it.
And if I ever do ask Chelsea, or anybody else, to marry me, it will be with this ring.
But I need to be sure you understand that I don’t have any plans for doing that right now, and just because I’m taking the ring, that doesn’t mean my plans have changed. ”
“Yes, yes.” His father’s tone was so dismissive that Miles knew Silas was only humoring him, and that he really did believe a proposal was going to happen. The thought made him feel sick with guilt.
I didn’t lie to him. I went out of my way to tell him the truth here — that I have no intention of proposing.
Yes, he’d told the truth. But at the same time… wasn’t he responsible for his father’s misconceptions about his situation? He was the one pretending to have a serious girlfriend. He was the one who had set his father up to believe that something might happen between Chelsea and himself.
I got his hopes up already. There’s nothing I can do about that now. The only thing I have left to decide is when I’m going to tell him that nothing is going to happen between Chelsea and me.
He could have broken the news right then and there, but the thought of doing it was too intimidating.
He would have to work himself up to that moment and that conversation.
It couldn’t happen now, when he had just been handed his mother’s engagement ring.
This was the wrong moment to say something that would disappoint his father so badly.
He put the ring in his pocket instead. “Thanks for giving me the ring, Dad,” he said quietly. At least there was one thing he could be honest about. “It really means a lot to me to have it.”
“Well, it would have meant a lot to your mother, too,” his father said. “I just wish she could have been here to see this part of your life. To meet the woman you love.”
And that settled it. Even though the words were a punch to Miles’s stomach, he couldn’t have possibly told his father that he wasn’t in love with Chelsea. Not after that.
He wasn’t sure he could have said it anyway.
Because there was something between the two of them.
There had been that kiss. He would never forget the moment he had given in to the longing he felt and finally pulled her close.
He couldn’t forget the taste of her and the way she had melted into his arms.
His father was right about one thing. Whatever there was between the two of them, it was unlike anything Miles had ever experienced in his life, and he didn’t want to let it go. He didn’t want to let her go.
I can’t marry her. I know I can’t. But I was telling the truth when I told Dad I was going to be thinking about this. I think I’m going to find it hard to keep my mind off of the idea.
He let out a long sigh. Thinking about Chelsea like this was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. And now, all of a sudden, he was in over his head.