CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX #2
He gave me a look. “Come on. We’ve known each other for a long time now.
I know you’re the kindest person I know.
I also know that you’re an extreme people pleaser, a loyal friend, and an awesome daughter.
I’m not talking about your parents; they can barely be considered that.
I’m talking about Gam. She’s your real mother, you know.
Maybe not biologically, but in every other way. ”
That brought tears to my eyes. “Thank you.”
“And what about me? What do you know about me? Don’t hold back.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said without really thinking.
He winced. “Ouch. Okay, maybe you can hold back a little.”
“You’re an indifferent father, especially lately.
You’re a terrible husband except that you’re amazing in bed and a good provider.
You seem to think that’s all there is.” I could see he wanted basic personality traits, too.
“You’re smart, you care about your patients, and you’re awkward around people until you get to know them. ”
“See. We know each other,” he said quietly, his eyes dropping to my mouth.
I cleared my throat and stood up. “Well. Maybe we should eat.”
“But I haven’t finished telling you what I need you to know before your phone starts ringing.”
That was ominous. “Okay. What else happened?”
“She filed an additional lawsuit claiming that I beat her up. She showed up today at the dental practice. She had bruises all over her. She looked like she went a round or two with a professional boxer. The police were with her, and they seemed very much on her side after hearing both of our sides of the story.”
My heartrate had picked up. I didn’t like where this was headed. “Oh God. Are you going to jail?”
“No. Not even close. Well, maybe I was close, I’m not sure…”
“Scott.”
“Right. Sorry. Scarlett is actually the one in trouble. Lana came to my rescue and reminded me that we’d had security cameras installed while I was at a conference. With Scarlett. So, she wasn’t even aware of the cameras.”
While he was talking, I walked to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. I poured him a glass before giving myself a healthy pour. I was just about to take a large sip when I remembered the baby. “Damn,” I said and almost slammed the glass back down on the coffee table.
His eyes widened. “What’s that about?”
“Never mind. Just tell me the rest.”
“The cameras were state of the art. They produced high resolution videos and also had audio. I figured I needed them since we keep several pain medicines on hand for dental procedures.” He took a sip of his wine. “Lana told the police we’d have proof because of the cameras.”
“She attacked you at the office?”
He nodded. “Thank goodness. If she’d attacked me at home, I wouldn’t have had a way of proving she was lying. Not that she even knew where I lived.”
I was shocked. I really had thought the two of them were having sex like crazy since I’d kicked him out.
“Anyway, Lana pulled up the footage from the night it happened, and it was clear as day Scarlett had lied. The video showed me backing away from her the whole time she was coming at me and offering to do all sorts of naughty things to me. When she tried to kiss me, and I pushed her away, the video was clear. My push wasn’t even aggressive.
It was just self-protection. She then goes into this diatribe about how she’s going to sue me, I’ll regret the day I was born, and so on.
But then she threatened you and the kids.
That’s when I told her she needed to leave or I’d call the police.
The audio caught her laughing at me and saying they’d never believe me over her. ”
“I bet the cops were surprised,” I said.
“They were. And they were very apologetic. They read Scarlett her rights and took her to jail because she filed a false report. Then they asked if I wanted to press any charges.”
“And you said no, of course.”
“Not true. I charged her with slander, sexual harassment, making threats, and a couple of other things the police told me I could do.”
I gaped at him.
“I needed her to learn her lesson. That she couldn’t get away with what she’d tried to do. I also wanted to make sure she’d stay away from us and the kids.”
I sat there quietly, too stunned to talk. He really hadn’t been sleeping with her. He’d never even planned to. He just liked her feeding his ego.
“Blair,” he asked beseechingly. “Is there an us?”
My eyes shot to his. “About that… I have to tell you something.”
He got a pained look on his face. “Geoff called you already.”
I frowned. “What?”
“My buddy Geoff? The dentist in Halliwell? He and his wife got divorced a few months ago. When he found out you kicked me out, he stopped by to give me fair warning he was going to go after you.”
“He did?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s been into you for years. He goes on and on about you whenever a bunch of guys are standing around at a dental event or playing golf or whatever. Anyway, I told him I’d beat the hell out of him if came anywhere near you.”
“What did he say?” I asked, fascinated.
“That he’d just wait for the ink to dry on the divorce papers he was sure were coming.”
“Geoff said that?”
He nodded.
“And I can’t believe he talks about women at parties…”
“Not women. Just you. And he’s a major perv. He’s the worst out of all of us.”
Good to know. Was it bad that it made my self-esteem go up a bit that Scott had guys telling him he was an idiot for letting me go? I hoped not, because I was feeling much better about myself.
“That is definitely not what I was going to tell you,” I said. “I’m pregnant.” He made a noise of utter shock, but I figured it was better to just rip the Band-Aid off.
“Pregnant?” he whispered.
I smiled, happy that he wasn’t upset. If anything, he seemed pleased. “Yeah. Pregnant. Again.”
“I think that’s wonderful news.”
He got up to come sit beside me. “Can you give me another chance?”
I didn’t give him an answer immediately.
I’d thought I would never even consider taking him back.
But he had never so much as kissed Scarlett.
Had he had an emotional affair with her?
Hell, yes. I’d thought those things were just in romance novels, but this one was very real.
I knew some people thought of an emotional affair as being worse than a physical one, but I was not one of them.
I thought that with time, I could forgive him the emotional affair.
Yes, the things he’d said in the texts to her would be difficult to get past. But I never would’ve gotten over a physical affair. Never.
I thought long and hard before I answered him, not caring that he was squirming in his seat waiting for the answer.
I knew it would be incredibly difficult to take care of the four children and ramp up the cookie business to a level where it would make enough money to house, feed, and clothe us.
Add in pregnancy and then the chaos of a new baby?
It seemed impossible. Oh, I knew Scott would pay child support. But who knew if it would be enough?
And the money I’d added to the account Gam had started for me? It wasn’t enough yet. I had a figure in mind that I’d need to get the cookie business going to the point I could support our children totally on my own.
I bit my lip. “I’m willing to try,” I said, feeling both a sense of let down and a sense of relief.
He let out a gasp of of happiness. “Thank God!” He tried to pull me into his arms. “I’ve missed you so much. I think about you twenty-four, seven.”
“Wait,” I said, pulling back. “I have conditions.”
“Anything,” he said crushing me to him.
My face was buried in his chest, so it came out muffled. “I want to go to couple’s therapy,” I said, and he nodded his head vigorously.
“Of course. I think we probably need it. Me more than you,” he amended quickly.
“And I want you at the kids’ events. They need to know you care about them.”
“Done. I’m sorry I’ve been a shit husband and father. I swear I’ll do better, Blair. I swear it.”