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But I couldn’t stick around, not when I was feeling so damn overwhelmed. I had to put some distance between us before I said or did something to screw everything up.
CHAPTER 39
Scarlett
Rhett:Hi. I wanted to let you know that something urgent has come up with one of our projects down in South America. I have to fly out there as soon as possible.
Istared at the words on the screen for a ridiculous amount of time, trying to make sense of them. My heart was beating uncomfortably fast, and I couldn’t quite catch my breath. Plus, my hands were shaking, which didn’t help.
Cassidy sat across from me at the small conference table in our equally small meeting room. Scattered across the tabletop were all the files we had for ASS v Rivers Enterprises. The first pre-trial hearing was coming up fast and I was determined to be thoroughly prepared. It was the very same room I had brought Rhett to a lifetime ago. Well, that’s how it seemed. God, how I’d despised him that day.
Not anymore, though. Right now I was all tied up in knots, staring at his message, trying not to let on to Cassidy that I wasn’t paying attention to a word she was saying.
I fucking knew he was being weird on the weekend. Christ, did he really not want to be a dad so badly that he couldn’t even stand to be around me anymore? That one little baby movement he’d felt had been enough to send him running for the hills?
The very idea of that had my throat clogging up and tears burning my eyes.Blink, blink, blink.Fuck.
Okay, deep breath. I leaned back in my chair, chewing my lip as I tried to figure out how to reply.
Me: … ….
This was useless.
Me:I’m sorry to hear that. I hope everything’s okay.
I really, really wanted to say, ‘There’s a pretty big scan coming up soon, and I was hoping you’d be there for it.’But I didn’t. He’d made his feelings on fatherhood perfectly clear. If I’d somehow gotten confused by how much he’d done for me since then, well, that was on me.
Rhett:Everything’s fine. It’s just a pain in the ass.
Don’t ask him when he’ll be back because that would make you look like a desperate loser. I wished there was a goddamn etiquette book for this sort of situation. A chapter called,
What Should I Say to My Baby Daddy When I Suspect He’s Ghosting Me?
Sub Chapter: Who I’ve Gone and Caught Feelings For.
Rhett:I’m not sure how long I’ll be needed down there, so I’ll give you the contact details for my EA. If anything urgent comes up, she’ll know how to reach me.
Oh. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I wasn’t even going to be able to reach him directly. Jesus fuck, why did that hurt so much?
Me:Fine. Thanks.
That was it. I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. I tried to stifle the sob that bubbled up in my throat, but it came out as a muffled little whimper. Damn it. The last thing I needed was for Cassidy to see me like this. Too late. She looked up from the papers she was reviewing, instantly frowning when she saw my face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I blinked rapidly, willing the tears not to fall. “It’s nothing, really. I’m fine.” Well, that was obviously a lie, since my voice came out shaky and unconvincing, even to my own ears.
Cassidy set down the file and leaned forward, folding her arms on the table. “That’s clearly bullshit. What’s going on?”
I hesitated, chewing on my lip some more. There was a good chance that spilling my guts would make me feel better. But admitting how upset I was over Rhett’s sudden trip felt so... pathetic.
Fuck it. “It’s Rhett,” I blurted out. “He stayed over after we went to the barbecue at the Parkers, and it was really…”
The memory of waking up next to him, that look on his face when he felt that little movement, was all I could see inmy mind’s eye. Maybe I’d subconsciously felt a flare of hope, thinking he was excited.
“It was really?” Cassidy prompted.
“It was nice. Then he got kinda weird and left abruptly.”
“Oh.”