Page 118 of Rival Hearts

I finally turned around and left the lighthouse. When I got into the boat and headed back to Rhode Island, I didn’t look back.

33

CHARLOTTE

“Sorry to drop in on you like this,” I said to Maya when I arrived at her apartment unannounced.

“Never be sorry,” she said and hugged me. “I always have time for you.”

She shut her laptop.

“Were you working?”

“I can work later. It’s the advantage of working remotely, right?”

I nodded and sank onto the couch.

“What can I get you to drink?”

Usually Maya made us coffee or poured wine without even asking—she knew me so well. But wine was off the menu for a while, and coffee made me sick.

Most things made me sick these days.

It felt like I had every side effect of pregnancy, from morning sickness to food aversions to cramps.

“Water, please,” I said. “That’s about all I can hold down at the moment.”

Maya looked worried. “What did your doctor say?”

“She says that it’s nothing to be worried about at the moment—I can keep most food down when I make sure it’s plain, and she says after the first trimester is over it should get better. Apparently some people just have it worse than others.”

“I’m so sorry,” Maya said and rubbed my back.

I covered my face with my hands for a second and took a shuddering breath.

“It’s okay. It won’t last forever, right?”

“You’re right.” Maya didn’t sound as confident as I’d hoped she would, and I understood why.

The pregnancy would only last a few more months, but after that, I would have a baby, and my whole life would change.

And right now, everything felt impossible to face. As well as being sick all the time, I was very down in the mouth, and some days, I just wanted to turn around and go back to bed.

“You still haven’t talked to him?”

I shook my head. “What’s there to say?”

“I think he has a right to know. You deserve help from him if nothing else.”

I nodded. I knew she was right about that, but I couldn’t even think about Alex without crying.

“I just can’t go back to him right now. After the conversation we had… I can’t believe he ended up being exactly the same as my dad when that was what I’ve been trying to avoid.” I sighed heavily.

“Do you really think he’s exactly like your dad?”

“How could he be any different? He made his decision based on how much money he would get.”

Maya hesitated.