Chapter 1 - Five Weeks
Nathan kept his hand against Emma’s stomach until their baby stopped kicking.
Then he stepped back.
He did not try to kiss her.
He did not ask whether he could stay.
That restraint was the first thing Emma noticed.
The second was how exhausted he looked.
Not tired from a red-eye flight or a board meeting.
Broken down in a quieter way.
“Five weeks,” Nathan whispered.
Emma nodded.
“Approximately.”
He looked at the ultrasound photograph again.
“I missed twenty-three weeks.”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt him.
Emma could see that.
She refused to soften it.
For too many years, she had been the one cushioning every consequence before it reached him.
Nathan sat across from her beside the bookstore window.
“What do you need from me?”
The question surprised her.
Six months earlier, Nathan would have asked what he could do to convince her.
Now he was asking what she needed.
“I need you to stay somewhere else.”
“Okay.”
“I need you not to show up without asking.”
“Okay.”
“I need no security team following me.”
“I came alone.”
“I know.”
Emma folded her hands across her stomach.
“And I need you to understand something.”
Nathan waited.
“If you’re here because you think the baby means we have to repair this marriage, leave now.”
His face tightened.
“I’m here because I love you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Nathan looked down.
Then he nodded.
“I’m here because I want to be the kind of father our child deserves, even if you never become my wife again.”
For several seconds, Emma said nothing.
That was the answer she had needed.
Not the answer she had hoped for.
Not a promise.
A recognition.
“You can stay in Newport until Monday.”
Nathan looked up.
“Thank you.”
“That isn’t forgiveness.”
“I know.”
“You may come to my doctor’s appointment tomorrow if you want.”
Nathan inhaled sharply.
“Emma.”
“You’re the father.”
His eyes immediately filled.
“I’ll be there.”
She stood.
Nathan rose too.
For one instinctive second, his hand moved toward her elbow.
Then he stopped himself.
Emma noticed that too.
At the door, Nathan turned.
“I almost asked you something.”
“What?”
He gave a sad smile.
“Whether there was any chance for us.”
Emma studied him.
“And?”
“I realized you already told me you don’t know.”
“Yes.”
“So I’m going to learn how to live without demanding answers before you have them.”
He stepped into the rain.
Emma watched through the glass as he crossed the street toward the small hotel near the harbor.
For the first time since the gala, she allowed herself to wonder whether Nathan was changing.
Then her phone buzzed.
A news alert appeared across the screen.
WHITMORE MARRIAGE IN CRISIS: BILLIONAIRE CEO SPOTTED IN OREGON AFTER WIFE’S SECRET PREGNANCY REVEALED.
Emma went cold.
There was a photograph beneath the headline.
Nathan.
Standing outside Harbor Light Books.
May you like
Taken less than fifteen minutes earlier.
Someone knew exactly where they were.
