Page 55 of Heart of Gold

“How many weeks are you?”

“Six or seven, I think.”

Dr. Sawyer looked relieved. “Great. You can still get the procedure.”

Shaking my head, my voice cracked as I said, “I want to discuss this with Max. If you will tell me how to get a hold of him…”

“Not to be crass, Ms. Finch, but I always believe in telling the truth. Maxwell has a bright future ahead of him, and this will only damper that. You’re young, aren’t you? How old are you?”

“Twenty,” I whispered. My birthday had been the day before.

“Do you go to college, or is this bakery your only aspiration?”

That was an asshole thing to say, but I just answered his question. “I go to college. I’m a junior at USC.” I stared him down.

“You sound like you have a bright future too. Why throw it all away for a little accident? You’re young. You have all the time in the world to have children.”

My mind spun. I didn’t believe Max would want this. He would respect me enough to have a discussion so we could decide what was best for us. I supported women choosing the path that’s best for them, and I knew I didn’t want an abortion.

My choice was to have this baby.

“Tell me how to get a hold of Max. I should be discussing this with him,” I said.

“He doesn’t want to talk to you. He was very angry when I told him. He asked me to take care of it for you.”

My eyebrows crinkled together. When we were together, Max was nothing but sweet and gentle. Our time together felt like a fairy tale. There’s no way he would be angry. He was there when the condom slipped. He was worried, just like me.

Max had also told me his stepfather was an honest man, an honorable man. A man who took a single mother’s son as his own would not be a manipulator.

“With distance, he saw this as a summer romance. You should too.”

It was more than that, but this man sounded truthful. I wanted to cower and hide, but I looked up at him. “I want to hear it from him. He told me he wanted to be a father…”

“He meant someday, Ms. Finch. He asked me to pass along the message that he doesn’t want to talk to you. He asked that you stop contacting him. He has changed his mind about you.” Dr. Sawyer paused. “We understand this wasn’t one hundred percent your fault. We can help you. I’m sure USC isn’t cheap.”

Money, this was all this was about. Swallowing back tears, I said, “I want to hear it from Max. Please. If I can hear this from him, I will let it go. I will never reach out again. Please, Dr. Sawyer. Please.”

“It’s over, Ms. Finch,” Dr. Sawyer said. My shoulders slumped, and I crossed my arms tightly around me. He twisted the knife further. “I didn’t want to say this, because you seem like a nice, smart girl. I love my son, but he has a history of doing this. You’re not the first.”

I shook my head. “No, no, no, that’s not true.”

“It is. He talks about his feelings and gets these girls all excited, just to lose interest. He means it when he says it. He’s a very focused man, but when it comes to ladies, well—” Dr. Sawyer shook his head. “I love him as if he’s my own flesh and blood. However, he has some of his biological father in him that I’m trying so hard to fight. He makes all these promises, tells the girl how she’s different, but it turns out she’s just like the rest. You’re not the first, and you probably won’t be the last.”

My legs grew weak, and I braced myself against a wall. Here was this man Max idolized, telling me things I was blind to, because I fell in love with him. I was so stupid, falling in love after a week. Giving that guy my virginity. Believing every word he said.

It was just going to be my baby and me. If Max wasn’t going to be here, I needed to look out for us.

I hated myself for asking, “How much?”

“Would five thousand be enough?”

I tilted my head towards him in silence. My mom always taught me never to take the first offer.

He countered with “Seven?”

“Fifteen,” I said. “And I sign nothing.”

Dr. Sawyer stared at me for a moment before stretching out his hand. “You drive a hard bargain. You have a deal, Ms. Finch.”

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