Page 21 of Always Right

I never took the time to admire it before. My focus had always been everything but nature, everything my mother wanted of me. It was a cold night, but it didn’t bother me anymore. The cold numbed the pain and the rain washed away the insecurities swirling in my head.

The storm promised a new beginning.

I picked up my phone, finding Blake’s number and calling him, the sound of ringing filling the silence in the air.

His face appeared on my phone, darkness surrounding him. He smiled with his little boy nuzzled next to him. He was a great father.

“Did I wake you?”

Blake shook his head. “I wouldn’t have answered if I was asleep. Not with how hard it’s been to sleep lately.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered.

Blake chuckled, sitting up in his bed, running a hand through his disheveled blonde hair. “What’s up, Hannah? You okay?”

I shrugged. “It’s a beautiful night. I wanted to talk to a friend.”

Blake cocked an eyebrow. “It’s storming. It is not a beautiful night.”

Rolling my eyes, I replied, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, no? I think it’s gorgeous.”

He seemed thoughtful for a moment, taking a deep breath, then letting it out. “Are you okay? I know the last few days haven’t been easy for you.”

I shrugged.

I wasn’t okay, but everyone knew that.

I was trying to keep it together the best I could because if I allowed myself to cry...if I allowed myself to feel the heartbreak, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop. It didn’t take much to realize that, especially not for Blake.

He’d stayed by my side throughout my pregnancy, a constant companion.

“Did he show?”

I looked ahead, at the starless sky. “No. He didn’t.”

“I’m sorry, Hannah. Really...I am.”

I shrugged him off. I didn’t want pity, didn’t need it. Things wouldn’t change no matter how much I wanted them to. All I could do was move forward, stop dwelling on the things that hurt me.

“Listen...I wish there could have been something I could have done. Talked to Lisa when this all started so this all could have been avoided and—"

“Stop,” I whispered. We’d been through this conversation many times. He felt this guilt, like there was something he could have done to stop Derek from doubting me.

There was nothing.

Nothing would have changed the outcome.

The bright light of headlights blinded my vision for a moment as an SUV pulled up to my driveway.

“What’s going on?”

Squinting, I tried to make out the figure as the man stepped out of the vehicle with a bag in his hands, pulling up a hoodie over his head in the rain.

“Hannah, what the fuck is going on?”

“Derek’s here.” I didn’t recognize the vehicle, but I sure as hell recognized him immediately. Blake gave a sigh of relief before saying a quick goodbye and hanging up the call.

I would have stood up to greet him, but my ass stayed glued to my seat as he approached calmly, not giving a damn about the pouring rain.

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