Page 32 of The Green Card Baby Deal

“It’s not a problem at all. We won’t have to pretend to be a couple anymore, so I’m sure you want your home back.” Her anger heated to a steady boil, and she couldn’t stop it. All the time, though, she wore her candy-coated smile. “You know what? I’ll just move out tomorrow. Oh, how do we let the guests know the wedding’s cancelled? They’ll be expecting to attend tomorrow.”

He was stunned beyond speech for a moment. “My aides will take care of it. Clara… are you sure you’re okay?”

Still she smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask? I’m relieved actually, just like you probably. Don’t worry about it. We’ll still be friends. You’ll be in your child’s life. I promise. Is that what’s worrying you?”

“No.” He shook his head. “It isn’t that. I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m good.” She paused and let her hurt settle a little. “You should probably get some rest. I’ll be out of here tomorrow, and you can have your normal life back again.” In a moment of spontaneity, she gave him a quick, cold hug. “Thank you so much, Luis. For everything. My life will never be the same because of you, and I’ll never forget what you did for me.”

He squeezed back and quickly released her. “It was my pleasure.” A sad smile crossed his face as he turned to go, and Clara came so close to stopping him. Despite his relief, something about the way he moved made him seem miserable. The last thing she’d wanted to do was hurt the man who’d given her everything and more. But she couldn’t deny that he had hurt her somehow, though she couldn’t find the words to express it to him.

As soon as the elevator doors closed on him, Clara collapsed onto the couch and sobbed. She tried to muffle her cries with a throw pillow, but hiding anything from Dawn for long was next to impossible. Before she knew it, her sister was at her side.

Dawn sat down next to her and squeezed her shoulder. “Hey, hey. What’s the matter, hon? What happened? I thought I heard a man’s voice, but I assumed it was only Luis.”

Clara pulled herself together enough to look up at her sister. “It was only Luis. He came to…” She sniffed and rubbed her eyes dry with her sleeve. “He came to call off the wedding.”

“What?” Dawn shot to her feet. “He came to do what?” She was livid.

“It’s not his fault.”

“The hell it isn’t! He can’t do that to you the night before the wedding.”

Clara buried her face in the pillow again. “He can and he did. It doesn’t matter. He was right to call it off. This is better for everyone.”

“It absolutely is not.” Dawn left Clara’s side and returned with a box of tissues. “Take these. You’re leaking.”

With a soft chuckle, Clara took the tissues to continue drying her eyes and blowing her nose. Her sister could always make her laugh, even at the worst of times. Clara was so lucky to have her sister with her tonight. It was going to be a rough night, and Dawn would get her through it, just as Clara had done for her sister all the times Dawn had come to her crying after a broken heart.

“Maybe he’s just gotten cold feet,” Dawn offered. “Maybe he’s just scared to commit to anyone, even if it’s you.”

“That’s not what it is.” Clara wanted so badly to tell her sister the truth, but she felt like it would be a betrayal to Luis somehow. This was, after all, something Clara had agreed to do in exchange for the hope of a child. And he’d given her more than hope. He’d given her a baby, and he’d given her the means to care for that baby. She could be a full-time mom the way she’d always wanted to. “It’s over. I know it is. I just don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Dawn wrapped her arms around her sister and kissed her cheek. “You don’t have to say another word.”

“I have to… I have to find a place to stay until I can find my own apartment.” Clara blew her nose again.

“You’re staying with Stan and me. Don’t even try to talk me out of it — I’ve made up my mind. I want company for the rest of my pregnancy, and only my equally pregnant twin sister will do.”

Clara sniffed and shook her head. “Thank you, Sis. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“No, I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you Clara. Your whole family loves you. I hope you know that. Luis can go to hell.”

And that was the end of the conversation that night. Dawn didn’t say another word about it, and Clara was grateful for that. She wasn’t sure quite how she would explain to Dawn what had really happened and why it had upset her as much as it had.

Honestly, she didn’t even really know how to explain it to herself. By rights, she should be happy. She had everything she ever wanted, and she’d just been freed from all her obligations, all her promises. She’d been freed, but when it came to Luis, the last thing she wanted to be was free. She wanted to be caught up in his arms, in his world. She loved him. She was sure of it now, but it was too late. She’d pushed him away over and over again, and even if he did give her another chance to love him, she knew she didn’t deserve it.

He’d done the right thing, and she was angry about it, all because she was scared to be vulnerable with him… or anyone now that she thought about it. She’d been scared to be vulnerable for a long time, and maybe that explained why she subconsciously chose to date men who she knew would be incompatible. Except Luis. He was accidentally perfect for her, and so she’d thrown him away.

So stupid. So, so, so stupid.

“You’re not stupid,” Dawn said. Clara hadn’t realized she’d been chiding herself aloud. “You’ll never be stupid. You’re just pregnant.” One more hug from her sister silenced those nasty thoughts in a heartbeat. “You’re making a person, Sis. Give yourself a break.”

Dawn was right. Clara leaned her head on her sister’s shoulder as Dawn searched for an appropriate movie. When she found one they’d both seen dozens of times already, she turned up the volume, put an arm around Clara, and the two of them dozed off to the familiar sounds of two people tripping and stumbling into love. If only it were that easy in real life.

CHAPTER 19

LUIS

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