Page 109 of Just One Fake Date

“Self-employed and a widow.”

“I don’t think Cole’s family had money to lend either, but it didn’t matter because he wouldn’t tell them what we were doing. He saw it as a failure and there was no one more relieved than Cole when the doctors confirmed that the issue was me.”

Ty tensed but he bit his tongue.

“So, we followed the protocol and spent the money, and every time there wasn’t good news, things got a little worse between us. Finally, the IVF worked and we conceived twins.”

“That sounds like good news.”

“Yes and no. I was high risk, and it was actually two separate placentas. They returned multiple fertilized eggs and two took.”

“So, not identical twins.”

“Fraternal.” She shrugged. “It often happens that way.” Her tone was carefully neutral and Ty braced himself for the next part of the story. “Cole was thrilled. I felt so awful that I was less so.” She swallowed. “And then at one of my ultrasounds, the tech couldn’t find the second heartbeat.”

Ty gripped the steering wheel more tightly.

“I wasn’t that far along. Four months. One baby had died and the uterus did its thing. They tried to save the other one, but she was delivered, too, and too small to save. She died as soon as she got here.”

“I’m sorry,” Ty said when she fell silent again.

“Thank you. I was devastated. Cole was determined to go back to fertility again, as soon as possible, but I just couldn’t go through it again. We fought like we’d never fought before. It was horrible. We didn’t agree about anything anymore.”

Shannyn sighed and Ty once again had to accept that he couldn’t fix something for her, no matter how much he wanted to.

“In the end, we were supposed to go to my mom’s for the weekend. It was her birthday. Cole came home from work and just said he wasn’t coming along. He wouldn’t look me in the eye. We stood on opposite sides of the kitchen, him talking to the toaster and me talking to the fridge. And I was so tired and disheartened that I didn’t try to change his mind. I was actually looking forward to a break from what our marriage had become.” Ty saw her grip her purse more tightly. “I took the train to my mom’s and it was just the two of us. I cried a lot. I felt better when I came back, ready to fight another round, just because someone had listened to me.” She felt silent then.

“But he’d left,” Ty guessed.

“How did you know that?”

“Foreshadowing.” He flicked her a glance, almost smiling.

Shannyn didn’t even try to hold his gaze. She looked down at her purse and Ty knew she was hurting, even remembering Cole’s abandonment. “There was a note on the counter, right where he’d been standing, along with his keys. The furniture was all gone and so was the car. The note said that if I wanted to keep the house, we could work it out. He said he’d hire the lawyer. And that was it.”

What an asshole.

Fourteen

The car wassilent after Shannyn finished her story. It was strange but she felt better for sharing it. Lighter, as if she’d been carrying a burden on her shoulders and finally put it down.

Tyler really was too easy to talk to. She wiped her eyes and checked her eyeliner, then risked a glance in his direction.

He was tense and his mouth was in a grim line. He must have sensed her sidelong glance because he spoke without looking in her direction at all. “How long were you together?” The words were clipped and precise.

“Seven years.”

“And he didn’t even have the balls to look you in the eye and say goodbye?” He changed gears, hard, as Shannyn’s heart swelled.

He was so protective. It was quite sweet, but unnecessary.

“You don’t understand,” she explained. “I didn’t deliver. I didn’t give him what he wanted. In the end, he didn’t love me enough to stay with me when I wouldn’t even try again. He saw it as a lack of faith.”

“So do I, but in your marriage, not your fertility.”

Shannyn shook her head. “No, that’s not it. Everythingisa transaction. It always has been and it always will be. Cole proved that even love, or what people choose to call love, is a transaction, too. If you can’t give your partner what he wants, he’ll walk away.”

“What a lot of shit,” Tyler said as he pulled into her driveway. He turned off the car and pivoted to face Shannyn. “You were married,” he said, his tone emphatic. “You were partners. That means that you work together for common goals. You consult with each other. You help each other. You hold each other up when things don’t go well, and you celebrate your triumphs together. That’s what it means to be a team.”

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