Page 38 of Choosing Happily Ever After

Faith looked as though she wanted to say something, but instead she just shrugged. It was a bullshit response and they both knew it.

“Talk to me, Faith. Please?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry, Levi. But you really should talk to my sister.”

“She won’t talk to me!” He was vaguely aware that his voice was getting louder and a handful of people had turned to look at them, but he didn’t care. “I’ve tried,” he continued. “She’s ignoring my calls and my texts, and I went by the ranch thinking I could talk to her and maybe even…oh, I don’t know…do my job. But no one was there.”

“Yeah.” Faith shifted her tote higher on her shoulder. “It’s been a bit strange around there. The wedding that was scheduled for this weekend canceled, something about an affair. I don’t know, but it sounded messy. And we actually went ahead and canceled the event for next weekend. So there’s—”

“Canceled?” Hope didn’t cancel events. She’d made it super clear to him that she’d never cancel anything, especially a wedding. It wasn’t fair to the couple. There was definitely something wrong. “What’s going on?” he asked again. This time he wasn’t going to let her brush him off.

Faith shifted from side to side, clearly uncomfortable saying anything, but at the same time, it looked as if that was exactly what she wanted to do. “Look, Levi.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, away from the people trying to walk past. “I’m really sorry about the way my sister handled things,” she said. “I really am. And just for the record, I don’t agree with what she did at all.”

“Well, that’s—”

“But it’s not my decision.” She cut him off and held up a finger.

Levi’s stomach sank. He’d let himself believe even for a second that he might have an ally.

“But just because it’s not my decision doesn’t mean I don’t get my say.” Hesitantly, he waited for the rest of what she was going to say. “And I think you deserve the truth. Even if it doesn’t change Hope’s mind, I believe she owes you that.” He nodded. “So, come by the ranch tonight. About eight o’clock, okay?”

Levi had no idea how it would play out or how Faith was going to arrange anything, but he didn’t care. It was an opening, and as small as it was, he’d take it.

“Thank you.”

Faith offered him a sad smile and shook her head. “Don’t thank me yet.”

Hope

It had been a long day, but Hope was glad she’d decided to make the trip into the city in one day. She’d made the three-hour drive early, arriving at the doctor’s office for nine thirty, and after going through her treatment plan and options for trying to conceive, she jumped back in the car and started the long drive home.

She’d gone back and forth over it, but in the end, she was glad she’d gone alone, despite Faith’s insistence that she didn’t mind accompanying her. She needed the time to think, and that’s exactly what she did.

It had been days already since she’d broken up with Levi, and it still felt just as raw as it had the moment it happened. But now, along with the pain and sense of loss that had been overwhelming her, was something else.

Excitement.

After leaving Doctor Barrett’s office with not only the prescription for the hormones that were supposed to delay the spread of the cancer long enough for her to have a child, and the literature on sperm donors, Hope could honestly say that the cloud that had hung over her for the last few days was starting to lift. Not a lot, but just a little bit. Because now, instead of focusing on what she’d lost, she could focus on what was in front of her.

Motherhood.

The very idea of it made her giddy.

She’d always known that one day she wanted to have a child.One day.But beyond an abstract thought, it had never been more than that. Now, it was real.

She pulled into the yard in front of the house and gathered up the stack of papers on the passenger seat with a smile on her face. Once she read through the information, Doctor Barrett said she could make the appointment with the donor clinic whenever she was ready—the sooner the better—and get started.

Feasibly, in a few months she could be pregnant.

The idea stopped her in her tracks before she reached for the door handle. As exciting as it was to think about being a mother, it was also terrifying. Because in all of her abstract thoughts about having a baby over the years, none of those thoughts had involved her doing it on her own.

Not once.

In fact, there had been a few times when Levi had factored into those thoughts.

No. If she was honest, it had definitely been more than a few times.

Sadness washed over her again as she walked into the house. But as soon as the melancholy feeling came, she forced herself to push it from her mind. Levi didn’t want a baby. He wanted to travel and see the world. That was a lifestyle that most certainly didn’t lend itself to being a family man. And there was no way she would make him choose. It wasn’t his cancer diagnosis to live with. And it wasn’t as if they’d been together for years or were married, or…no. It wasn’t right even to ask.

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