Page 110 of Jilted

It would be okay.

So I took a deep breath and swallowed. “I’m… pregnant.”

The change was immediate. Wilder’s face fell, and he took a step back. Helet go of me. “What did you say?”

“I… I’m pregnant.”

30WILDER

TEN YEARS AGO

“Thank you for everything.”

My dad patted my leg. “I’m glad she let me help out at the end.”

We’d just boarded our flight back to New York after the most horrible week of my life. My mom had died eight days ago. It felt like I was leaving a piece of my heart behind in England. Up ahead, the flight attendant closed the cabin door, and I suddenly felt claustrophobic. Leaving seemed sofinal. But I had a baby coming in a few weeks, so it wasn’t like I had a choice.

Two days after Whitney’s baby shower, my mom had called to tell me she’d stopped the chemo months ago. She hadn’t wanted to give me the news while I was waiting for a child, so she’d been lying and telling me she was still in treatment. She’d hoped to make it until after the baby was born, but it wasn’t in the cards. My dad flew out the following day to help take care of her. That didn’t go over too well with wife number three, especially when he stayed for over a month, but nothing could have dragged him back home. My divorced parents had a strange relationship. They couldn’t make it work married, yet they never stopped loving or caring for each other.

“I should call Madison and let her know we caught the red-eye,” Dad said. “They’re going to tell us to turn off all devices any minute.”

“Shit. Yeah. Let me call Whitney, too. She sleeps late. I don’t want to scare her when we get in tomorrow morning. She’s not expecting me until this time tomorrow night. But my phone is in my bag in the overhead.” I was in the window seat, so I slid in front of my dad, stepped into the aisle, and reached up to unzip my duffle.

“Sir,” the flight attendant said, “you’re going to need to take your seat. We’re going to start moving any minute.”

I felt around inside my bag and pulled out my cell before shoving my bag back in. But when I closed the overhead compartment, my phone slipped from my hand. It landed with a loud clank on the armrest of my father’s aisle seat and tumbled to the floor an aisle up.

The flight attendant wasn’t happy when I bent to get it. “Sorry.”

Back in my seat, I tried to turn my phone on. But when I flipped it over, I found a big crack through the middle of the screen. Usually that just meant a hundred bucks for new glass, but when I pressed the button, the only thing that illuminated was a fat yellow stripe down one side.

“Crap.”

“What happened? It broke?”

I turned the screen to show my dad. He had his wife’s name called up on his own cell, about to push the call button, but he held his phone out to me. “Here, use mine. I’m in the doghouse with Madison anyway.”

I smiled sadly. “Thanks. But I don’t know Whitney’s number. I don’t know anyone’s number anymore because of these things.”

Dad nodded. “Me neither.”

In the end, it didn’t matter. Neither of us got to call anyone, because the flight attendant came on the overhead speakers and said all cell phones had to be switched to airplane mode or turned off.

Dad shrugged. “Oh well.”

A half hour later, we hit cruising altitude. Dad conked out, but I was too wired to even shut my eyes. I tried putting the airline’s complimentary headphones on and listening to music to relax, but the inside of my head felt like a merry-go-round.

Brown horse up.What should I do about Lucas? I wasn’t sure his father could handle a six-year-old. Especially one who was whip-smart and already a bit of a troublemaker.Brown horse down.

White horse up. What about Mom’s business? She and my dad had split up the magazines and newspapers they owned when they divorced. She had a good staff, a lot of trustworthy people, but someone had to keep an eye on things.White horse down.

Gray horse up.Could I still play for England? The manager of the team I’d planned to join before Whitney got pregnant had reached out to give his condolences, and we’d had breakfast this morning. He’d pretty much told me I had an open invitation to train and play with the team. But would Whitney consider moving?Gray horse down.

Black horse up.Whitney… Should I propose? I’d been considering it before all hell broke loose with Mom. And now I even had a ring.

I pulled the letter my mom had left me, along with the ring box, from my pocket. Unfolding the note I’d already read a dozen times, my eyes dropped to the last lines at the bottom.

The day your father gave me this ring was the happiest day of my life. I know that might be hard to understand now, since we haven’t been together in so long. But your father was and still is the love of my life. It was your grandmother’s ring, and her mother’s ring before that, and now it should belong to the love of your life.

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