Page 19 of Not the Bodyguard's Baby
Across the table, Leisha joined in. “Rayne, I see it. Not huge, but there is a resemblance.”
One of the orderlies passed by. “Is there a problem, ladies?”
The blonde pointed at September. “Nah, we were commenting on how much she looked like the singer September.”
The orderly shook his head. “Maybe, but she is trying to eat. Why don’t you two move along?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “I get told I look like Grace Kelly all the time. Some people have those faces.”
“I once read that everyone has seven people in the world who look like them but that the chances of meeting even one of them are infinitesimal,” said the woman on her other side.
September hurried through the rest of her food. “I’ll see you all back up there. I want to check on Harmony.”
Dr. Brooks waited for the elevator. “Did they ever get that video Adam sent to play for you?”
“Yes, one nurse put it on her tablet.” September massaged her palm with her thumb while she waited.
No one else joined them in the elevator. The doctor lowered her gaze to September’s hands. “Is everything all right?”
“Not sure. Two women from a different ward came over to our table and told me how much I looked like the singer—”
“You are looking better than when you first got here. Perhaps it would be better if you ate up in the ward. I think in your case, socialization might not be the best thing.”
“Thank you.”
The elevator pinged as the doors opened.
“Doctor, one more thing. Adam said he is coming to family therapy tonight. Could I ask that he come a little earlier? I would like to talk to him alone for a few minutes. I was going to tell him some things he needs to know this morning, but since he couldn’t come...”
“We try to give all the partners time together both before and after the sessions, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Let’s check the schedule. You may not need to have him come early at all.” Dr. Brooks stopped at the nurses’ station and retrieved her tablet. “Will a half hour be long enough? That is what I built into the appointment for you.”
“That should be fine.” September left the doctor and went in search of Harmony. She glanced at the clock above the nursery. Four hours and fifteen minutes from now she would make the speech she had prepared last night. If she didn’t chicken out.
11
Adam checkedhis watch as the traffic light a block south of the hospital turned red. He had ten minutes to spare. Mom told him September looked disappointed he couldn’t come and even more disappointed when the video he sent wouldn’t stream to the TV so she could watch it since cell phones were not allowed on the floor—a point he shouldn’t have overlooked. At the hospital, he went through the routine of emptying his pockets and leaving his keys at the desk. The orderly led him to a room smaller than the one they’d exchanged Harmony in. He waited only a second before September came in alone.
She stood awkwardly by the door. The only seating in the room was the sofa. Adam scrunched to one side, leaving as much room as possible for September. “As bad as a blind date? I don’t bite.” He patted the space next to him.
September sat down and pulled a paper out of her pocket. “I wrote everything I need to say. Please let me get to the end before we discuss anything.”
Adam nodded and looked at the paper. If he could read the page, then this might go faster, but all he could see was gibberish.
“I need you to understand I am not blaming you for any of the choices I made. Perhaps if I hadn’t lied the morning after our kiss, things might be different now. I thought if you believed the kiss hadn’t affected me, you wouldn’t leave.” She paused, and Adam opened his mouth to argue, but she shook her head. “In the days after you left, I told myself it was for the best. You had some valid reasons. Shyla wouldn’t let me go after you. I tried to call once, but you didn’t pick up.”
What if he had picked up? Adam had held the phone, debating, until her photo had faded from the screen. She hadn’t left a message, and he’d called her back a dozen times, but her demanding schedule always sent him to voicemail.
“Shyla hired a new firm. At first they were professional. I never noticed them. One day, I think we were in Montreal, a new guard joined them. He would talk to me. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was the kind of guy you’d warned me about—the kind who saw me as a challenge.”
Adam tried not to wince. The more Shyla used September’s choice to remain chaste until marriage as a marketing tool, the more fan letters September received with offers to be the one to initiate her into the real world. Many of the letters were obscenely detailed. They never made it to September’s attention. They’d flagged a few as potential stalkers when they also posted to social media repeatedly. Adam had argued more than once with Shyla about her tactics and tried to caution September about some of her dates who were known players in the music industry. He thought she had learned her lesson when he’d had to intervene on a few dates.
“Looking back, I realize I was trying to fill a void in my life I didn’t understand existed. Often this guard got himself assigned to do the sweep of my hotel room at night and we would talk. I discovered later he was the head of my team. I thought we were friends. One night he kissed me. It wasn’t as fulfilling as ours had been, but still, it filled part of the emptiness inside. Over the next few weeks, we continued to talk and flirt. I was looking for something and kept hoping he would answer my need. The night Harmony was conceived, he didn’t force me. For him, it consummated a month of seduction. He’d won a game I didn’t know I was playing. Even as it happened, I knew what I felt was fake. Not even cubic zirconia fake. More like the old-fashioned paste jewels—mere glass wrapped in foil. Unlike the movies, the experience left me feeling emptier than before. Having conquered me, he became possessive and controlling, demanding more, which I refused to give him. When I asked to have him removed from the detail, he threatened to go to the tabloids. I paid him off under the condition he never touch me again.”
Adam struggled to remain focused on the story. He wanted to pound the man. Although she hadn’t said the name, he assumed it was Sven. The timeline fit with when he’d started adding money to his bank account. Alan’s dossier included many payments leading up to the big one.
“Weeks later I realized our one night could not remain a secret forever. I asked him if we could talk.” September closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He made it very clear he did not want to be a father. Shyla found out. I am sure you can imagine her reaction. She canceled my performance, claiming I was ill.”
“The one in Dallas?” Adam couldn’t help asking. Dallas was the only performance she’d missed before the end of the tour and going into “rehab.”
