Page 142 of Yellow
“Chloe, I…” He swallowed hard. “I’m sorry if you felt rejected but Ineverhave sex without protection.”
“Well, obviously you did at one time,” I muttered low and with a bitter feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had seen the pictures of his daughter and ex-girlfriend.
“What did you say?” he asked me but was interrupted when the door opened again.
“Oh, there you are. I was looking for you, Adam.” Onava said from the doorway. “There are some important people who really want to meet you.” She smiled. “They would love to meet you too, Chloe.”
I nodded and took a step toward her when Adam’s deep voice me made me stop.
“Ona, tell them we’ll be right out. Chloe and I just need a few minutes to finish something first.”
Onava closed the door and I turned to look at Adam again.
“I wasn’t afraid of getting an STD from you. I was afraid of getting you pregnant.”
We stood ten feet apart and glared at each other.
“But I told you I was on birth control.”
“I’ve been told that before when it wasn’t true.”
His underlying accusation made me cross the floor with quick fiery steps. “Wait a minute. What do you take me for? I’m not some tramp looking to trap a man into fatherhood to get a monthly check of child support.” My eyes were shooting daggers.
“I never said that you were.” He stood his ground.
“Oh, so it’s the race thing again? I can see how you would be terrified of mixing your pure Native DNA with a paleface like me.” I blinked back tears of anger and frustration.
“Chloe, it wasn’t your race, I’m just very careful after…”
I cut him off. “And to think that I thought you were…”
“What? You thought I was what?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What did you want to say?” he asked and moved closer.
“Never mind.”
“Chloe.” The softness of his voice made me look up at him and the longing in his eyes almost undid me. “I’m sorry you got hurt, but I got hurt too.” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat and his brows creased inward. “You left without an explanation and if that wasn’t enough, I have to be reminded of you every time I go to the grocery store and see happy pictures of you and your new man plastered all over every magazine.”
For months I’d been angry with Adam and resented everything about him, but his simple way of presenting it from his side made me think.
“But you lied to me,” I said, holding on to some of the resentment I had felt toward him.
“When did I lie to you, Chloe?” he asked.
“You never told you me that you have a daughter or that you and your ex were getting back together when you left for the cabin.”
“Jesus Christ, Chloe.” He shook his head. “You of all people should know that headlines aren’t always true.”
“But that night you arrived at the cabin, you said that you’d left a friend’s house. And the article said that you had left her to go be with me, so I figured…”
“You figured wrong,” he said firmly. “Mary isn’t my child and her mother was never my girlfriend. I was with my friend Rick when Onava called.”
“But…” I objected.
“There’s no but,” Adam stated firmly. “About eleven years ago I had a night of drinking and was later accused of being the father of Hellcat’s child. I couldn’t even remember having slept with her. For months I was a wreck waiting for the child to be born, and that’s when I swore I’d never have unprotected sex again.”
