Page 29 of Four Weddings and a Baby Shower

Chapter Fifteen

Silver

Three months later

Liam was a decent person. A good man. He’d want to do right by me in the old-fashioned way. But as much as it pained me, I wouldn’t tie him to me forever. He’d just started a new company and clearly it was a success. We’d won the Magnum account and many other companies were now lining up to sign on with Chase Enterprises. For once, I was happy he’s won. I was sorry I wouldn’t be there to share it with him.

But after what I’d just found out, I had to leave. I didn’t want to saddle him with all this responsibility now. I didn’t want him to feel obligated to me in any way. I’d finally learned that I loved Liam. Loved him so much that I was willing to let him go. Willing to sacrifice my own happiness for him. Yep, that was true love alright. And it sucked.

I’d already packed my suitcase and had set it next to the front door. I’d called a taxi to take me to the airport and as far away from Liam as possible. I had to leave before I lost my nerve. I looked around my apartment, remembering all the times Liam and I had shared here. Watching TV on the sofa, pillow fights in the bedroom, sharing champagne on the night we’d won the Magnum account. And countless nights of long, slow lovemaking. I choked back a sniffle. I was going to miss the bastard. A lot.

A loud bang on my door startled me. Who would be knocking on my... oh hell no. I should have waited until I was at the airport to text him. I should have known he wouldn’t let us go without a fight. Liam wasn’t a man who gave up. It was one of the things I loved about him. He was a fighter through and through.

I just didn’t want to have him fight me on this now. I couldn’t bear to face him, knowing what I did. I didn’t trust myself if I had to confront him face to face. And now he was at my door.

“Silver, answer the door. I know you’re in there,” he said.

I stared at the door in silence.

“Silver, just tell me why. It’s the least you can do.”

He was a master alright. He knew exactly what to say to me. I cracked the door open. It pained me to see his face so distraught. He glanced over at my suit case that was parked next to the door.

“Where are you going?”

I opened the door and let him in. He looked around my apartment as he entered, at the empty shelves and the boxes that were scattered around the living room. He looked back at me, his expression one of pain. “Are you moving away?”

My eyes studied the floor as I tried not to break under his anguished scrutiny. “Yes.”

“Where to?”

“Another state,” I said.

“What?”

“You shouldn’t have come here, Liam. You are making this so much harder.”

His tone turned angry. “Harder? For who? You?”

“For both of us. I have a good reason for leaving. Trust me, it’s for the best.”

“What are you talking about? What reason? We’ve had the best time of our lives together these last few months,” Liam said.

I had to get out of there. I couldn’t stomach another second next to Liam. It was going to kill me. A horn sounded from outside. Just in time. “Thanks for everything, Liam. You really are a terrific guy.” I kissed him on the cheek and left, refusing to turn back. Because if I turned around, I knew I’d never leave.

And that wasn’t an option anymore.

~

Liam

What the hell had just happened?

I was standing in the middle of Silver’s apartment, and she was gone. Something wasn’t right. Her behavior was baffling. It made no sense at all. I looked around the apartment, which had been packed up. Boxes were everywhere. I bent down and looked at one, which had been slapped with a shipping label. To Nashville?

Who lived in Nashville? Then it dawned on me. Ray and Tyler lived in Nashville. Ray was like a sister to her. Maybe Ray was pregnant, and Ray wanted to be closer to her now? Why didn’t she just tell me she wanted to move? That couldn’t be it.

I moved aimlessly through the apartment, trying to make sense of the senseless. I went into the bathroom and splashed water on my face, trying to wake up from this horrible nightmare. Of course, there were no towels. I unrolled some paper and blotted the water from my face. I looked around to see if there was a garbage can.

And that is when I noticed it. A box with the wordsPregnancy Testin bold letters on the side. I pushed it aside and there at the bottom was a test. With two lines showing. I looked inside the box and found the instructions, quickly reading through them as my heart beat a mile a minute. What did two lines mean?

Positive.

I sat down on the toilet seat, my mind whirling. I was going to be a father. Silver, the woman I loved, was pregnant. With my baby. Our baby.

And she had just walked out the door and left me to move across the country.

Over my dead body.

There was no way I was letting my girl go. Or my baby. I was ready to slay an army of dragons now.

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