“He clearly never figured you out,” Angelica said. “You’d absolutely do it. Even though you still love him. You’d never see him again.”

I pressed my lips together to keep my chin from trembling.

“What about your son? And, now, daughter? Do they deserve to live a life without him in it?”

With that parting shot, she strolled out my door.

The ambitious young lady made a valid point.

10

Simon

I stopped at the edge of the waiting area, annoyed but unsurprised to see Philip sitting with Marsha and Dave. Jeremiah leaned his head back against the wall, phone in hand, probably playing one of those shooting games he’d come to love. I forced my feet forward and stiffened my spine when Dave’s cold eye landed on me.

For a quick moment, Jeremiah’s eyes brightened with joy before his mouth firmed and he dropped his gaze back to his device. My confidence faltered as the pain of my son’s ready dismissal snaked through me.

“Is Ella still sleeping?” I asked.

Marsha nodded, her face pale and her eyes dimmed with worry. She fidgeted, her hands wrapping around each other in indecision before Dave settled his hand over hers, stilling the reaction.

My father-in-law glowered. “The doctor says Ella can’t abide additional stresses. You, Simon, are the source of her stress. The reason she collapsed at the house and the reason the doctor’s now so concerned about her blood pressure. If you care about my daughter—and your daughter—at all, the best thing you can do is leave Ella alone.”

I sucked in my lips as I absorbed that blow. The concern for my unborn baby ate at me, but just as worrisome was Ella’s health. Jeremiah needed her . . . and so did I.

“I want to know how she’s doing,” I managed to say. “Ella and our daughter are my primary concern.”

“Then you should have thought about her feelings before!”

I swiveled to face my son, whose eyes narrowed in dangerous Ella fashion, but the belligerent stance and set lips were all me.

“I do care about you mom’s feelings,” I said, keeping my voice low, soothing. But panic and anger bubbled up. Why did Philip’s lips quirk up in a faint smile? I’d disliked his relationship with Ella before, not that they had much of one—an occasional email, the passing mention of his name when she was on her social media, catching up with her friends from uni. But now . . . him here, comforting Ella’s parents, Jeremiah’s willingness to have him close, pissed me off.

“If you’d loved Mom, you wouldn’t want a divorce. And if you loved Mom, you wouldn’t be screwing that ugly cow you were with the other day.”

“Whoa.” I raised my hands. “First off, I’m not screwing anyone, and second that’s no way to talk about Monique.”