Chapter 7
Tessa
She hadn’t wanted to tell him like that. She hadn’t wanted to tell him at all, but she had no other choice. She’d talked to the doctor. He’d told her about the procedure. Her medical insurance wouldn’t cover it. The hospital in town wouldn’t even perform it. She was going to have to leave town and go to Houston, so that she could have it done. She didn’t even have the cash for a coach ticket--never mind the medical bills on top. She needed him.
“Look,” she said, because he’d been sat in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity. “I’m not expecting you to play happy family with me or anything. I’m not even keeping it. I can’t. I can’t afford to have a baby. I’m sleeping in my car at the moment for god’s sake. I,…I just need some help.”
“What kind of help?”
“I need some money, so I can go to the hospital.”
“How much do you need?” His face was blank. Tessa desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, but it was impossible to tell.
“A few thousand,” she told him without meeting his eyes. “Are you,” she hesitated. She wasn’t sure how people normally dealt with situations like that, but she felt like she was failing miserably. “Are you okay with my choice?”
He shrugged. “It’s your body.”
She found his reaction kind of infuriating. It might be her body, but it was his baby too. Didn’t he care? “So, can you help me?” she asked, because she wanted to get away from him, before she said something stupid.
“Yes,” he nodded. “I’ll get the money from the safe back home and meet you at the bar tonight.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“When will you be going to the hospital?”
“Tomorrow,” Tessa said with certainty. This wasn’t something she wanted to delay. She wanted it to be over as quickly as possible, so she could move on from the nightmare that she’d found herself in.
“Do you want me to come to the hospital with you?”
“No,” she told him quickly. She only half meant it. She didn’t want him there. She didn’t want him to see what was she was about to do. It wasn’t like he knew her. It wasn’t like he could offer her any comfort at all. She didn’t want to go alone though. She didn’t want to face was she was about to do with no one by her side.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight then.” Ash stood up and brushed off his suit.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Tessa blurted out, before she could stop herself.
“My loss?” Ash looked at her curiously. “What do you know about my loss?”
Tessa felt mild panic rush over her body. She hadn’t meant to cause any offense with what she had said. “I just meant,” she paused, as her brain scrambled for words. “You’re outside a church in a black suit. I just made the assumption.”
Ash nodded. He clearly accepted her explanation. “It was my father,” he said. Tessa was surprised. A second ago he’d looked pissed that she’d even brought it up, but now he was telling her about it. “He had a heart attack the night that I met you.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Tessa said weakly, because she wasn’t sure what else to say. Was there even anything else that she could say? His father had died. There was nothing she could do, but feel empathy towards his situation.
“It isn’t your fault.”
“Were you close to him?”
“I used to be,” Ash sighed. “When I was a kid he was my idol, but I don’t know,” he ran his hand through his hair. “We drifted I guess. He didn’t agree with the choices I was making in life. He thought that I was partying too hard.”
“That must suck.”
“Sure, that’s one way of putting it.”
Tessa wasn’t sure what else she could say. “I should probably go,” she looked over her shoulder at the street that led away from the church. “I guess I’ll see you tonight?”
“Sure, I’ll see you tonight.”
Tessa turned and walked away from Ash, before he had a chance to say anything else. She’d been worried about how the conversation would go. She’d been worried about how the perfect stranger would react to the news of a baby. She’d been wasted her time. He’d hardly reacted at all.
Tessa wasn’t sure whether that was better or worse. The scenes she’d played in her head of him screaming at her had been horrific, but at least he’d shown emotion. The non-reaction she’d got had been cold. It was like he didn’t care at all. It was like he wasn’t making any connection to the fact that she was carrying his child.
The sun was hot and she could feel her skin growing sticky, as she walked away from the church. She thought about what was going to happen next. She hadn’t been to the bar since the night she’d been with Ash. An uneasy feeling crept over her at the thought of having to go back there. What if she saw Rick? Would if he realized what had happened? She pushed the thoughts of Rick away only to find that they’d been masking thoughts that were much worse.
Could she really go through with it? Could she really terminate the pregnancy?
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Chapter 8
Ash
The waiting room for the lawyer’s office was stuffy. Ash looked over to the small, white plastic box that was attached to the wall. It was the air conditioning unit. It was making plenty of noise; it was doing nothing for the air. He wondered how much money the office wasted on electricity with the dodgy unit running all the time.
“I’m ready, if you would all like to come in.” John said from his doorway.
Ash stood up with his brothers and headed into an even smaller room. The window at the back was open. Ash was relieved about that. The air felt fresher. There was a slight breeze that was stopping the air from stiffening, as it had in the waiting area.
“Would you boys like to take a seat?” Ash sat down and waited for John to start with the reading. “As I’m sure you boys know your father was a family man at heart.” He reached out for the papers in front of him and repositioned his glasses on his nose. “So, I’m sure it won’t come to you as a surprise that his will is very much all about family.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Caleb’s voice cut through the room.
“Well,” John smiled. “If you’d let me finish. Your father has split the family estate and fortune across the three of you equally. That means that you will each inherit four billion plus, whichever estates you decide to split between you.”
“I can deal with four billion,” Cain smiled happily, as he leant back in his chair. “There’s a lot you can do with that kind of money.”
“Ah,” John cut him off, before he could list off the activities, which large amounts of cash would allow. “There’s a catch though.”
“There’s a catch?” Caleb asked in disbelief. “What did he do?”
“Your father wants you to provide for your families with this money. That means that you won’t gain access to the money, until after you have each fathered a child.”
“What?” Ash cut over his brother’s grumbles. “My father wanted us to have kids?”
John nodded. “He didn’t think that any of you would settle down until you do. That’s why he’s withholding the money. He wants to make sure that you won’t waste it. He had every faith in each and every one of you. He truly believed that you would all step up to the mark, when the time came.”
John’s words rang between Ash’s ears. The last thing that his father had said to him was that he was a waste of space. How could a waste of space have a kid? That’s why he’d given Tessa the money. She wasn’t ready and he’d never be ready. How could he be, when he couldn’t even take care of himself?
Maybe, it wasn’t about that though. Maybe, he would never be ready. Maybe, he had to take a leap of faith and hope that his father was right. “I need to be somewhere,” he said standing up. Caleb turned to him with a mildly frustrated look.
“You need to sit back down. We need to work out a way of getting around our father’s loop hole, so we can get our inheritance.”
“There are things in life more important than money,” Ash glared at his brother. “I know you might find that hard to believe, but you can take my word for it.” He wasn’t going to wait around for Caleb to argue with him. He needed to go. He needed to stop Tessa from making a mistake that neither of them could come back from.
Houston was hours away. He didn’t have Tessa’s number. The odds were stacked against him and every second that passed was another reminder that he might already be too late. That didn’t stop him though. That didn’t stop him from running out of the building and across the street to his car. He turned on the engine quickly and his wheels span in place, as he tore away from the parking spot.
The open road was too long. It was empty. He read the blurry signs as they passed. He saw the miles slowly counting down, as he sped towards the main hospital in Houston. He wasn’t even sure that she’d be there. There were several hospitals in Houston and she could be at any of them, but he had to believe that she’d go to the closest. He had to believe that he was going to find her. There wasn’t an alternative. He had to make his father proud. He had to turn his life around.
He reached the hospital parking lot. It was almost full. Ash grew more frustrated with every wasted second it took him to park. He tore across the lot on his feet, when he’d finally found a spot and burst into the reception. “Is Tessa here?” he asked the woman at reception. She seemed startled by his sudden appearance. Or maybe it was because of his panicked expression, he couldn’t be sure.
“Can you tell me her last name sir?”
Ash’s eyes met hers desperately. “I don’t know her last name.”
“Are you a friend?”
“Kind of,” Ash nodded. “Look, she’s pregnant. She’s pregnant and she’s about to do something that we’re both going to regret. I need you to help me find her.”
The nurse looked hesitant. “Go up to ward four and explain the situation. They might be able to help you.”
“Thank you,” Ash said with a rush of gratitude. “Thank you so much.” He didn’t waste any more time standing in reception. He tore away with his sneakers squeaking against the ground. Ward four was three floors up. He took the stairs. The lift was going to take too long. He could feel the backs of his legs burning with each furious step. His heart felt like it was about to break out of his chest. It was at that moment that he realized why it had a cage around it. It wasn’t to stop things from getting in. It was to stop aching hearts from being torn out.
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Chapter 9
Tessa
The hospital ward was too bright. The lighting above Tessa’s head was hurting her eyes, as it reflected off the white walls and shiny metal bedframes. She could hear the steady shuffling of feet and hushed voices, but it wasn’t loud enough to keep her distracted from her own thoughts. They were too loud. They wanted to be heard and she wasn’t sure whether a rave would be able to mask them.
“No,” an angry voice shouted out from somewhere behind the curtain. “You have to let me see her,” commotion followed. Tessa listened out. The voice sounded familiar. She knew it. She was sure of that. “Tessa, you need to come here, they won’t let me through,” it was Ash. Ash was in the hospital and he was calling for her. Was this real? Was she even awake? Was she already under and this was her minds sick way of tormenting her, until she woke up?
She pushed her feet over the side of the bed and opened the curtains. “Ash?” he was standing at the end of the hallway. Two nurses stood between them. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you,” he called out desperately. “The nurses said I couldn’t see you, but I had to.”
Tessa walked over to the nurses and frowned at them. “Why would you stop him from seeing me?”
“I’m sorry,” the pale nurse with red hair said quickly. “It’s our policy to keep this ward, as peaceful for you as possible. We didn’t want you to get upset, before you go under.”
“It isn’t your place to control who visits me,” Tessa told her sternly. “These are people’s lives. You don’t mess with things like that.”
“I’m sorry,” the nurse said again. “It is our policy though.”
“Yeah, well your policy sucks,” Tessa snapped at her. “I’d like to talk to Ash in privacy,” she added, when neither of the nurses made a move to leave. She waited until they’d walked out of earshot, before she turned back to Ash. “Why are you here?”
“I had to stop you from going through with this.”
“Why?” Tessa couldn’t understand. He’d been so uncaring the day before. Why had he come all the way over to the hospital now? It didn’t make any sense. He clearly didn’t know what he wanted. How could she bring a child into a world where its parents couldn’t even handle their own lives?
“I went to my father’s will reading today. He’d put a stipulation on my inheritance. It won’t be available to me until after I have a child.”
“That’s sick,” Tessa said in shock. How could he come here to tell her that? How could he so blatantly tell her that money was worth more to him than his child? It was wrong.
“No,” Ash said quickly. “You don’t understand. It isn’t anything to do with the money. My father, he thought that my brothers and I were walking diasters, but he also believed that we could be good people. That’s why he put the stipulation in. He believed that when we became parents we’d step up the mark. We’d turn into the kind of men who put family first. That’s what the money is for. It’s to look after my family,” he reached out his hand and rested it on her stomach. “Our family,” he added, when she didn’t flinch away.
“So, what are you trying to say?” Tessa asked him.
“When you came to me yesterday, I was a mess. I probably seemed like I didn’t care and that wasn’t the case. It’s just. I thought my father was right. I thought that I was a train wreck. I thought the best thing to do was to help you come here. But, then I heard my father’s will. I heard about the faith that he still had in me and I don’t want that to be misplaced. I want to do this. I want to do this with you. I want to step up and I want us to be a family.”
“You know you don’t need me to have your fortune,” Tessa said, because she didn’t want Ash to be with her just because she was having his child. She wanted to be with somebody who actually wanted to be with her. “I’ll have the baby if that’s what you want and you’re sure that you can provide for it. I’m happy for you to have access, but you don’t have to be with me to do that.”
“You’re going to be the mother of my child. You are carrying my baby. There isn’t a woman on this planet that I will ever have more respect or love for. I might not need you to get my fortune, but I do need you to have my family.” He reached out and brushed away a loose hair that had fallen from her ponytail. “Should we get out of here?” he whispered into her ear. “I don’t know about you, but hospitals give me the creeps.”
“What are you going to tell your brothers?” Tessa asked him, when she’d got into the passenger side of Ash’s car. “Do you think they’ll like me?”
“I think they’re going to hate everything about you,” Ash said happily. “They’re terrible people,” he explained quickly when he saw Tessa’s hurt look. “They’re going to be pissed that we get our money before them.”
“Is that really all they care about?” Tessa asked in surprise. “Don’t they care that your father passed away?”
“No, they never cared much for him in life either,” Ash shrugged. It was all he could do, because the situation was never going to change. “I bet you anything though, that they’ll have women pregnant by the end of the year.”
“Bet accepted,” Tessa nodded. “So, what’s next?”
“I don’t know,” Ash told her honestly. “Breakfast?”
****
THE END