Angie expected to get a call from Max. He showed up at the house late in the evening instead. “Max,” she said, opening the door to let him in. “Wow, your sister came by this morning. I guess surprise visits run in your family.”

He looked agitated and a little confused, rather than amused, by her joke. “I have to tell you something. I needed to tell you in person.”

“Alright. Raymond is asleep so we can talk in the living room.” She closed the door and went into the living room to shut off the TV. The tension Max carried into the house was so thick she felt stifled. “Um, what’s going on?”

“You might want to sit down first.”

“Max, you’re starting to scare me. Just say it.” She perched on the edge of the couch.

He sat down on the couch with her. “My attorney got a call yesterday from Jordan McKinney. He found out we’re engaged and now he wants to talk to you about Raymond.”

At the mention of Jordan, air went out from Angie’s lungs. She didn’t think she’d ever hear about him again. She gathered a breath. “Max, he never spoke to me again after I told him I was pregnant. He doesn’t care about Raymond.”

Max took her hands. “I believe you. I won’t let him try anything, but Rob says he has a right to ask about his son.”

Angie sat forward. “I should’ve gone to court years ago. Jordan never said anything to me, so I didn’t think I needed to. How could I be so dumb?”

“Stop it. You’re not dumb. You’re a great mom to Raymond.” Max stood up with her.

Tension forced Angie’s shoulders to draw in and upward. She struggled to relax her muscles. They remained rigid despite her efforts. “When does he want to do this?”

“He’s ready. He’s waiting on us.”

“I want to get this over with ASAP.”

Max agreed by nodding his head. “I’ll tell Rob to set up a meeting here at the Kleghorn in one of their private conference rooms tomorrow morning.” He put his hand on her shoulder again.

“Thanks. It means a lot.” Angie was grateful for Max making the meeting arrangements. “It’s past time for me to handle my business.”

“Remember, you’re not doing this alone.” He patted her shoulder before getting up to leave.

The tension returned to her as soon as he left. She had to rest in order to deal with tomorrow. Angie headed in the direction for upstairs, knowing she probably wouldn't sleep.

At five to nine the following morning, Angie drove her car into the parking lot of the Kleghorn Hotel. Max waited outside in his convertible. She parked beside him.

He got out wearing a midnight blue suit and dark tie. “Hi. I could’ve met you at the house again.”

“No. I had to take Raymond to school first, anyway.” She removed her sunglasses and tossed them onto the seat before shutting the car door. Max studied her face. She wanted to look away. She knew dark circles were beneath her eyes. Makeup couldn’t hide a full night of tossing and turning. She smoothed wrinkles from her blouse and capris. “Ready if you are.”

They walked into the hotel together, past the front desk, and to the conference rooms. A door to one of the smaller rooms was open. Through the window, she saw Jordan McKinney seated at the head of a table, impatiently checking the time on his phone. His suit jacket stretched over a slightly protruding belly. His hair had thinned out a little near the edges.

They went inside. Max closed the door. Jordan raised his head, took one look at Angie and Max and sneered. “The happy couple has arrived. How are you doing, Angela? Have a seat.”

She remained standing. “I don’t want to be here long, Jordan. What do you want?”

“I haven’t seen you since high school. Is that any way to greet me?”

“It is when you haven’t been in your son’s life for seven years and now suddenly show up out of the blue.”

Jordan kept a thin-lipped smile on his face as he moved his head to view Max. “Hey, man, I heard about your career-ending leg injury at Georgia. It must have sucked, but you still didn’t do too bad for yourself.”

Max folded his arms. “Answer her question, Jordan. What do you want?”

“I came to visit you two. Where’s the kid?”

Angie bristled at Jordan referring to Raymond as “the kid” as though her son didn’t have a name. “Raymond is in school. I decided to talk to you first before I let you see him.”

Jordan waved a hand in dismissal. “I don’t want to see him.”

“Then why are you here, wasting our time?” Max demanded.

Jordan laughed. “Did you just say, ‘our time’? Stop playing, Max. Angela’s got you fooled. What did she say or do to make you put the chunk of ice on her finger?”

Angie couldn’t believe the rude, hateful things coming from his mouth. In high school, she thought he was fun and rebellious. He was nothing but a bully. “I thought you had something to say to me. If this is it, I’m not listening. Bye.” She pivoted to head to the door. Max was in her way. Jordan’s mocking voice rang out behind her.

“I know your engagement’s fake, Angela. You always had a thing for guys with Irish backgrounds and money, didn’t you?”

His coarse implication made her feel sick. Max spoke before she could. His voice came out in a low warning. “You’re going to have problems if you keep talking to my fiancée that way.”

“I wouldn’t be making threats if I were you, Max.” Jordan touched his fingertips together. “You see, I’m the one who didn’t know Angela had my kid.”

“You did know.” Angie glared at him. “I told you I was carrying your child the summer after we graduated. You didn’t believe me.”

“The public doesn’t know that. In fact, from where I’m sitting, it looks like you’re a gold digger. You kept me from the kid for years and now you want a richer man to raise him.”

“Don’t lie, Jordan.” The longer she looked at him, the more disgusted she became. “I supported Raymond all on my own. When I saw you wanted nothing to do with him, I never asked you for a dime.”

“I don’t want to make this public…” He trailed his voice intentionally. “If we can agree on a sum, you’ll never have to see me again.”

Max stepped in front of Angie. “I had a hunch you came here looking to blackmail. I’ll give you one minute to leave. Then I’m getting my attorney on the phone.”

Jordan got up from his chair. “Billionaires and their pencil-pushers. Have it your way.” He walked around the other side of the table and out the door.

Angie stared after him, adrenaline and anger making her blood pressure rise. “This was never about Raymond. Jordan just wanted hush money.”

“He’s not getting it.” Max watched him through the window until he rounded a corner and disappeared from view. “Don’t worry, Angie. He’s all talk.”

“I’m scared he’s going to try something.” She put her hands to her forehead. “Either to hurt me or Raymond.”

“Look at me.” Max gently took her hands down and got her to focus on him. “I won’t let him hurt you or your son. Trust me.”

She took a step back, shaking her head. “You heard him. He knows we’re only pretending to be engaged.”

“He doesn’t know. He said it to accuse you of being a-I’m not even going to say it because it’s not true.”

“It doesn’t matter. When we break off the engagement, you get to walk away from the drama. I still have to deal with him and nosy people who’ll wonder what happened.” She went around Max to get to the door.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“To check on my grandmother at the hospital.” She put her hand on the doorknob. “Just tell me when the groundbreaking ceremony is so I can make my last appearance as your fiancée.”

Angie juggled a bouquet of lilies and a plastic cup of decaf peach iced tea into her grandmother’s hospital room. After the awful encounter with Jordan, she needed a visit with family to decompress. “Hi, Grandma, how are you feeling today?”

“Ssh.” Her grandmother sat up in her hospital bed, watching one of the morning talk shows on the little TV in her room. “I want to hear who wore the best dress at the awards last night.”

Angie laughed and set the flowers and tea on the little cart beside the bed. “Since when do you care about what celebrities wear?” she whispered.

“Since I’ve been bored, cooped up in here for the past two days.” Grandma muted the TV after the segment was finished. “I’m ready to go home.”

“I just talked to the doctor on the way inside. He said you’ll likely be discharged tomorrow.”

“Thank goodness.” Her grandmother noticed the flowers and beverage on the table. “Aw, you bought me flowers.”

“I know lilies are your favorite.”

“Bless you.” Her grandmother leaned over to catch a whiff of the lilies’ sweet scent. “What have you and little Ray been up to? You look tired.”

She had zero intention of telling her grandmother about Jordan today. The news could send Grandma’s blood pressure spiking again. Her own was already up in the stratosphere. “Raymond’s class is going on a field trip to the movies today. He talked about it all morning.”

“What about you? You look like you could use some relaxation. Do I need to call Max and tell him to take you to the theater again?” Her grandmother’s tone changed towards Max. Angie heard positive notes.

She concentrated on picking imaginary lint from her capri pants. “I may not see him for a while. Max has some things to take care of over the next couple weeks.”

“High-powered people always have a lot on their plates.”

“True.” She pretended to watch the muted television, where a starlet was shown parading down a red carpet. She recognized the location. The art gallery she and Max attended in New York. While the starlet twirled in her frilly pink dress, the camera swung briefly to show the museum entrance. Angie saw herself and Max on camera for a split second before it cut back to one of Hollywood’s rising stars.

“Was that you I just saw on TV?”

She confirmed it. “Max and I were there this past weekend.”

Grandma gave a little laugh. “You and Max are almost famous.”

I hope not. Angie turned from the TV. If her grandmother was beginning to accept the engagement, how was she going to explain it to her when the time came to call the whole thing off?