Evan

I spot her sitting at a corner table when I walk into the Roasting Point Café. This is the first morning I’ve been able to pull myself away from the hospital in days. It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve seen Chloe.

I’m mildly surprised that she hasn’t shown up on my doorstep again. I half-expected her to and it’s possible that she has. I’m rarely home and since there’s no doorman, I have no idea if she’s been around or not.

As much as I’m craving a cup of coffee, I don’t stop to order one. I’m too anxious to see Chloe. I want to touch her and kiss her.

Most of all, I just want to hold her hand and gaze into those gorgeous hazel eyes.

She looks up as I approach and I can sense that something is wrong immediately. She’s bundled up tightly in a wool coat even though temperatures are spring like today. Her eyes are sullen and dark. I can tell that she was crying at some point this morning.

“Chloe,” I whisper her name under my breath as I reach for her.

She doesn’t stand. Instead she leans toward me and squeezes my hand briefly before she drops it.

I don’t question what that’s about. Instead, I take a seat next to her, tugging the wooden chair across the tile floor until our knees are touching.

“Tell me what’s wrong?” I ask immediately as I circle my hand around her shoulder.

She looks into my eyes before her gaze drops again. “I don’t know how this happened.”

“What happened?”

“I can do this. I know I can and I want to. I really want to but I’m so scared.”

I skim my fingers over her cheek to catch a tear. “You can tell me what’s going on, Chloe. I want to help you but I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“I don’t need you to help.” She reaches for my hand to cup it against her cheek. “I hope that you’ll want to but if you don’t I’m okay on my own. I have a good job and my apartment isn’t big but it’s nice enough.”

I try to tangle all those pieces of information together into something that makes sense. “I’m not following you. Can you slow down and start from the beginning?”

“I can.” She nods her head. “I can start from the beginning.”

That’s something. I take both of her hands in mine and kiss them. “I’m here for as long as you need me. Start at the beginning and take all the time you need.”

She hiccups through a soft sob as her eyes lock with mine. “I went to the doctor a few days ago.”

I try to keep my hands steady. “Are you still feeling faint?”

“It was only that one time at your place.” She bites her bottom lip. “My friend, Gabi, insisted I go because of my medical history.”

“Your medical history?” I ask with a cocked brow.

“I was very sick when I was a teenager.” She sighs heavily.

“Cancer?” I question as my stomach knots.

“Leukemia. Chronic myeloid leukemia. I don’t know if you know what that is.”

I swallow hard. “I know.”

“I’m in remission but the chemo it did things to my body.”

It ate it from the inside out. I know. I don’t need her to tell me what it can do to a person. I’ve seen it firsthand.

“Evan.” She turns to face me. “I need you to know something.”

I kiss her softly as I rest my forehead against hers. “Tell me.”

“If I thought there was any chance, I would have told you.” Her eyes close. “I would have taken precautions, but I thought it was impossible.”

“You thought what was impossible?”

Her eyes open and it hits me. It fucking hits me before she says another word. “I’m pregnant. I don’t know how it happened but you and I are having a baby.”

***

I want to bolt. There’s a part of me that is tempted to head straight for the door and leave this in my past. I can’t go through this again if it’s going to end the way it did last time.

My work is my family now. I love caring for people and every form of comfort I need I can get in the corridors of the hospital when I’m doing my job.

“I’m terrified,” Chloe says softly. “I never thought this would happen to me.”

If I were a dick and she were any other woman, I’d push her to clarify what exactly her fertility specialist told her. I don’t do that because I know she’s as genuinely shocked by this news as I am.

“I always wanted to have a baby,” she goes on as she picks at a corner of the table with her fingernail. “I gave up on that dream when my husband left me.”

Asshole.

The man has to be insane to leave a woman like this behind.

“Life is funny,” I offer in a hushed tone. “You never know when it’s about to throw you a curve ball.”

A smile blooms on her lips. “This feels like more than a curve ball.”

It is. I feel like my entire world has been turned on its axis. “We should talk about what we’ll do.”

Her hand reaches for mine. “I meant it when I said I can do this on my own. I have my family to help and my friend, Gabi. I make good money. I can fit all the baby stuff I need in the extra bedroom of my apartment.”

There’s no way in hell that she just learned about the pregnancy today. She’s been sitting on this information for at least a day or two. “When did you find out, Chloe? When did you see the doctor?”

She circles her thumb over my palm. “Two days ago. I came by here yesterday morning but I couldn’t find you. I wanted to tell you.”

“Give me your number.” I tug my hand free and reach into the front pocket of my jeans to grab my phone. “I need it, Chloe. You’re having my baby.”

She calls out a series of numbers and I type them into my phone before I send her a quick text.

Her eyes drop to her phone’s screen. “Is that your number?”

I give her a curt nod. “Enter it into your contact list. I want you to use it whenever you need to.”

I type her name into my contact list along with her number before I put my phone back on the table.

“We will talk about all of this, right?” She tilts her head to look at me. “You’ll think about if you want to be a part of the baby’s life, because you can tell me it’s not for you and I’ll get it.”

She’s too nice for her own good. “I’m not going anywhere, Chloe. This baby is as much mine as it is yours. We will figure out the logistics and get everything in place before its born.”

Her expression shifts slightly. “Thank you for not freaking out. I did enough of that for us both.”

She has no idea how hard my heart is hammering inside my chest right now. I’m still trying to absorb the news. A baby. My baby. I’m going to be a dad.

“I need to get to my office.” She moves to stand. “I’ll be in touch soon, Evan.”

I stop her before she can walk away. “I still want to see you, Chloe. I know this is a lot and it complicates everything, but I hope we can see each other again.”

A beat passes before she says anything. “I’d like that. Call me sometime for a date. I might say yes.”