Chapter Ten
“You’re not my daddy, are you?” Timothy asked.
Wayne turned his attention from the brick castle they were building to the boy. It was still raining outside, and Temperance had asked him to keep an eye on Timothy while she had to go take care of getting them some groceries.
This wasn’t a question he expected, nor was he prepared for.
“I’m not.”
“I knew you weren’t.” Timothy sighed. “You’d be a good dad.”
The compliment warmed his heart. “Do you remember your mom?” Wayne asked.
“Yes. She always laughed even when she was crying.”
Wayne frowned. “Did your mom ever mention me?”
Timothy frowned. “She said that a nice man helped her up when she was pushed over. Someone shoved her, and you helped her.”
Wayne couldn’t recall something like that, but then he wouldn’t. It had been so insignificant to him. The truth was, if she’d fallen in front of him, he’d helped her up so that he could move on.
Thinking about his own actions over the years filled him with shame.
What about now?
He was using Timothy and Temperance to satisfy his own need.
“I like Tempe. She’s funny, and she doesn’t yell at me when I wet the bed.”
“She’s really great.”
Better than any woman he ever deserved, that was for sure. Running a hand down his face, he released a breath and pushed everything out of his mind. He didn’t need to think about anything other than the now. Taking care of Timothy, waiting for her to return so that tonight he could have some sexy time with her.
The storm hadn’t scared Timothy, and it had been strange for him to sleep through. Wayne hadn’t slept at all. Temperance had fallen asleep in his arms, and he’d stayed awake just to hold her. To keep her in his arms and for once never let go.
She was making him break all of his rules, and he had no way of fighting it. How could he fight these feelings she was building?
You don’t want anything more.
Timothy’s not yours.
Nor is Temperance.
One day soon she’d find a real man, one who could give her the world.
Even as he thought it, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if he was that man that she needed, that she wanted.
“I’m thirsty.”
Rubbing Timothy’s head, he got to his feet and opened up the fridge. Humming to himself, he saw that they were nearly out of food. Temperance had the good sense to go and get some more.
He should have gone with her, but she didn’t want Timothy out in the cold and wet.
Humming one of the cartoon tunes in his head, Wayne grabbed both cans of soda that were left just as his cell phone rang. Holding one can, he placed the other on top, resting his chin on them to stop them from moving.
With his other hand, he answered his cell phone.
“Hello.”
“Is this Mr. Myers?” a woman asked.
“Yes.”
“Sorry to alert you, but we have a Miss Michaels here, and you’re down as her emergency contact.”
Fear gripped him. Holding onto the phone as if his life depended on it, he heard the woman explain that there had been an accident, and that Temperance had been run over. She was fine, several bumps and bruises, but the biggest problem was her leg.
It had been broken.
The change of plan happened instantly.
He put Timothy in the car and was speaking to Frances, arranging transport for himself, Timothy, and Temperance.
Arriving at the hospital, he demanded to see her immediately, and much to his surprise they took him.
Temperance was lying in bed, a cast already on her leg, but he wasn’t happy.
“We’re heading back home as soon as it can be arranged.”
“You don’t need to do that, Wayne.”
“Can I sign it?” Timothy asked, his little hand holding onto her leg.
“Sure, sweetie.” There was a pen in the drawer beside the bed. “I don’t need to go home.”
“You’ve broken your leg, and we’re going home. I want to make sure you receive the best care.”
“You don’t think I’ll get the best care here?”
“I’ll have more control back home.”
She chuckled. “It’s kind of cute when you’re being possessive.”
He ignored the comment, and instead left Temperance with Timothy and began to make arrangements. His two weeks had been cut short, but he didn’t have much of a choice.
You’re falling for her.
Within the hour, he had the transport arranged so that by tomorrow they would be seeing the doctor that Wayne wanted her to see.
He stood outside her room. The door was open, but he didn’t push his way inside. He listened to the two people who had turned his world upside down as they talked.
“Can you be my mommy and Wayne be my daddy?” Timothy asked.
“I don’t think so, sweetie.”
The sadness in the little boy’s voice wasn’t hard to miss.
“I want a mommy and daddy. I don’t want to be the stupid boy in the way.”
“You’re not the stupid boy, honey. You’re the best boy in the world.”
“I heard them women talking. The ones that looked after me, and they said I was a pain. I was a liar.”
“You’re not anything like that at all. I promise. You’re a sweet boy, and don’t ever call yourself stupid again.”
Wayne looked around the edge of the door and saw Timothy in her arms.
As he pulled away quickly, his gut twisted, and he didn’t go back in to see Temperance. He grabbed a coffee from one of the vending machines and went outside for some air.
He took a deep breath and sat back, looking up at the sky.
Life had changed so fucking quickly, and he couldn’t even recall life before Timothy. The little boy had come into his world and turned everything upside down. Nothing made any sense. Add Temperance, the woman with a heart and body that sent him into a spiral of need and love.
Running fingers through his hair, he wondered what he was going to do.
Pulling out his cell phone, he called Frances.
“For the hundredth time, everything is in order. There will be an ambulance to take Temperance to the hospital. There will also be transport for you and the boy. You’ll have everything in place.”
He had to cut his losses now.
There was no way he could keep on doing this.
Two weeks was too much. The boy was getting attached, and he wanted to be a father to him.
“Tomorrow morning when we get home, I want you to send the papers to child services.”
This made Frances pause.
The line was silent for several seconds.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. I don’t know if it will take them time. Also, arrange to have papers drawn up to stop Temperance’s contract.”
“Yes, sir.”
He switched off his cell phone, sipped at his coffee. The two weeks had been brought forward.
Whatever time he had left now would have to do.
Playing family was all well and good, but now it was time to face reality. Timothy and Temperance weren’t part of that.
****
From buying groceries to being in the emergency room, Temperance looked outside the window of the hospital where she was now. The past twenty-four hours had been … hectic.
One hospital to another.
They had been flown back in a private plane with luxury that had made her feel a little too pampered. Now, with her own room and the silence that filled the space, she felt like her time was coming to an end.
The time had been brief to say the least. A matter of days, a couple of weeks at the most, but already she was invested. This was the only drawback to being with someone in her book.
Wayne had yet to visit her, but something didn’t sit well with her.
The nurse came in and saw to her chart, and looked her over, then left.
She hadn’t seen him since they had touched down, and she had been wheeled past Frances, who stood with a couple of people dressed in suits.
Biting her lip, Temperance lay in bed and waited.
Time passed, and with it came the reality that this was the end.
Someone cleared her throat, and Temperance looked toward the sound, seeing Frances, the woman who was waiting for her on the first day of being a nanny.
She held a file in her hands.
“Hello, Miss Michaels. I don’t know if you remember me—”
“I remember you. It’s done, isn’t it?” Temperance asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Timothy. Wayne’s handed him back to child services.”
“Timothy is not Mr. Myers’s responsibility.”
“So he handed him right back as if he didn’t have a care in the world.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, Miss Michaels, but it’s not his responsibility to house all unwanted children.”
Temperance stared at the woman before her, and saw that even as she defended her boss, she didn’t believe in the words. “Speak the bullshit to yourself in the mirror.” It was the first time she had ever sworn to someone while she’d been working for them. Frances was an extension of Wayne. “Are those my marching orders?”
“This is the final contract and last payment.”
She took the file and glanced over the sum of money. It was a stupid amount, and looking at the settlement figure, she grabbed the pen, crossing out the amount and putting the correct sum.
“You shouldn’t be making changes without a lawyer present.”
“I don’t need a lawyer when I’m requesting the correct figure. I have the files at home to prove that. I don’t need anything more or less.”
Frances took the paperwork back, and her gaze went wide. “You want less?”
“I want what was agreed.”
“Mr. Myers arranged for that figure himself. He wants you to be paid properly.”
“I am being paid properly. Now, if you’d leave, could you please send a doctor in? I want to arrange to leave now.”
Her heart was breaking.
Wayne in a few choice moves had shattered her heart into a thousand pieces, or at least that was what it felt like.
Sex didn’t mean anything to him, and it never would. She had to remember that.
“Your stay at the hospital is also covered.”
“I don’t want it.” She gritted her teeth, feeling the tears that flooded her eyes.
Don’t be stupid!
Don’t let it get to you.
“Please, send in the doctor.”
Frances nodded and left the room. Temperance flung the blanket off her legs and eased toward the edge of the bed.
Her stupid leg wouldn’t work, and she was trying to move it.
She wouldn’t stay here, not for a moment longer. A change of clothes was on a chair in the corner, and Temperance was determined to get out of that damn hospital. She’d call Lilah and they could gather her things from Wayne’s apartment.
How had her life changed so easily?
She hated that it hurt.
The pain was unlike anything she’d ever felt.
Love shouldn’t be allowed to happen within a matter of days. The heart was one of the most important and vital organs in the body, and yet it was so easily broken, so easily hurt.
There was no secret way to protect herself.
She was well and truly broken. Temperance had expected it. She just hadn’t expected it to be this fast or this cold.
****
Wayne sat in the waiting room of the hospital. He didn’t want to go home, and he didn’t want to see Temperance. Frances didn’t take long, not that he imagined she would. So far, his efficient PA had handled everything perfectly. Timothy was back in child services, and he’d been granted an apology.
He stood as Frances exited the elevator and came toward him.
“Is everything okay?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. What do you consider okay? That woman is broken-hearted, and Timothy was so lost and hurt.” She handed him the file. “I’ve done my work for the day. If it’s okay with you, Mr. Myers, I’d like the rest of the afternoon off.”
He opened the file and saw the sum he intended to pay Temperance had been crossed out, and the original figure in place. “Who did this?” he asked.
“She did. She won’t take any more money.”
Wayne saw Frances had something to say. “What is it?” She’d been working for him long enough that he valued her opinion. He knew there wasn’t going to be anything she had to say that he was going to like.
“How could you have—it doesn’t matter.”
He’d disappointed her. “You can have the rest of the week off.”
She nodded and left. He watched her go, her shoulders slumped.
Watching Timothy leave had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Frances had warned him before he got on the plane that child services had already been alerted and would be waiting to take Timothy away when he landed.
Everything he’d put into place had worked better than he even thought possible.
He couldn’t walk away without Temperance taking more money.
Even as every single part of him begged for him to walk away, he couldn’t do it. He kept on walking until he got to Temperance’s room.
She lay in bed, and his heart broke as he saw the tears running down her face. He cleared his throat, and she glanced up at him.
“You knew, didn’t you? You knew they were going to be there?”
“Yes.”
“Was this your plan? Arrange everything while you were away so you didn’t have to deal with anything.”
“The day I announced the vacation, I got the results. I had every intention of telling you, but I wanted time first.”
“Time for what?”
“Time to live the life I could never have.”
She was shaking her head. “That was a four-year-old boy. A little kid who had lost his mother, who believed that no one wanted him. How could you do that to him? You made him believe that you liked him.”
“I did like him.”
“Not enough. If you liked him enough you’d have already made the arrangements to be his caretaker, his guardian. What you were was selfish. You didn’t think about anyone or anything but yourself.”
He didn’t deny it. Every single action had been about what he wanted. “What’s done is done. Timothy wasn’t mine. He never was.”
“No. He was just a problem to you. An inconvenience.”
He hated that he was hurting her. She kept wiping the tears away, but more fell down her face.
All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her. He couldn’t do that either.
Holding up the file, he took a step closer. “The settlement figure is not for negotiation.”
“I won’t take anything more than what I’m due. I’m not taking five million dollars from you.”
“Our relationship was in the paper. I pursued you.”
“For a couple of days, we had sex, Wayne. I’m not a whore. I can find my own way. I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need fuck or pity money from you.” She glared at him. “Leave. Please, go away.”
“The doctor said you were free to leave tomorrow.”
“I know what the doctor said, and I know what I’m going to do.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
She shook her head. “I’ve already arranged it with Lilah. She’s going to pick me up, take care of me, and be there. I don’t want you there, Wayne. Please, leave … now.”
He didn’t like that she was dismissing him.
You broke her heart.
Give her space.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” she said.
Her voice was breaking as she talked.
Wayne stared into her eyes swimming with tears.
“You’re just like everyone else. You’re no different. I loved that boy. I probably shouldn’t have, but I did, and now I won’t get the chance to tell him that no matter what, he’s strong.”
Wayne couldn’t bear it any longer. He left her room and the hospital. Climbing into his car, he went straight to his apartment. Even as he let himself into the luxury bachelor pad, there on the table lay several of Timothy’s toys.
They were lined up, waiting to be played with.
Ignoring them, he grabbed a beer out of the fridge, which still reminded him of Timothy.
Closing the fridge, he took a long swig of his beer. He had to clear his mind. The silence of the apartment was deafening to him.
His head pounded as if it was filled with so much crap and noise. There was no hum, no sound of the television, or the click of an e-reader changing the page.
He left his beer on the counter and moved down the long hallway toward the rooms at the back of his apartment.
Temperance’s door was closed, but Timothy’s wasn’t.
Entering the room, he flicked on the light and the pirate adventure room came to life. In a few days, the room had become that little boy’s.
He’d seen Timothy trying to be strong as the child services lady explained to him that he was going to a new home. To be passed to a new owner.
Wayne hadn’t for a second thought about what everyone else would think or even feel. He’d only ever had to care about himself. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he reached out to look at the picture.
It was one of Timothy and Temperance at the park, rolling down the slide. She’d told him it was a selfie as it was Timothy’s first time.
Putting the picture back, he wondered what the hell he was going to do with all the stuff.
An hour passed, and when nothing came to him on what to do, he made his way into Temperance’s room.
The moment he opened the door, he was hit by her scent. Comfort surrounded him, and he wished she was there, waiting for him.
They’d had sex a handful of times, and it hadn’t been enough. Two weeks he’d wanted, but the broken leg had brought it forward, and now he didn’t know what to do.
His decision wasn’t a mistake.
He refused to believe that getting his life back was a mistake, and yet he didn’t find happiness or peace.
All that filled the place was deep, searing loneliness.