You did this, you fucking loser.
It didn’t matter what he called himself. There was nothing left to do but wait. Wait and hope that Nora would forgive him. When he went to see Alaric, he’d not told his best friend that he was going to be a dad. He’d kept it a secret.
“She’s fine.”
“I heard you say all alone. How can she be fine if she’s alone?”
Frank turned toward him and saw the disappointment in his eyes. “She’s a good woman.”
“I know that, which is why I need to tell you me where she is. I’ve got to fix this. I love her, Frank. I promise. I’m not going to hurt her.”
“Your words and your actions hurt her, Rex. Why don’t you get Arleen to give you the new password so you can check out the employment file to give you an idea? A clever man like you can figure it out.”
Rex stopped. “You knew about that?”
“Do you really think I got to the top of my game without knowing what the hell my staff was doing? I feel somewhat insulted. I might not be as techno as you guys are, but believe me, in this place you reference more books than anywhere else.”
“If you knew, why didn’t you stop me?”
“Why would I do that? I was curious as to why you wanted it. You were always doing strange things, so I didn’t see the harm. I’m an old man, I have to get my entertainment somewhere.”
Frank made his way toward the office door.
“Is she coming back?” Rex asked.
“I don’t know. She knows that it’s going to be difficult for her.”
“I’ll pay her salary. It won’t come at any cost to the firm.”
“I know, Rex. Nora, she earned her keep ten times over.”
“How?” Rex asked.
“We win cases with her. She’s one of the best researchers I’ve ever known, and because of her, we’ve had plenty of new clients come here. They adore her, and when they enter those doors, they want to know that they’re being taken care of. We’re not a completely bad firm. We have our moments. Nora, she’s one of our moments.” Frank left Rex’s office.
Rex didn’t wait around, and called Arleen for the new password. Entering Nora’s employment file, he couldn’t see anything that would give him a clue as to where she was. He’d called the local hotels and motels. He’d even gone to a couple, paid them cash for information. Going to the police was out of the question.
Staring at her picture, he flicked his pen between his fingers. “Where are you, babe?” He stared at her parents’ names and address. Her parents were away on a cruise. Their home would be empty. She would have privacy and time for her to get her head around being pregnant.
Writing down the address, he canceled all of his appointments, and headed toward his car. He needed to fix this problem and fast. Alaric had his own problems, and Rex couldn’t help his friend either.
Climbing behind the wheel, he headed out onto the road. He didn’t admire the view. Instead he thought about Nora, about her pregnancy, about the two of them being together.
He didn’t see a future without her.
He also didn’t know how he was going to fix this. Was there any way to fix his assholey behavior toward her? No matter what he said, it was no excuse for what he’d said, and how he’d spoken to her. He was … mean, and he had promised her he wouldn’t be.
“Asshole.” He growled the word as he hit his steering wheel.
I’m going to be a dad.
Holy crap. I made a kid.
There is going to be another human being around like me.
He wanted to be a parent. He wanted to have children. He wanted Nora.
There was so much that he wanted, and now he was afraid he wouldn’t have it because of his fuck-up.
The journey toward her parents’ house was filled with doubts, and he hated that. He was an optimistic person, and didn’t like filling his mind with doubts.
Parking outside of the house on the address, he knew it was the one as he saw Nora putting some trash bags out in the trash cans.
She turned toward him, and they both just stopped, looking at each other.
Nora moved first, heading in his direction. Her arms were folded, and she was just staring at him with a blank expression.