“Your kiss said otherwise.”
“Sorry, but you’ve misread the situation. I don’t know why I kissed you.” A blatant lie. “But trust me, it was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made.”
“I don’t think of it that way.”
“Stop!” she shouted, clenching her fists. Much more of this and she’d end up taking a swing at him. “Do you honestly believe you’re going to persuade me with…with lies? If you say anything else, I swear I will walk out this door and never return. That isn’t an empty threat, Will. I mean it.”
A pained look came over him and he nodded. Then, to Miranda’s astonishment, he stepped closer, held her face between his hands and kissed her.
When he broke it off, she nearly stumbled backward in both shock and wonder.
“I—I quit,” she stammered.
“No, you don’t. I expect you here by ten tomorrow morning.”
Twenty-Four
The Pot Belly Deli was decorated for Thanksgiving. Gloria glanced around at the dried cornstalk and gourd arrangements, nervously sipping her juice as she waited for Chad. He’d asked for this meeting, and she’d agreed, but she still wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
Since the ultrasound, there’d been no direct contact between them, although they’d exchanged a number of emails over the past few weeks. These were generally short messages in which she answered his questions about the pregnancy and her health.
Gloria resisted the urge to ask him about Joni. Every time she thought about the two of them together, her stomach twisted. But she was the one who’d rejected him, so she couldn’t blame him for dating someone else. Sometimes she didn’t understand her own actions and could only regret what she’d done. It was because of her shame and uncertainty that she’d run out of his bedroom last summer, after spending the night with him. Then, when she’d gone to tell him about the baby—and perhaps even try to reconcile—it was too late.
The door opened and Chad came inside. He looked around until he saw Gloria, smiling tentatively when he did.
“Hi,” he said as he approached her.
“Hi.” She didn’t meet his eyes but gestured for him to take a seat.
The waitress stepped up to the table with a coffeepot and he righted his mug. “Would you like a menu?” she asked.
“No, thanks, just coffee.”
She nodded and left them alone.
Now that they were together, Gloria’s nervousness grew more intense. Nausea attacked her stomach, and her hands shook.
“You look great,” Chad said.
He wasn’t the only one to say so. Roy had said that pregnant women really did have a glow about them, adding that she was more beautiful every time he saw her. Her biological father didn’t hand out compliments casually and his comment had taken her aback. She hardly knew how to respond to Chad’s words any more than she had Roy’s.
Finally she managed to say, “Thanks.” And left it at that.
“Would you mind standing?” he asked.
“Ah, sure.” She pushed back her chair and stood.
His eyes rested on her stomach, and a slow smile spread across his face. A warm, wholehearted smile that said Chad was going to love this baby. Seeing his reaction nearly brought her to tears.
“May I?” he asked, extending his hand toward her.
Gloria came closer and he pressed his palm against the small bump.
“Do you feel him moving yet?”
She smiled. “All the time.”
“Good.”
She sat back down and reached for her drink to hide how moved she was by what he’d done. She noticed that his hand shook as he picked up his coffee.
“So,” he said after a moment. “Have you given any more thought to the name?”
“A little. Have you?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”
When he didn’t immediately make any suggestions or comment on other names he liked, she asked, “Do you want to share your thoughts?”
“No…I feel it would be best to wait until you make up your mind.”
“About?”
“About giving the baby up for adoption. Have you decided?”
Gloria held her arms protectively around her stomach. “I think adoption is a viable choice. I was adopted into a loving home with parents who badly wanted a child.”
Chad lowered his eyes, as if he couldn’t tolerate the idea, but didn’t want to argue with her.
“My mother gave me up because she was still a teenager with several years of school ahead of her. Roy didn’t even know she was pregnant.”
“I’m aware of that. But thanks to your father, I know about this baby.” Chad stiffened, apparently unable to keep quiet any longer. “And I’m entitled to a say in what happens to my child.” He emphasized the last two words. “If you decide you don’t want him—”
“Do you think that’s what adoption is?” Gloria asked. “Do you really believe a mother who gives her child to another family acts out of selfishness? Do you think that’s what Corrie did with me?”
“I…no.”
“She loved me enough to offer me a better life with two parents who yearned for a child of their own.”
“Our baby has two parents.”
“Every baby has two parents, Chad,” she said, hoping he’d see the humor in his statement.
“True. Every child has two parents, biologically speaking. What I meant is that times are different from when you were born. A father has legal rights and I intend to pursue mine. If you prefer to give the baby up for adoption, then I think it’s only fair to tell you that I’d take him myself.”
“As a single father?”
“Yes.”
“What about your hours at the hospital? Who’d look after him while you’re working? You make it sound easy. It isn’t.”