Summer Love by Rashelle Workman Read Free Book Online Page A

Came
    Nine
     
     
    The warm fuzzies she’d been feeling for him retreated. “I see. And where does this Dr. Freedman have an office? Portland?”
    “No, she’s in Dallas.”
    Simone started to interrupt, but Sam kept going. “She’s the most renowned in her field.”
    Simone put her hands in her lap and gritted her teeth, steeling herself for the fight she felt coming. “How am I supposed to get there? Drive? Fly? I can’t afford that, Sam. And then there’s Sabrina. Am I just supposed to drop everything and leave her? Leave my job, my family, everything and everyone I’ve ever known? For how long? And do all that just so she can tell me that I have a fifty-fifty chance. I can’t, Sam. I won’t.” Simone turned so she faced him. “I won’t do it.”
    Sam tossed the remainder of his sandwich back on his plate and wiped his hands on a napkin. “Simone St. James, why do you think I sent you an email?”
    She snorted. She had no idea. “The bigger question is why did you leave without saying good-bye?”
    “I told you—” Sam began but she cut him off.
    “Yes, I know, you said you had to get over you wife.” Simone squeezed her hands together. “I get that. What I don’t understand is why you couldn’t have told me what was going on. You said you loved me. You made me promises and I believed you. I let myself fall for you. Hard.” The pain she’d felt at his leaving pressed against her heart. She blinked back tears. “But you didn’t trust me. You didn’t call or text or email. Instead you totally cut me out of your life without a reason.”
    He reached out to touch her face but she backed away.
    “I found out I was pregnant. Then I was told I had cancer. And then I had a baby. Those are huge moments, Sam. Huge.” As hard as she fought, the tears still came. There had been so many times she’d wanted to talk to him, tell him how she was feeling, and now that she started she couldn’t stop. “And you weren’t there for any of it.”
    “I know,” he said.
    “You know?” Simone growled, frustrated. “You don’t know.” She slid her chair out. The legs scraped against the linoleum. “How can you say you know anything about me anymore?”
    He stood too and came toward her.
    “No. No. No,” she bawled, backing away from him. “Were you there when I had morning sickness? When I couldn’t even keep down crackers or water? Were you there when I went in for the first ultrasound? Or when the doctor came in and told me there was a growth on my spine? Were you there when the doctor told me I should abort the baby and start chemotherapy, or when I made the decision not to?” She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to force down the screams. It didn’t help.
    Sam tried to come toward her again, but she stuck out a hand. “No. Stop. Don’t come any closer to me. Do not come any closer.”
    He stopped. His eyes were wet and he wiped at them with the back of his hand. “You’re right,” he said. “I wasn’t there when you needed me.” He balled his hands into fists. “Sim. Not being there when you needed me is one of the biggest regrets of my life.”
    Sabrina started to fuss, probably sensing the tension in the room. Simone turned and it was then that she noticed that a portion of Sabrina’s bouncy chair had gone over the ledge of the table. The chair began to tip. Simone watched in horror as it moved, taking Sabrina down.
    “Sam,” she whispered ferociously.
    He saw what was happening and caught Sabrina while she was in the air. “I’ve got her,” he said calmly. “I’ve got her.”
    Simone fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands.
    Yes, he did have her, and wasn’t that what she wanted? No matter what happened to Simone, Sabrina would have a parent. Sam really seemed to love Sabrina and she seemed to like him. If nothing else, there was that. She would have a father.
    “That’s good,” she whispered. “Really, really good.”

 
     
    Her