The Color of a Dream by Julianne MacLean Read Free Book Online Page B

will.”
    We chatted for a few more minutes until I
sensed that she was feeling better.
    Before we hung up, I asked her to keep me
posted.
    Because I couldn’t simply just forget about
this.

Chapter Eighteen
     
    The next night, at exactly the same time, my
phone rang again. I quickly muted the television and dove across
Bentley as he lay on the sofa beside me.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, Jesse. It’s me again. You said to keep
you posted.”
    I recovered a more comfortable position.
“Yeah. How did it go? What did he say?”
    She took a deep breath and let it out. “I
couldn’t get him to change his mind about the baby but he told me
to be patient. He said…maybe we could get engaged at Christmas. But
he needs to focus on his career first so I want to give him
that.”
    I frowned and sat forward on the edge of the
sofa. “What are you saying? That you’re going to have the
abortion?”
    “Yes,” she replied. “He made an appointment
for this Friday and Christmas isn’t that far away. I can last until
then and maybe next year we can try and have a baby, after he signs
some clients of his own.”
    “Angela,” I said, “he’s not going to give
you a ring this Christmas.” I felt cruel speaking so bluntly but
she needed to hear the truth.
    “How do you know?”
    “Because he’s my brother and I know
him.”
    “But you don’t know us ,” she argued.
“You don’t know what we’re like together.”
    I shut my eyes and shook my head. “I do
remember what you said before you left—that it was intense.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Is it still intense?” I asked. “Is
it like it was when he came home for Christmas and you were
sneaking around behind my back? Or has some of the excitement worn
off?”
    Angela fell silent. “That was
different.”
    “Of course it was,” I replied. “You were the
forbidden fruit. Now you’re not.”
    “Jesse!”
    “I’m sorry,” I said, “but I have to call a
spade a spade, and the sooner you figure out what Rick’s all about,
the better off you’ll be.”
    “No. You don’t understand…”
    I pinched the bridge of my nose and paused
before I spoke.
    “Maybe I don’t,” I replied with
resignation.
    “If you could only talk to him,” she pleaded
in a quivering voice. “Because I don’t want to lose him.”
    Why was I having this conversation? Why was
I getting involved?
    “What about the baby?” I asked. “Do you want
to lose him, or her?”
    She hesitated, then answered firmly. “No,
but Rick already made the appointment.”
    Ah, Christ. I was in it now. Deep. All
the way up to my ears . I couldn’t possibly walk
away.
    “What’s your address?” I asked, reaching for
a pen.
    “Why?”
    “Because I have the next three days off and
I’m coming out there.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes. So cancel the appointment for now, at
least until we have a chance to talk about it. Will you do
that?”
    “Yes, I’ll cancel it.”
    Meanwhile, I had no idea what I was doing or
what I was going to say to Rick when I arrived. I had no plan,
except to book a red-eye flight out that evening.

Chapter Nineteen
     
    As luck would have it, my flight was
delayed. A storm cell moved in and all the planes were grounded.
Other incoming flights were rerouted and by midnight the airport
had turned into a zoo full of angry animals. Passengers missed
their connections and were stuck in the terminal all night. People
shouted at the airline reps, who couldn’t do much about the
weather. As I witnessed the chaos, I was glad I was just a baggage
handler.
    Travelers had no choice but to sleep on the
carpeted floors at the gates inside security while others crowded
onto shuttles to the nearest hotels to wait out the storm.
    Thankfully I was able to return home after I
was rebooked on a flight for the following evening.
    * * *
    The storm passed and my boss managed to
shift the schedule around. He told me to take a few extra days off
so I wouldn’t have to turn around and come right home