Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(25)

“No. I won’t tell them for another five months. That way, they’ll have enjoyed a big chunk of their trip before they’re forced to decide whether or not to cut it short.” She took Amy’s hand. “Somehow I’ll get through the next half year without them.”

“The way you work, you could end up staying in the lab that long,” Amy said, and they both laughed.





7

By mid-January Ellie was four months along and starting to show. She could easily cover the baby bump she saw in the mirror when she got out of the shower each morning with a big sweater over a pair of leggings. But instead of waiting until the last minute, she’d made the announcement at work a week ago that she was expecting, due on June 10.

Putting off the “big reveal” until the scandal of her breakup with Don could blow over had seemed wise, but in reality, the wait hadn’t made speaking up any easier. She’d barely gotten out of the limelight and didn’t want to step back into it.

Problem was, she also didn’t like the idea of her fellow scientists or the rest of the staff noticing the curve of her belly and beginning to speculate about a pregnancy. She felt it would be smarter to get out in front of the rumors by revealing the truth herself. Then she wouldn’t be so tempted to assume her coworkers were whispering behind her back. Once a secret was out in the open, it became far less tantalizing to the gossips.

Not surprisingly, Don didn’t take the news well. She’d spoken up at the end of a staff meeting, had said she was “excited to announce” she’d met someone and, although this “someone” was no longer in her life, she was now pregnant. No one had ever heard her talk about another man, but most of her colleagues had applauded. That was the polite thing to do, since she was acting as if it was good news.

Although Leo hadn’t been at the meeting, Don was, and, unlike the others, he didn’t pretend to be pleased.

He’d stood there with his mouth agape. Then he’d come to her lab later in the day, before she left, to insist that he had to be the father. He’d been shocked—and not totally convinced—when she insisted she’d been telling the truth about another man.

He’d asked for details, but she’d refused to elaborate. She didn’t want her child to feel any less loved because of the manner in which he or she was conceived, so Ellie didn’t say too much. She had a right to her privacy. The only drawback to keeping things vague was that it made Don stay there and argue with her. He’d said he would’ve guessed if there was someone else so soon after him, that she’d done nothing except work. She then said she’d been totally clueless that there’d been someone else—for him—while he was with her. But he told her he was going to demand a paternity test once the baby was born. And she’d said she’d comply if it would put his mind at ease.

Her capitulation had thrown him. He’d expected her to refuse, but she had no reason to. She knew the baby wasn’t his.

Agreeing to the paternity test didn’t get him to back off completely, however. Now, anytime he saw her, his eyes followed her around the room as if he wished he had X-ray vision and could see the child she carried.

It was because of Don that she almost didn’t go to Diane DeVry’s Super Bowl party on January 23. Diane, who’d given her the Outlander DVDs the night Ellie learned about the pregnancy, had invited everyone from the BDC. That meant Don and Leo could come, but Ellie didn’t think they would. Other than golf, neither one of them enjoyed sports. She couldn’t remember ever watching a single game with Don.

Determined to get out and enjoy herself—she’d been cooped up in the lab far too much lately—she prepared some barbecue wings from a recipe she found online and took them over to Diane’s house. Diane was married to the president and CEO of the Banting Diabetes Center Foundation, so they were on the fund-raising side together, and they had a lovely home in Doral with a huge deck and pool. Diane had shown Ellie several pictures when they were purchasing the property, so Ellie was eager to walk through it in person.

When she saw the cars lining the street, she felt a little overwhelmed. She’d made the announcement about her baby so recently, she knew she’d have to contend with a lot of questions and comments. Given the circumstances of her child’s conception, that left her uneasy. But she didn’t see Don’s car—or Leo’s, for that matter—so she felt she could handle the extra attention. After all, she had to let everyone react, get it over with.

After parking as close as she could, she carried her offering inside. The Super Bowl wasn’t a big deal in her world—she didn’t think she’d ever watched more than a few minutes of one—but Amy had met a man through the salon and gone to Vegas for the weekend. With her closest friend and her parents out of town, Ellie had been lonely. She figured this was as good an excuse as any to be with other people. The Los Angeles Devils were playing the Chicago Bears. She knew that much because it was on the invitation, but she didn’t care who won. She was more interested in watching the commercials, since they were supposed to be some of the cleverest of the year.

“Ellie! I can’t believe you came!” Diane exclaimed as she opened the door and took the Crock-Pot containing the wings.

“I told you I’d be here,” Ellie said.

Diane didn’t miss a beat. “I was afraid you’d change your mind and...go to work or something.”