Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(26)

Ellie didn’t have a chance to respond before Diane’s husband stepped up to greet her. Diane was carrying the Crock-Pot to the island, anyway, which was filled with vegetable platters, cheese and crackers, guacamole and chips, Swedish meatballs, cookies, cupcakes and other sweets.

“Great to see you, Ellie.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Dick.”

He made a sweeping motion with one arm. “Come in, make yourself comfortable and, whenever you’re ready, grab a drink and some food. Game hasn’t started yet. We’ve got another half hour or so while they go through the usual pregame coverage.”

She thanked him and, after chatting with several of the other scientists and staff—during which she assured everyone she was ecstatic at the prospect of becoming a mother—she loaded her plate. She’d just found a place to sit when she heard a voice that made the blood curdle in her veins.

“Wow! Nice house. I love it.”

Don. Don and Leo had come. She’d barely had thirty minutes at the party without them. Struggling to conceal a grimace, she listened as everyone else welcomed them. She wasn’t happy they were here, but she refused to rush out simply because they’d arrived. She’d been having a good time so far. Why let them ruin it?

Forcing herself to stand, she nodded rather than saying hello, but Don’s eyes didn’t skim over her and move on as they had with all the other guests. He stopped talking as soon as he saw her, and his gaze dropped to her belly, as it always did ever since she’d broken the news.

“What can I get you to drink?” The enthusiasm in Dick’s voice sounded a bit fabricated when he addressed the newcomers, as if he was trying to stave off an awkward moment.

Leo answered that he’d like a glass of wine and drew Don farther into the kitchen.

Once they were out of her immediate sight, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief and, since she was no longer interested in food, focused on the TV for the first time. If she seemed engrossed in the game, which had started, she wouldn’t be expected to socialize so much. She’d lost her desire to mill around and converse along with her hunger. Truth be told, for all her self-talk about staying, she was already looking for an excuse to leave.

She’d decided she’d try to stick it out until halftime when she saw a face that made her scream and jump off the sofa.

At her outburst, the room fell silent, except for the TV, and everyone turned to stare.

“You okay?” Dick asked.

“It’s not the baby, is it?” Her boss, Carolyn Towers, who ran the Clinical Islet Transplant Program at the BDC, set her plate aside and hurried over. Carolyn was trying to get Ellie to sit down again, but Ellie couldn’t move. She was stiff with shock and rooted to the spot.

“It’s not the baby,” she managed to say.

“What is it, then?” Carolyn asked.

She pointed at the handsome player on the sidelines who’d taken off his helmet on leaving the field. “I—I know that man.”

“Of course you do, honey.” Carolyn spoke gently, soothingly. “That’s Hudson King, quarterback for the Los Angeles Devils. He’s famous. Everyone knows him.”

“No.” She shook her head as though what she was seeing couldn’t possibly be real. “I mean...I know him.”

Dick moved closer. “Personally?”

“I met him at a club,” she explained.

“And you didn’t recognize him?” This came from Diane, who’d quit fussing with the food in the kitchen to find out what was going on.

Ellie couldn’t quite process what she was seeing and hearing. She’d thought Hudson was gone from her life for good, forever lost. But no. Here he was, talking to another player on TV while the cameras rolled and an announcer described him as one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

“Ellie?”

Carolyn’s voice came to her from what seemed to be a far distance. Carolyn was repeating a question. Ellie hadn’t known who Hudson was when she met him at the club. She’d had no clue whatsoever. Why hadn’t he said something? He must have realized she didn’t recognize him. But even if he’d mentioned his last name, she doubted she could’ve identified him as a famous football player. She’d never paid any attention to sports, had too many other things on her mind that night—mainly her own misery and humiliation. “No,” she replied. “And he never told me.”

“Are you sure it was him?” Dick asked. “I mean...I think you’d know if you ran into one of the most famous quarterbacks on the planet.”

“Even if you didn’t, why would meeting him be a problem?” Diane bent to pick up the food Ellie had unwittingly dumped on the hardwood floor when she got up. “Famous or no, that man’s as handsome as a man can be.”

“I’d sure like to meet him,” another female coworker piped up with a raucous laugh, but Ellie didn’t bother turning to see who’d spoken.

“Yeah. He’s handsome,” she agreed. He was also good in bed. She should know. She’d spent an entire night with him—and wound up pregnant with his baby.

Belatedly realizing that she should help clean up the mess she’d made, she dropped to her knees. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to ruin your party.”

“Oh, stop. You haven’t ruined anything. This’ll wipe up easily enough.” Diane caught her hands as she continued to help, then frowned. “Your fingers are ice-cold, Ellie. What’s going on?”