Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(38)

Now that his more rational self seemed to be making a comeback, he glanced at the note Ellie had left with Aiyana to make sure he spelled her last name correctly as he typed it into a Google search. Although he didn’t expect anything too detailed or revealing to pop up, he didn’t have to sift through several pages to find a link. The very first one took him to the webpage for the Banting Diabetes Center, where she worked. He knew that because he found her picture on the staff page, along with her bio.

Ellie P. Fisher, PhD, is pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cell Transplant Center at the Banting Diabetes Center, working in the fields of cellular therapies, immunoengineering and tolerance induction for the cure of type 1 diabetes.

There she was. If only he’d had her last name, he could’ve tracked her down months ago. She really didn’t seem like a woman who’d sabotage a condom in order to get pregnant. That kind of person typically wasn’t a respected scientist. That made him feel less cheated, but it also made him feel like an ass. If she didn’t trick him, she must’ve been as surprised and unprepared for the pregnancy as he was. Winding up in bed together wasn’t all her fault. Sure, she was the one who’d pulled him into that taxi, but he’d been more than happy to let her. He was the one who’d pressed her up against the car and kissed her, wasn’t he?

Wincing as he remembered punching a hole in the wall of her motel room, he stared down at his swollen knuckles. “Shit,” he grumbled again and, with a deep sigh, forced himself to get up and find his phone.

He’d put Ellie into his contacts, so it wasn’t hard to bring up her number. He considered calling her but decided she might be more receptive to a text, since that was less intrusive.

Hey, it’s Hudson. I’m sorry for how I behaved, he wrote. I won’t ever treat you that way again.

No response.

Can we talk? he wrote.

She ignored that, too. He spent the next two hours moving restlessly through the house, trying to decide whether he should give up on the texts and call. He’d just made the decision to go ahead when he finally got an answer from her.

We have nothing to talk about. I don’t want anything from you. No money. No support. Nothing. You’re free to go on with your life as if you never heard from me.

“Oh, hell,” he muttered and scratched his neck as he considered his own response.

I didn’t mean to sound stingy. I’ll help, of course. You know I can afford it. This isn’t about the money. It was never about the money. I was...taken off guard.

I honestly don’t need you, came her reply. I can take care of myself and the baby. No worries. Have a good life.

“Have a good life?” He raked his fingers through his hair, which he’d been doing quite a bit. I’m going to ignore that, since I know you’re mad and I deserve it. But, seriously, I won’t stick you with all the expenses, he wrote.

Nothing.

I’ll be generous, he added. He meant that, but he was also hoping to entice her to reenter the conversation.

Sadly, it didn’t work. And when he tried to call her, she wouldn’t pick up.

After he’d tried her another five times, she broke down and texted him again.

Please quit harassing me, or I’ll change my number. It was a mistake to give it to you. I had no idea you were abusive when I did that.

I’m not abusive! You just...took me by surprise.

Do you think I was happy when I first got the news?

I’m sure you weren’t. I feel bad about that now. I’ll apologize again, if that will help.

Like I said, don’t bother. I’ve seen all I need to see.

He felt a moment’s panic.

So you’re cutting me off from the baby?

If you’d like to see the baby, you can send a letter to my place of employment at the Banting Diabetes Center after June 10. I’m not due until then. You’ll find the address online.

I have rights, you know, he wrote, but he could tell that wasn’t the direction to go, either, because she wouldn’t respond to him at all after that.

*

Hudson doubted he’d ever had a worse night’s sleep. As the wind and rain from the storm he’d been expecting lashed the house, he’d forced himself to leave Ellie alone so she’d have a chance to recover from their argument, but it hadn’t been easy to sit back and do nothing. He craved some form of resolution. He knew he couldn’t push her too hard. God forbid she got it in her head that he was really harassing her. A public scandal would only make this worse. It was going to be difficult to keep a lid on what was happening as things stood.

He got up at first light—didn’t see any point in continuing to toss and turn—and stared out the kitchen window to see that the rain had stopped. As he made coffee, he repeatedly checked his phone. She had to answer him sometime, didn’t she?

Apparently not, he realized as the minutes dragged by. Maybe she’d even blocked him...

Hello? he texted. Will you please meet with me today?

At last he heard a ding, but he wasn’t happy with what he read. Write the BDC after June 10.

He wouldn’t wait that long. He was going over there to confront her. She had to talk to him. But he needed to be smarter this time. He figured he’d go to the office first and ask the manager to accompany him to her door. With someone else there, chances were she’d give him a few minutes. Once he convinced her that he wouldn’t go ballistic again, maybe she’d let him in. Worst case, he hoped to work out a six-months-on/six-months-off arrangement. He hated the idea of missing half his child’s life. For him, stability was everything, since it was what he’d never had. But splitting each year meant he could take the baby in the winter, after football season ended and he wasn’t so busy.