Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(53)

“Besides,” Amy continued, “that’s several months away. Worry about what’s going to happen later after you take care of now. If you wind up coming back to Miami, you’ll be near your parents again. Problem solved. And if you don’t, they can visit you in California. A lot of grandparents don’t get to live close to their children or grandchildren. It’s not the end of the world. But you’re an only child, so I bet if it comes to that, they’ll move out there. They have the freedom and the money to do it.”

“True.” Ellie rubbed her eyes. “So I should say yes?”

“Why not? Give something new and unexpected a chance. You’re not making a lifelong commitment. You’re trying to accommodate the father of your child—as long as it doesn’t adversely affect your own life, and he’s trying to make sure it won’t. Fair is fair.”

Ellie couldn’t help smiling. There’d been times in her life when she wouldn’t have taken Amy’s advice on anything. “You’ve gotten good at solving other people’s problems.”

“What do you think I do all day?” she responded with a laugh. “Cut and style hair?”

“Thanks for your help, Aim.”

“You’re welcome. Except now I’m kind of mad at myself.”

“For...”

“Talking you into leaving. I’m going to miss you.”

They’d become closer than ever before... “You can visit me.”

“See if he has any single friends once you get out there,” she said, and Ellie laughed for the first time in several days.

“I will.”

“I have to go. My next appointment’s here.”

Ellie said goodbye and pushed End on her phone. Hudson couldn’t be all bad, not after the way he’d taken care of her while she was sick. That was a fairly reliable measure of someone’s empathy and sense of responsibility, wasn’t it? She should give him the shot he was asking for. Since the pregnancy would interrupt her work anyway, she couldn’t see how it would hurt.

Before she could change her mind, she called Hudson.

“Hello?”

The rasp in his voice took her by surprise. “Did I wake you?”

“Didn’t get much sleep last night,” he mumbled.

She felt guilty, since that was primarily her fault. “Okay. Call me when you wake up.”

“No, I’d like to hear what you have to say—as long as it’s yes. Are you coming to California?”

She clutched the phone tighter. “Do you ever not get your way?”

“Let me think about that. No,” he said immediately.

She had to chuckle. At least he was honest. “I hope I don’t regret this,” she said.

“You’re in?” He sounded much more awake.

“I’m in.”

“I can’t believe it. What about your work?”

“It’ll be better if I let someone else take over.”

“Is that why you agreed?”

“That’s what made it possible. Mostly I’m doing it for our son, so he can know you.”

“I appreciate that. I really do.”

“You’re welcome. If we get along, I’ll stay. If we can’t—if it’s not a good situation for me or the baby—I’ll come home, and...and we’ll work out some other way to share custody.”

“Fair enough.”

“Great. Get some sleep. I’ll see you later.”

“Ellie?”

“What?”

“Can I come to the birth?”

“Don’t press your luck,” she said and disconnected.

*

Hudson stared at the ceiling long after he’d hung up with Ellie. He was sleeping in her bed, which he preferred to being in a hotel, but living in her space, especially without her, felt weird to begin with. Now he’d be bringing a pregnant Ellie back with him to Silver Springs. That was sure to change a few things.

Would he regret handling the situation this way? What if he was wrong about her? What if she was difficult as hell?

The Ellie he’d seen so far made that hard to imagine. Despite her formidable intelligence, she seemed soft and sweet, and her room only enhanced that impression. He’d never been in such a frilly place. She definitely liked pink. What with the drapes and the bedding, he felt like he was swimming in a sea of it. The place smelled like woman, too. That was the best part. He could close his eyes and easily pick up the scent of her perfume on the pillowcase—and that scent was one he remembered well.

He should be able to get along with her, he told himself. Even if he couldn’t, he had to try. He couldn’t go on as if nothing had happened while Ellie gave birth to his child almost three thousand miles away. He’d lived his whole life feeling rejected by the very people who’d created him. He would not allow a child of his ever to feel the same.

His phone rang. Afraid it was Ellie—that she’d changed her mind—he checked caller ID.

Not Ellie. Aaron.

“Hello?”

“Hey, where are you?” Aaron asked. “You told Coach you’d help with weight training at school today. Everyone’s looking for you.”

Damn it. Hudson groaned. He’d been so overwhelmed by the tsunami that’d upended his life, he hadn’t even told anyone he was leaving Silver Springs, let alone checked his schedule. “Sorry. Something came up and I forgot. Is Coach there?”