Until You Loved Me (Silver Springs #3)(95)

He tossed his phone on the bed. “I think I should’ve been satisfied with being rich and famous.”

She chuckled, but he could tell she knew he wasn’t entirely joking.





24

Ellie rode over to the courier’s with Hudson to mail the DNA test to Samuel Jones, who said he wanted to collect a fresh sample from Cort Matisson—rather than use the beer bottle he’d found in Matisson’s trash. They had breakfast afterward at a little restaurant in town. She could feel the envious stares of the waitresses and the interest of the other diners, who kept glancing over because they were so excited to see Hudson eating in the same restaurant.

Hudson pretended not to notice the attention, but smiled and nodded at anyone who looked up as they walked out—which was pretty much everyone.

“You handle your fame well,” Ellie told him as they reached the street.

He took her hand. “Believe it or not, I’m grateful for it.”

“Grateful? I thought you resented the loss of privacy.”

“Sometimes I do, but the only thing worse than being wanted too much is not being wanted at all,” he said as he opened her side of the car.

She found it hard to imagine him in that kind of situation; there was so much about him to love. But of course, she knew his childhood had not been easy.

As soon as they got home and parked in the garage, Ellie asked him to pull out the original police file from when he was abandoned so she could read it.

“Why waste your time?” he asked.

“I know so little about what happened the day you were born and what was done to find the person who abandoned you. Who the police talked to, what those people had to say. I don’t like being uninformed about anything I’m dealing with, especially something that has me frustrated, fearful or upset.”

“But what’s in the file doesn’t matter anymore. It’s down to DNA. Either my DNA matches Matisson’s or it doesn’t. There’s nothing that’ll change my fate, not if we’re a match.”

He sounded so fatalistic. “What if you’re not a match?”

After letting them in, he tossed his keys on the kitchen table. “What are the chances of that? Jones went through every document in that file. You’ll just be redoing work he’s already done.”

“I don’t have anything better to do at the moment, and we might have a wait ahead of us. Who can say how long it’ll take Jones to meet with Matisson, get a new sample and send it in? He’s got to fly there, do the test, add your sample when it arrives, mail them both in and wait for the results. I’m guessing we’ve got a week to ten days, and that’s if he moves fast. I don’t see any reason not to put that time to good use.”

Hudson looked as if he’d continue to argue, so she slid her arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips. “Please? Jones did what he did so he’d get paid. I’m sure he’ll charge you more for jumping in and helping now—even though he’s the one who caused all this by giving Matisson his card. I’m doing it because I care about you. Which of us do you think will be more dedicated to protecting your interests?”

He sighed as he locked his hands at her lower back, keeping her against him. “Fine. I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t see the file. But I can’t bring myself to read through it again.”

She understood. He was too restless, too troubled. Watching him was like watching a caged panther pace the length of a small cage, golden eyes staring out with anger and resentment—and the promise that things would not go well for whoever dared challenge him. Coping with such strong emotions was especially hard for him because he wasn’t playing football right now, couldn’t turn that anger and resentment into energy and unleash it. There were moments she felt he was coming to terms with what he’d learned. But more often, she felt him pushing it away, doing anything to avoid thinking about it.

“You don’t have to,” she told him. “You were talking about going to LA for a team meeting.”

“I have to be there early Monday, so I’ll have to leave tomorrow night.”

“I’ll study the file while you’re gone. It’ll give me a way to distract myself.”

He tucked her hair behind her ears. “I was hoping you’d go to LA with me.”

She could tell he’d been afraid to let himself lean on her. This showed that he was gaining trust. But she couldn’t join him. “Unfortunately, I have a doctor’s appointment here on Monday, remember?”

He frowned. “I guess I’ll be going alone, then.”

Ellie didn’t mind being left behind. She wanted to dive into the file while he was busy doing other things.

She’d assumed she’d have to wait until he left to start on that. While he was home, he wanted her to play pool with him and swim and make love. But his agent called the next day, as they were having breakfast, and he went into his office to discuss his upcoming contract, which gave Ellie the opportunity to open the file a bit earlier.

She carried it, along with her laptop, into the dining room and was deep in a statement from the pizza deliveryman who’d saved the newborn when Hudson came to find her.

“You bored yet?” he asked, bending down behind her to nuzzle her neck.

“No.”