Til Debt Do Us Part (Married At Midnight #4)

Chapter 23

Twenty-Three

Talia

I 'm hurrying through the grocery store, trying to hunt for the exact brand of ramen I've been craving all day. In my mind’s eye, I can see it. A yellow and orange packet with some Japanese writing down the right side. Frick and Frack are behind me, purposely giving me room to breathe. I have been cranky all day, so I appreciate it.

"Are you pregnant?"

When I hear the question, a chill slides down my spine. I turn around and see a woman in her thirties pointing at my stomach, as if I needed her to highlight my baby bump.

I give her a wry smile. "I am."

"Congrats!" She beams at me, then her expression sobers as she looks at the cheap ramen packets I'm holding. "You shouldn't have salty foods. Too much salt in your diet will basically pickle your baby."

"Are you taking over as my obstetrician?" I ask.

The woman's face colors. "Uh... no."

"Oh! That's good. I thought that you were trying to tell me what I should eat because you were going to take my actual doctor's place. But since you're not, and since I'm a complete stranger that you've never seen before, I think it would be in your best interest to stop giving out advice."

The woman's jaw drops. "I... I'm sorry?"

She turns and scurries away. I scowl after her as I take one of the packets off the shelf and head to the cash register. Frick and Frack are both pointedly avoiding my glare.

That's good, because I'm not looking for any more unsolicited input on my pregnancy.

I am five and a half months pregnant. When I go out shopping, I can feel the stares from passersby as I walk down the street. At the cash register in fancy stores, older women come up to me and tell me about the latest craze in pregnancy advice. What to eat, how much to exercise, what rituals will supposedly determine the sex or intelligence of my baby.

I'm overwhelmed. It's exhausting hearing all this unsolicited advice and it makes me feel like a broodmare - like all people see when they look at me as just a vessel for their opinions and expectations.

But despite all that, there's something else, too - a deep satisfaction in knowing that Dare and I are making this incredible life together. That there is something growing inside of me that we both created with love.

That thought keeps me going when times get tough and helps sustain my patience with all the intrusive comments from strangers. Because at the end of it all, Dare and I are creating something beautiful together for ourselves - our own little family unit with so much potential for a bright future ahead of us.

So despite feeling exhausted from carrying around this growing bump and dealing with endless belly rubs from strangers, I take comfort in the knowledge that Dare will love this baby.

He might not yet, but the second he sees his child, he'll fall for it. Or that's what I like to fantasize about, anyway.

I get a call from a number that I don't recognize one morning while I am leaving a maternity clothing store, bags hanging from both of my arms. It's a struggle to answer the phone but I get it out of my purse and shove it between my face and my shoulder.

"Hello?"

I almost drop my bags and Frack appears, as if summoned. He collects the bags and then hurries me into the SUV idling at the curb.

"Is this Miss Chance?" a strange woman asks. Her voice is high pitched and terse.

I hesitate. Is that the name I go by now? I still haven't decided. Will it be strange to change my name?

"Chance is my maiden name," I say, trying to see if it feels like too much of a lie to claim it. "I go by Mrs. Morgan now."

I prickle runs over my skin as I say the words. They sound nice rolling off my tongue.

"Mrs. Morgan, I'm calling from Our Lady of Penitent Faith Hospital. Minnie Chance has you listed as an emergency contact. She took a spill this morning and has several broken bones."

My heart stops for a second."Oh my god. Oh my god, is she okay?"

"She'll need surgery. But for now, she can go home and rest. She wanted to know if you could pick her up."

Tears spring to my eyes and I squeeze them closed. "Yes! Yes, of course. I'll be right there. Thank you so much for calling."

The woman responds briskly. "We'll let her know."

God, I feel like the worst niece in the world. Aunt Minnie probably hurt herself working in the store while I was out shopping, of all things. If I hadn't totally ignored her requests for help the last time I saw her, she would probably be perfectly fine.

I am so self-absorbed!

It's all I can do to hold it together while I head to the hospital.

Things get frantic for the rest of the day. The next four hours have me picking up a completely loopy Aunt Minnie from the hospital, getting her prescriptions for pain medication, and bringing her into the loft to stay in the spare bedroom.

"I can't stay here," she protests. "I have too much to do at the store!"

"You broke your leg in three places," I counter, tucking her into the guest bed. "You're on so many drugs right now that it would be irresponsible of me to let you leave. You need rest, Aunt Minnie."

Aunt Minnie catches my hand and grips it tightly.

"You're a wonderful person. And..."

"And what?"

"And I have a shipment of books waiting at the front of the bookstore. If they aren't brought inside someone will steal them."

I kiss her knuckles. "Don't worry about that. I'll have someone go to the shop right now."

Aunt Minnie purses her lips. "I don't want just anybody to have keys to my store."

"You don't have a choice. Your leg is broken. I am almost six months pregnant. I promise, I will get the books in the door somehow. And then the rest of the work can be figured out tomorrow."

Aunt Minnie wrinkles her nose. But I can tell that she is tired from her heavy-lidded eyes.

"Okay," she acquiesces. Her eyes slip shut. "I love you, Talia."

I grab her hand in both of mine and kiss it, then I sneak out of the spare bedroom. Calling a temp service, I get a young woman to come pick up the key to the bookshop from the loft and then go wrangle the packages.

Then I arrange to have a nurse come and stay with Aunt Minnie, to be at her beck and call.

Dare arrives home late that evening, and finds me stressing out in the living room. He takes one look at me and just knows that something is wrong.

"What's going on?" he asks. I hope he doesn't notice the worry lines that I'm afraid are etched on my face.

I explain what happened with Aunt Minnie and how I had arranged for a nurse to stay with her while she recovers. Dare listens silently, wrapping me in his strong embrace when I finish the story.

"I'm sure your aunt appreciates what you've done," he murmurs. He wraps me in a hug. "You look exhausted, though. Maybe you should lie down for a bit."

"I'm fine."

"Maybe you are, but what about the baby?" He slides his hand over my belly and looks down, a groove of worry appearing between his eyebrows. "I think I'm going to pull the 'Expectant Parent Card' and insist that you close your eyes for twenty minutes."

I try to shrug it off, but there's no denying the truth in his words. "I am a little tired."

He scoops me up in his arms and carries me to bed without another word. He lies down beside me and I curl up against his chest.

This feels so good. Being with him like this feels like a kind of completion that I've rarely felt in my life.

It's peaceful, where outside this room is so chaotic.

We lay there, quiet in the darkness. Dare's steady heartbeat lulls me into a trance-like state, and I feel all the stress of the day slowly melting away.

"Why do you feel the need to bend over backward for your aunt?" he asks.

I look at him and his brow is furrowed in confusion.

"What? What do you mean? She is the only family I've got."

Dare arches a brow. "No offense, but that doesn't really mean anything to me. You've met my family. They are all bastards. I wouldn't do nearly as much for them."

A startled laugh escapes me.

"Why do I feel like I owe Minnie so much?" I ask myself quietly, an intense feeling of guilt and admiration tugging at my heartstrings.

He looks at me intently, waiting for me to continue. Taking a deep breath, I tell him about the day my mother dropped me off at Hope House when I was six years old.

"I can't ever quite understand why she did it," I say sadly. "But looking back now, I think she must have been scared and desperate to give me a better life."

"That's when Minnie stepped in," I continue. "She took me in with an open embrace and offered me more stability than anyone else ever could have before or since. She wasn't a perfect parent. She is still terrible with money and impulsive about signing business deals with sketchy people. But she was there for me when I needed her. She put a roof over my head and food in my mouth. I can never, ever repay that kindness and generosity."

"I don't really see Aunt Minnie demanding that you repay her. She loves you."

I take a deep breath, feeling tears pressing at the corners of my eyes.

"That doesn't make us even. My mom dropped me off at Hope House when I was six years old. She didn't even call the sister she had in town when she abandoned me. I... I must have been a burden to her."

Tears leak down my face. Dare pulls me against his big body, dropping a kiss against my temple.

"No one could mistake you for a burden, Talia."

"Y-you don't know that. You can't know what my mother felt the day she dropped me off."

He tips my face upward with a finger, his blue gaze piercing me straight through and holding me fast.

"I know. Okay? You're extremely lovable. It's impossible to know you and not to love you."

My eyes widen. Is Dare saying... that he loves me?

Dare seems to realize that he's misspoken. He clears his throat and breaks eye contact.

"What I'm trying to say is that you don't owe your aunt a thing... except maybe your own happiness. If my mom were still alive, that's what I think she would say about me."

He tightens his arms around me as if he knows this is what I need right now - just someone to hold onto while all the emotions wash over me like a wave.

I bury my face against his chest, my heart still pounding. His words are still ringing in my ears.

It's impossible to know you and not to love you.

What could that mean?

Somehow, despite my thrumming heart, I can't seem to keep my eyes open. The tiredness coupled with the emotional outburst absolutely does me in. I fall asleep in Dare's arms with his face buried in my hair.

My eyes flutter open, and for a brief moment I'm confused. This bed is too comfortable to be the cot at Hope House. Then I remember - I'm in Dare's bedroom. In Dare's arms.

But now he's gone. His side of the bed is cold and empty. Even the blanket has been thrown off on the floor. He must have left while I was sleeping.

I sit up slowly, feeling my heart sink in disappointment. Was he mad at me? Did he leave because he didn't want to be around me anymore? Or maybe he realized that we had shared an intimate moment and it scared him away.

Gathering up the blanket off the floor, I wrap it around myself and head out of his room in search of Dare or Aunt Minnie. When I step into the living room, I find both of them sitting together on the couch with steaming cups in their hands and a plate of cookies between them.

Aunt Minnie glances over her shoulder when she hears me come in, her face lighting up with a smile when she sees it's me. "Ah, Talia! Come join us. Dare was just telling me about his work."

My stomach does a little flip when I see Dare sitting next to Aunt Minnie on the couch. He looks up at me and gives me a small nod of acknowledgement, but his body language is tense and he doesn't quite meet my gaze.

Seeing him like this, it's hard not to feel a twinge of hurt. Did he regret what happened between us? Did it mean nothing to him?

Clearing his throat, Dare turns back to Aunt Minnie to continue his story about his latest business venture. As he explains the details of the deal and how much money it could possibly make, I can tell that Aunt Minnie is genuinely interested in what he has to say.

But even as Dare talks excitedly about the project, something feels off between us. There's an invisible barrier between us now that wasn't there before - a reminder of our differences in status and wealth that can't be ignored.

I try to listen attentively as Dare talks about the project, but my heart isn't in it. I know that this deal won't change who we both are deep down -I'm still just a girl from Hope House while he's still one of the wealthiest people in town- but it serves as a stark reminder that our worlds are miles apart, and it makes me sad.

After a few more minutes of talking, Dare stands up and declares that he needs to get back to work before the day ends. He says goodbye politely enough, but there's an icy distance in his voice that wasn't there before.

He leaves without any further words or gestures towards me, making my heart sink further into my chest. Obviously whatever happened between us this afternoon was just an emotion-filled moment with no real substance behind it. We're from different worlds and nothing we do will ever change that fact.

Pushing aside the feelings of rejection, I head to the guest bedroom. Aunt Minnie looks up and pats the spot beside her. I walk over to the bed and slump down onto the coverlet, feeling as mopey as a teen girl. Aunt Minnie's gentle voice draws me out of my thoughts and I look up to see her. She scoots over beside me and places her hand on mine in comfort.

"What's wrong Talia?", she says softly.

“Everything!” I say, feeling melodramatic. “My whole life is a wreck right now.”

“Is this about Dare?” My heart stops as I hear her words and my eyes widen in shock. I try to look away, but I know it's futile. There is no escape now, so I exhale a deep breath and slowly let out the truth that has been burning inside me.

"I... I care for him," I murmur, my voice trembling with emotion. Tears stream from my eyes like a waterfall as I admit how much I have come to care for Dare - an emotion that defies logic yet infuses every part of me.

"But it's impossible," I wail, conscious of the insurmountable obstacles we face.

Aunt Minnie pulls me into a warm embrace before pushing away slightly and looking directly into my eyes. "Talia, don't be ridiculous! Dare is obviously head-over-heels for you!"

The scoff of ridicule that leaves my lips is unintentional. "He doesn't feel anything for me."

"That's crazy. You know what we chatted about? We talked about your childhood for almost twenty minutes before you came in. He asked me to tell him about when your mother left you with me. No man just casually asks for that kind of information about a woman he doesn't have feelings for. Dare is obsessed with you."

For the first time in weeks, I begin to consider the thought that maybe Aunt Minnie actually has a point after all. Dare does seem preoccupied with me every moment we're together.

I shake my head. "I don't know."

"Well, you should. The fact that you're in love with each other is painfully obvious to everyone but the two of you, I guess."

"How much pain medicine did that nurse give you? You're talking crazy."

I stubbornly hold my ground and tell her once again that I only feel friendship towards him. She just shakes her head before changing the subject back to her latest shipment of books.