LITMIR.BIZ

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Callie felt a spasm of alarm. If Marshall had been at the church, and at the time that Natalie said, then he could have very well seen her. And if he had seen her, he would’ve seen her with Kwame. Wasn’t it likely that he would tell Nigel about having seen her with a young boy?

       “Uncle Dave, do you know if Nigel’s family still lives at the same house where he did before?” They would be able to tell her how to find Nigel.

       “Actually, Nigel lives there now,” her uncle answered. “Ever since his father moved south, Nigel’s been back there. He spent a lot of time renovating his parents’ old house. I hear it’s lovely.”

       If Nigel lived in his parents’ old house, that meant he was only two blocks away.

       “Good.” Callie emitted a shaky breath. “I need to see him.”

       “Need to see who?”

       At the sound of the voice, Callie looked toward the entrance to the kitchen and saw Deanna entering. She was wearing black silk pajamas and a pair of white slippers.

       “Nigel,” Callie said, then swallowed. “I need to see Nigel.”

       “Why?” Deanna asked.

       “Because I…I need to have an important conversation with him and I need to have it before anyone else does.” Though it could already be too late.

       Both of her sisters looked at her with concern. Callie knew they were curious, but she was suddenly anxious. She had to speak to Nigel before Marshall mentioned anything to him. Not that Nigel would necessarily put two and two together, but Natalie’s news was a sign that Callie needed to get on with this sooner rather than later.

       “Callie?” Natalie prompted in a cautious tone.

       Callie knew that what she was about to say would be a bombshell. She hadn’t trusted her sisters with the truth at the time because all they’d been doing then was arguing with each other. Somehow, she had come to believe that there’d be no harm in keeping the secret from them.

       Same as she’d kept it from Nigel.

       That was going to be the hardest part. Doing the right thing and telling Nigel the truth, after all this time.

       Callie’s stomach twisted. She had loved him. Lord, how she had loved him. But she’d let a disagreement—albeit a major one—come between them.

       She held no illusions that she and Nigel would reconnect romantically. Too much time had passed for that to happen. She had gone on with her life, and he had gone on with his. But what she hoped most of all was that he wouldn’t be too angry with her when she let him know the truth she had kept from him all these years.

       “Whatever it is, Callie,” Natalie began gently, “you know that you can trust us with it.”

       Perhaps Callie should have trusted her sisters with this years ago, but she’d just been so scared. “I have something to tell you,” she said, nerves tickling her stomach as she spoke. “Something that I told no one all these years. Except for Tamara Jackson, the friend from college who I went to Florida with. And please, try to understand my reasoning and not be upset with me.”

       “You’re scaring me,” Deanna said.

       “It’s Kwame.” Callie looked around, making sure that her son was nowhere in earshot. He had been sleeping when she had left the bedroom, but he could have awoken by now and been on his way downstairs.

       Certain that he wasn’t lurking nearby, she continued. “When I left Cleveland, I was pregnant. I know you all knew I had a child, and you didn’t ask me any questions. Still, I felt the need to tell you that Kwame wasn’t Nigel’s son. I said nothing more, and I think you all realized that I didn’t want to talk about it because you asked me nothing else. Perhaps you even assumed the worst. That I’d broken up with Nigel and met some other guy, quickly got pregnant, and then run. But the truth is…” Callie drew in a deep breath. This was the first stage of her telling the truth. Coming clean. “I was pregnant with Nigel’s baby when I left.”

       “What?” Natalie’s eyes bulged. Deanna looked dumbfounded. Uncle Dave, however, didn’t look that surprised.

       “I was pregnant with Nigel’s baby. Things weren’t working out, so…I just got scared, thought it would be best to raise the baby on my own.”

       “I can’t believe it,” Deanna said. “And I can’t believe Nigel let you walk away when you were pregnant with his child.”

       “No,” Callie said, realizing she hadn’t been clear. “Nigel had no idea.”

       “You never told him?” Natalie asked.

       “I…I thought it was best.”

       Deanna was shaking her head. “So now you have to tell him that he’s a father?”

       “It’s going to be hard, but I have to do it. It’s the right thing. My accident made that clear. If I were to die, Kwame should know who his real father is.” Callie shrugged. “He should have known all along.”

       Silence fell between them, and after a long moment, Uncle Dave said, “Your aunt figured as much.”

       Now it was Callie’s turn to be surprised. “She—she did?”

       “You left town so quickly, then let us know you were pregnant. And the fact that you never wanted to come back to Cleveland… Your aunt realized Nigel must’ve been the father. I’m sad to say the times we ran into him, we weren’t all that friendly. We figured he had done something really bad to hurt you. We blamed him for you not coming back here.”

       Even more reason for Callie to come clean now. “Nigel and I had our problems, but the decision to leave—that was mine. I was young, scared, and I thought it was the right thing to do. I’m sorry you and Auntie Jean blamed him, because the truth is he didn’t do anything particularly horrible to me. We just…I just thought it wasn’t going to work between us…” Callie sighed. “Are you all mad at me?”

       “No,” Natalie said, who moved toward her and hugged her. “I can’t say I’ll ever truly understand, but this is your business. The only person who has the right to be mad is Nigel.”

       Callie drew in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. She knew that was true. And that was her biggest fear.

       “That’s why I have to talk to him. Right now.”

       “Right now?” Deanna asked. “It’s not even seven-thirty in the morning.”

       “I know, but…” Callie swallowed. “There’s no time like the present, right? I’ve just got to do this, before I lose my nerve.”

       “At least have some coffee,” Natalie told her. She went to the cupboard, got a mug and filled it with java for her sister.

       Callie was going to say no, because her stomach was jumpy and she didn’t know if she could handle eating or drinking anything. But she was tired, and a jolt of caffeine might do her some good. So she went to the counter, added sugar and cream to her coffee, and took a sip to make sure it was just right.

       “Do you want one of us to go with you?” Deanna asked.

       Callie waved off the suggestion. “No, definitely not. This is something I need to do on my own.”

       And it was. She had gotten herself into this mess, and she was the only one who could get herself out of it.

      Chapter 3

      Nigel Williams could count on one hand the number of times in his life that he’d been speechless. He wasn’t the type to find himself at a loss for words. But when he opened the door to his home and saw who stood there—a few minutes shy of eight in the morning—he couldn’t think of one thing to say.

       He stared, and so did she. He couldn’t help wondering if his mind had conjured her, it had

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