LITMIR.BIZ

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not a worry because I have no wish to be anyone’s father. I’ll see my lawyer, have the papers drawn up. I’ll open a college fund for the baby, in lieu of paying child support, if that works for you.”

      She wanted to tell him to keep his money, that they wouldn’t need it, but a practical side of her knew that someday the baby would need substantial financial help with college.

      “Fine.” Somehow she found the strength to stand. “Goodbye, Arthur.”

      He stood as well, and moved next to her. “I didn’t want things to end like this.”

      “I didn’t, either.” She’d barely begun to adjust to the idea of a baby, but when she’d pictured what it would be like to be a mother, she’d imagined Arthur by her side, learning to be a father. It was another future she’d have to let go of.

      “Keep in touch.” He moved toward her, as if to hug her.

      Eli took a quick step backward. She didn’t want to touch Arthur Stone. Didn’t want the pity she saw in his eyes. She shook her head. “I don’t think so. If we’re going to make a break, let’s make it clean. Call me when you’ve got the papers, and that will be the last you’ll hear from me.”

      “Elinore—”

      “Eli.” And with all the dignity she could muster, she held her head high and walked out of Arthur’s condo.

      She got into her MINI and sat a moment, her hand pressed to her stomach. “Looks like it’s just you and me, kid,” she whispered.

      Despite what she’d said to Arthur, she wasn’t sure she could handle this. Wasn’t sure at all. Unlike Arthur, though, she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t walk away.

      She snapped her seat belt into place, put her key in the ignition, then the car in Drive and left.

      Left Arthur, and left the life she’d thought she’d have.

      For the first time in years, Eli Cartwright was driving without a map. It was disconcerting. It was terrifying.

      Underneath all that, there was also just the tiniest bit of exhilaration. There was suddenly a potential that hadn’t been there before.

      Rather than driving home, Eli headed toward Tucker’s, knowing her friend would be a hundred percent on her side.

      But half an hour later, when Eli finished telling Tucker about her meeting with Arthur, her friend’s reaction was far more vehement than Eli had imagined.

      Tucker paced back and forth in her living room. “Penis. Goat-boffing, self-important eunuch of a man.”

      “Tucker, sit down next to me.” Eli patted the empty couch cushion. “I feel I have to point out Arthur couldn’t boff goats if he was a eunuch.”

      Tucker didn’t stop pacing. Instead, she kicked the ottoman. “He could try. I hope—”

      “Stop right there,” Eli warned. “You’re not going to tempt the fates by wishing any plagues—”

      “I was going for some penis-eating venereal disease, but a plague would work.”

      Eli laughed. Tucker’s reaction was almost a balm to her wounded pride. “How could I have wasted five years of my life on someone who could desert a child?”

      Tucker finally sat, but remained resolutely silent.

      “You tried to tell me, and I appreciate your not saying ‘I told you so,’ but I’ll say it for you—you told me so.”

      “I never in a million years would have expected him to just walk away from this. Oh, I thought he was a boring, pontificating prig—”

      “Prig?”

      “I’ve been reading historical romances again, and it’s a good descriptive word. And though I thought it would describe Arthur, I still would never have guessed he’d abandon you. To be honest, I can’t imagine him not having opinions—many, many opinions—on how a child of his should be raised.”

      “Actually, he doesn’t want it to be raised. He wanted me to go for an abortion.”

      “Rat bastard.”

      Bart stuck his head in the doorway. “Mom, phone. It’s a guy, some Tyler Martinez.” He spotted Eli and waved. “Hey, Aunt Eli.” He ducked back out again.

      “Speaking of rat bastards,” Tucker murmured more to herself than to Eli. She got up and took the phone.

      “Yes?”

      She listened and was soon scowling. “Are you crazy? No.” And without saying anything further, she hung up.

      “Problems with a customer?” Eli asked.

      Tucker shook her head and plopped back onto the couch. “Nothing you need to worry about. The way I see it, you’ve got more than enough on your plate.”

      “Maybe whatever’s going on with you would distract me? And I so need to be distracted.”

      “Nothing’s going on, really. Just a man asking for a date.”

      Tucker hadn’t dated often over the years. Not that she wasn’t asked out, but more often than not, she declined. Eli worried about her. Tucker was still young. She should go out and have a good time on occasion. “Is this guy a troll?”

      “No. He’s gorgeous, actually, in a sleek, magazine-ad way.” Tucker’s scowl made the idea of a gorgeous man seem less appealing than dental surgery.

      “So he’s boorish?”

      “Not exactly. Despite his prissy way, he gets along great with Dad and the other guys in the garage.”

      “A prig like Arthur then?” She smiled as she used the word.

      Tucker shook her head.

      “Married? Twelve kids?”

      Another no.

      “Okay, so a gorgeous, interesting, unattached man who gets along with your father called to ask you out and you say no why?”

      “I say no every time he asks.”

      “He’s asked more than once?” This was the first Eli had heard about this Tyler Martinez, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there were other men who’d asked Tucker out that she hadn’t mentioned.

      “He’s asked me out a few times,” Tucker admitted.

      “What am I missing?”

      “Some brain cells if you can’t figure it out. I mean, I’m pretty sure his suits are designer—not that I know designer clothes. I mean, there’s Jacqueline Smith stuff at Kmart, but otherwise?” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure that’s what his stuff is, and he’s certainly got money to burn.”

      Eli shook her head, genuinely confused. “Still not getting it.”

      “Look at me, do I look like the type of woman a man like that would be interested in?”

      Eli did look. Tucker was wearing a holey pair of jeans, some steel-toed work boots and a T-shirt that proudly proclaimed It’s NASCAR or Nothin’. The T-shirt was worn thin from too many washings, and hugged Tucker’s body in such a way that no man could miss that despite the work clothes, Tucker was all woman. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t be interested, Tuck. I mean, if I were a man, I’d try to date you.”

      Her outrageous comment had the desired effect. Tucker laughed. “If you were a man I’d probably say yes. But he’s different. Too different.”

      “Tucker, this Tyler, or any man, would be all kind of lucky to have a woman like you.”

      Tucker pulled back, not physically, but emotionally. Eli could talk herself blue in the face, but Tucker would never believe that she was beautiful. It had nothing to do with designer clothes, and everything

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