Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (225 page)

Once she had lit a scented oil candle and set up her bed, she felt a little better.  She made herself a light dinner and then plugged in her laptop and booted it up, signing onto her mobile broadband internet connection.  She discovered that her email was flooded with messages from Kiefer.  She sent everything from him straight to the trash and then was left with some spam and a message from her sister.  She opened the letter and found that Kiefer had called and begged Leanna to talk her into giving him another chance.

Delphina sighed.  Lee had never liked Kiefer.  She had told her little sister that he was bad news the second she had laid eyes on him.  But the rest of the letter sounded too much like an “I told you so”, so she sent it to the trash too.

She slept fitfully that night.  It wasn’t that she hadn’t had nights apart from Kiefer in the past three years.  She couldn’t count the nights he hadn’t come home, when he’d been out drinking with friends all night or had been with another woman.  She just felt out of sorts and it was about more than her break up.  She wondered if she was getting sick.

The next morning, she went to the thrift store.  She was lucky enough to find a bed and a couch that were both in good condition and reasonably priced.  She bought curtains and pictures for the walls.  Once the furniture was delivered and the pictures had been hung, she admitted that the apartment felt a little less dreary.

Her first day at her new job, she was overwhelmed.  It was training, but she already felt like she was in over her head.  She was scared that she was going to fail.  She cried a little as she drove home.  Kiefer had stopped calling her, and even his emails were coming less frequently.  She had a feeling it wouldn’t take him too long to move on.  She honestly didn’t know whether the thought made her sad or comforted her anymore.

Six weeks later, she finished training.  She felt better than she had before, but still wasn’t sure that she’d be able to handle the job.  It was technical support at a call center, and while it certainly wasn’t brain surgery, and it paid much better than her last job had, she still wasn’t sure that she would make it.  She hadn’t made any friends in her training class, though three guys had hit on her on an almost daily basis.

Her first scheduled day on the actual call center floor, she woke up in the morning and immediately rushed to the bathroom to throw up.  She wondered if it was nerves or if she had caught a bug.  As she flushed the toilet the realization that she had missed her period hit her.  She banged her hand on the toilet seat.

“No damn it.  Not now.  If there is a God you cannot do this to me.”

She’d been dumb enough to have sex with Kiefer on the night before she’d left him.  And he had been out of condoms.  She wasn’t on birth control because she could never remember to take the pills and they hadn’t been able to afford any other form of birth control for her without insurance.

Delphina laid her head on the closed toilet seat and cried for a good fifteen minutes.  Then she got up and took a shower and got ready for work.  Her day did not go well.  Every other customer she spoke with had a problem that was more complicated than her step by step screen prompts or wanted to speak with a supervisor. 

She wanted to run her car into a tree by the time she left for the day.  She stopped at a drug store and bought a pregnancy test.  It took her two hours after she got home to find the courage to take it.  When she saw the results, she cried for half an hour.  It was positive.

She went to the bedroom and unplugged her phone from the charger.  She took a deep breath and then let it out.  She dialed Kiefer’s cell phone number.

He answered before the first ring was through.  “Del.  Did you change your mind?  Oh baby, I have been so lost without you.”

Delphina bit her lip and brushed her hair back over her shoulder.  “Kiefer I need to tell you something.”

“What is it babe?  You can tell me anything.  Please just tell me that you are coming home.  I know that I haven’t always been there for you.  Not during the bad times or even always the good.  I know that I’ve been a real asshole and missed your birthday and that I lied and cheated and did a whole bunch of really messed up shit.  But I promise you that I will be there for you from now on if you’ll just give me the chance.”

“This isn’t about us.  Well, in a way it is, but I didn’t call you to tell you that I want to come home.  I’m doing fine here.  My paychecks are almost twice as big as at my old job.  The apartment’s not too bad.”

“Don’t you miss me even a little?”

Delphina sighed.  “I didn’t say that.”  She decided that she needed to just say it or he was going to have her talking in circles all night long.  “I’m having a baby.  I mean, we’re having a baby.”

“Huh?  How can you be pregnant with my kid?  I haven’t even seen you in six weeks let alone had sex with you.”

“Kiefer, don’t play stupid.  We obviously made a baby on the last night we were together.  If you don’t want to be a part of the child’s life, that’s up to you.  I’m not going to keep you away, but I’m not going to fight you for child support or anything like that.”

“Wait a minute Del.  We made a baby and you still won’t think about giving me another chance?  I think that the kid deserves to have two parents don’t you?  I know I sure as hell didn’t appreciate growing up without a father.”

“You didn’t listen to a damned thing I said like usual.  I said you can play Daddy.”

“Huh uh.  I’m not just gonna play Daddy.  I want to be a real Dad.  I want you to marry me.  I quit drinking.  I’m trying to quit smoking, but it’s really hard.  I can come up there.  I sorta already have a job offer there.”

“Kiefer.”

“What?  I miss you.  I love you Del.  I’ll be the man that you deserve.  I found a house for us to rent.  It’s gotta be better than that shithole that you’re living in.  I saw your car in the lot the day I went there for my job interview.”

“No Kiefer.  You are not coming here.”

“Why the hell not?  This job is a really good job.  We can have a better life Del.  You, me and the baby.”

Delphina sighed.  “You can come here, but we are not getting back together.  I don’t care what you say.  You talk a good game, but you never live up to your promises.”

“People change.  When you walked out on me babe, I looked in the mirror and I saw this fuckup looking back at me.  I’ve screwed up a lot of shit in my life Del, but never anything that was really worth a damn.  Nothing that really mattered to me.  You matter to me.  I’m serious about wanting to marry you.  I bought you a ring.  I don’t know if it’s the right size though.  Your sister wouldn’t tell me.  She made her husband get on the phone.  He told me to stop bugging her.”

“You shouldn’t have done that Kiefer.  I hope you can take it back.”

“I don’t wanna take it back.  I bought it for you.  Please Del.  I’m just a broken down empty shell of a man without you.”

“Kiefer, I can’t do this.  Especially when I’m pregnant.  I can’t let myself depend on you again.  You always end up letting me down.”

“I know baby, and I’m sorry.  If I take the job, I start next week.  Maybe you might change your mind by then.”

“Yeah right.”

“Del, I am serious.  Why can’t we give it one last try?  I know you miss me.”

“It doesn’t matter if I miss you.  That’s not the point.  I have to go.  I have to work at six o’clock in the morning and I’ve been really tired lately.”

“It’s seven o’clock at night Del.  Are you okay?  Are you sure it’s not more than being pregnant?  Have you been to the doctor yet?  I get insurance with this job.  It’s got really good coverage too.”

“I don’t care about your insurance Kie.  I’m hanging up now.”

Delphina pushed end on her phone.  She wanted to throw it against the wall when it rang almost immediately after she’d hung up.  She closed her eyes briefly.  You did what you needed to, she told herself.  You told him. 

She didn’t feel like she slept at all that night.  Luckily, her next day at work was easier and it passed quickly.  Kiefer had decided that it was okay to call her again.  He called ten times and left nine messages before she went to sleep that night.

The next Monday Kiefer was waiting for her when she got home from work.  She groaned.  She tried to pretend that she hadn’t seen him, but he was at her side seconds after she got out of her car.

“Hi,” he said.

She looked up at him.  “Hi.”

“You’re beautiful.”

Delphina sighed.  “Don’t do this Kiefer.  It’s going to be hard enough as it having a baby together.”

He reached a hand out towards her, but stopped when she gave him a look and shoved his hand in his pocket instead.  “It doesn’t have to be hard.  Come on, I want to show you this house. 
It’s rent to own.  We can afford it too.  You won’t even have to go back to work after you have the baby.”

“I don’t want to see it.  I don’t care.”

“So you’re gonna raise a kid in this shithole?”  He snorted as he gestured to the rundown apartment building.

“I’ll find another place.”  She turned away from him.  It was starting to hit her how much she had missed him.  She wanted to kick her own ass when she caught the scent of his cologne.  It was affecting her like it always had.  She wanted to pull him to her and smell him. 

She turned back towards him.  “You shaved.”  She reached out and brushed her hand over his face.  “You look so young.  I bet they card you when you buy cigarettes.”

He chuckled and put his hand over hers.  “I quit two days ago.”

She took her hand back.  “Oh.”

“Please baby.  Just look at the house.  You don’t have to decide today.  I’ll give you all the time you need.”

He put his arm around her shoulder and she left it there.  “You’re so tense Del.  You should let me give you a massage.”

Delphina shook her head.  “No way.  We both know what happens when you give me a massage.”

Kiefer grinned.  “It was always pretty damned good though wasn’t it?”

Delphina gave him a dirty look and pulled away from him.  “So what if we had good sex?  It doesn’t mean anything.  I’m willing to bet you had good sex with plenty of other women while we were together.  Hell, I know you did.  You were an asshole and told me about it half the time.”

Kiefer frowned.  “Do you really have to remind me of shit like that?  I’m trying to be a better man for you.”

“Be a better man for yourself.  I’ll look at your stupid house.  Then you’re going to go away and leave me alone.”

“Del, you’re being unreasonable.”

“I am not.  You tore my heart out and stomped on it for three years.”

“Everybody deserves a second chance.  We’re having a baby.”  Kiefer reached out his hand and laid it gently over her stomach.  “My child is growing inside of you.”

She pushed his hand away.  “I gave you a second chance.  I gave you a third chance and a fourth chance and a damned twentieth chance.  I think that’s enough.  Let’s go.  I’ll follow you.”

“Why don’t we go in my truck?”

“I don’t want to ride with you.”

Kiefer smiled.  “I forgot that the way I smell drives you crazy.”

“Shut up.”  There was no way she was going to tell him that he smelled even better now that he didn’t smell like cigarette smoke.

She opened her car door.  “Go.  I’ll follow you.”

Kiefer sighed.  “Fine.”

He walked back to his truck.  She had always found his truck to be almost comical.  It was old and painted black with a neon green stripe on it.  His friends had called it his UFO truck. 

She watched him get into his truck and then followed him out of the parking lot.  He pulled up in front of on off white house with red shutters a few minutes later.  He grinned widely at her as he opened her car door for her. 

“Pretty nice huh?”

She offered him a half smile.  The yard was well kept, and the chain link fence was in good shape.  The paint job on both the inside and the outside of her apartment seemed even worse now.  “Sure.  What’s the inside look like?”

He held up a key.  “I’ll show you.  I paid to move in today.  My friends are helping me get the rest of my stuff moved in over the weekend.”

“That should be fun.  Are they going to let you pay them in beer?”

“My friends aren’t that bad.  Okay, so maybe they are.  I’ll make new friends here.  Better friends that aren’t just drinking buddies.”  He held out his hand.  “Come on.”

She shook her head.  Being this close to him again was getting to her.  When she was just listening to his voice on the phone, she could pretend that she hadn’t missed him.  When she was beside him, and could catch the scent of his earthy cologne when he moved, it drove her crazy.  It had never made sense to her that the cologne smelled so good on him.  When he’d been out and had let her smell it at the store, it hadn’t smelled good to her.  But when he put it on, it made her want to crawl up into his lap and turn her head into his neck and just breathe in his scent.

“Can’t you just give a little Del?”

“I’m looking at your damned house aren’t I?”

“Yeah.”  He opened the gate.  She followed him inside the yard and shut the gate.  She stood on the porch as he unlocked the door.