The Billionaires Hired Baby Mother: When the wife and surrogate are two different people (12 page)

“
I didn’t know there was a party until
thirty minutes ago, so no you’re not disrupting anything.”

Melissa looked at him coldly.

“
Well I’m leaving now. Ettie again
make yourself at home,” she said turning on her heels.

Ettie suddenly felt very uncomfortable and was beginning to
understand why Roy was upset earlier. She turned back to the dishes,
her face flushed.

“
I’m sorry you had to see that,”
Roy said quietly.

Ettie turned to him, biting her lip. She didn’t know exactly
how to respond to him.

“
I should go check on Lily,” she said
finally.

“
Yes. Of course. I’ll be in the den if
you need me,” he said, a sad smile on his face.

Roy sat in the den his hands in his head. Melissa had asked him to go
to a networking party. In a way he thought she knew he would say no.
What he didn’t expect was for her to still go without him. What
was happening between them? Melissa was so distant. She was always
working. They didn’t even talk anymore. She was always
preoccupied lately. Her first priority was always work and never him.
It wasn’t even about the baby all the time. Just everyday
conversations. She seemed annoyed with him. About every little thing.
There was this chasm between them and he wasn’t exactly sure
how to fix it.

Melissa still hadn’t returned several hours later. It was
almost midnight. He went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water when
a movement caught his eye. It was Ettie. She was sitting by the pool,
her back to him, dipping her feet in the water. He walked outside.

“
Hi,” he said.

She jumped.

“
Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to scare
you,” Roy said sitting beside her.

“
Mom and Lily are sleeping. I couldn’t
sleep,” she said as way of an explanation.

“
I couldn’t sleep either,” he
said sliding off his shoes and dipping his feet in as well.

“
Is Melissa back?” Ettie asked. “I’m
sorry I didn’t mean…”

“
It’s okay. And no she isn’t.
These network things could go on for hours,” he replied.

“
I’m sorry you didn’t go.
Seriously you don’t have to obligate yourself to us. We can
take care of ourselves,” she said.

“
Can I tell you a secret Ettie?” Roy
asked.

“
Sure.”

“
I hate those things. You actually saved
me,” Roy chuckled. “I only go to galas because my father
insists. If I had it my way I would rather be here. Teaching my son
to swim,” he said with his million dollar smile.

Ettie swallowed.

“
I’ve never been a party type of woman
myself,” Ettie added.

“
No. I didn’t think you were. So are
you comfortable? Do you need anything?” he asked.

“
Yes. Thank you. Everything is fine. I just
have trouble sleeping in a new place.”

“
Thank you for doing this. It was a lot to
ask.”

“
I understand. And in a way it’s good
for Lily. She has been bugging me to teach her how to swim.”

“
She’s a great kid. She reminds me of
you in many ways. Not just that she looks like you, but her feisty
spirit,” Roy said.

Ettie smiled. They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the
peace and the company.

“
Ettie,” Roy said after a while. “Do
you want a Roy Gardner famous midnight snack?” he asked.

“
Well that depends,” she laughed,
“what is it?”

Roy jumped up and helped Ettie to her feet.

“
It’s a secret,” he said
winking.

Ettie sat at the counter while Roy went about making them something
to eat. His famous midnight snack turned out to be grilled peanut
butter and strawberry jam sandwiches, complete with two frothy
glasses of chocolate milk. They had a great conversation. Ettie
teased him about his choice of snack and admitted she thought it
would be some fancy contraption with truffles or some other
ridiculous ingredient. He jokingly called her a snob. They were
eating and laughing when Melissa unexpectedly was standing in the
doorway.

“
Mel,” Roy exclaimed. “I didn’t
hear you come in.”

“
I just got back,” she responded.

Ettie smiled at her, she didn’t return the gesture.

“
We were just having a snack. Neither of us
could sleep,” Roy said.

Ettie cleared her throat. She suddenly felt very awkward.

“
Thank you again. Goodnight Roy. Melissa,”
she said making her way back to the guesthouse.

“
Do you want a bite?” Roy asked
Melissa.

“
No. I’m tired. I’m going to
bed,” she said.

“
How was the party?” Roy asked.

“
Fine,” she replied. “Are you
coming?” she asked.

“
Yes. Just let me clean up first.”

“
Ellen will get it in the morning,”
Melissa said pointedly.

“
Okay,” Roy said putting the dishes in
the sink.

He followed Melissa upstairs but not before turning towards the
guesthouse. Goodnight Ettie, he thought to himself.

Roy laid in bed waiting for Melissa to get out of the shower. She sat
on the bed applying lotion naked. He loved these little moments. She
threw on a simple lavender nightie and slipped in beside him.

“
So did you get any new client’s?”
Roy asked.

“
Yes. I’m meeting with one of the
owners of The Dalton group tomorrow for dinner,” she replied.

“
Another meeting?” Roy asked sighing.

Melissa looked at him coldly.

“
What?” she asked.

“
I thought we had plans to go to dinner at
the club,” he said.

“
Well why don’t you just take Ettie,”
Melissa snapped.

“
What is that supposed to mean?” Roy
questioned.

“
You guys looked pretty cozy earlier,”
she said pointedly.

“
Seriously Mel? We were having a snack.
Neither of us could sleep. Stop being ridiculous.”

“
She’s very beautiful,” Melissa
retorted.

“
You’re very beautiful,” Roy
said. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“
Nothing is going on,” Melissa said
avoiding his gaze.

“
Mel I know you. What’s bothering you?
You’ve never been a jealous person. You’re pulling away
from me and I don’t know why. We need to fix this. Tell me
what’s wrong.”

“
Nothing is wrong Roy. I’m just tired
and snappy. I’m sorry,” she said.

They both didn’t say anything for the rest of the night. As Roy
lay beside Melissa he could tell that she was having trouble sleeping
too. Whatever was bothering her he hoped that she could confide in
him.

The next morning was a lazy Sunday. Ettie, still feeling awkward
about last night, didn’t want to go up to the main house. She
decided to make breakfast in the guesthouse instead. Roy didn’t
come looking for her and she wondered if he felt awkward as well.
Andrea wasn’t feeling well and stayed in her room watching
television with Lily. Ettie explored her new living area. There was a
bookshelf with worn books, they were not just for decoration. Someone
had read these. She ran her finger along the spines trying to find
something interesting. She settled on The Alchemist and sat down to
read. At some point she had fallen asleep. The knocking on the door
roused her. She yawned and went to open the door. It was Melissa.

“
Hello,” she said.

“
Hi,” Melissa said. “May I come
in?”

“
Of course,” Ettie said opening the
door wider and taking a step back.

“
I was just checking on you. Roy is at the
club playing golf,” she said a weird expression on her face.

“
Oh,” was all Ettie could muster.

“
I was just wondering if you would be coming
for dinner. I wasn’t sure what you guys liked. Ellen is off and
I’m not a great cook. I can order something,” she added.

“
My mother isn’t feeling well so I was
just going to make something simple. You and Roy are welcome to join
us if you’d like,” Ettie said.

“
I have an event for work so I won’t
be here. I’m leaving in a few minutes. But please don’t
go to any trouble. I can text Roy and tell him to eat at the club.”

“
That’s fine,” Ettie said.

“
Okay well I just wanted to see how you were
doing. Please call me if you need anything. I can be back in twenty
minutes,” Melissa said.

“
Thank you Melissa,” Ettie said
smiling.

“
Thank you Ettie,” Melissa said
smiling sadly, closing the door behind her.

Ettie made a simple meal of baked chicken and vegetables. As usual,
Andrea barely ate. After dinner Lily was watching television with her
grandmother while Andrea snored quietly. Ettie spent the night
thinking, she wondered why Melissa had looked so sad and hoped that
she wasn’t the reason. She vowed to avoid Roy as much as
possible. Their conversation was innocent but she remembered the look
on Melissa's face when she had come home and found them in the
kitchen together. She was regretting coming here.

The next few weeks were better. Melissa and Roy were usually busy all
week at work. That meant Ettie could feign exhaustion by the time he
got home. It was the weekends that were the problem. She fixed that
too, and although she felt bad about leaving Andrea alone, she found
loads of stuff to do with Lily close by that wasn’t swimming.
Andrea didn’t mind. She liked sitting by the pool reading a
good book. She too had found the collection and was a much faster
reader than Ettie. And of course Lily didn’t protest, she had
all week to swim and while Ettie retreated to the guesthouse Roy came
home to help Lily. Several times she caught herself peeking out the
window, enjoying how great he was with Lily. Still she resisted the
urge to join them. The only problem was that Melissa was barely home
too and Ettie didn’t want to be caught in another awkward
situation like the last time.

She felt bad for leaving Roy to his own devices. She thought he might
have figured out what she was doing by the sad looks her gave her
every time he saw her. She couldn’t avoid him altogether as
Melissa and Ellen had invited them to several dinners. Still she made
it a point not to be left alone with him. She had to admit though she
missed their conversations and their lunches. It was crazy how much
you could miss someone who was right there.

Then on one of her doctor visits she found herself alone with him
once again. She had started to feel the baby more often and when Dr.
Blue asked she had avoided looking at Roy. He looked at her strangely
though and she knew he was wondering why she didn’t share the
news with him. After the appointment, she thought he would head
straight back to the office after dropping her back to the house but
instead he turned in the opposite direction.

“
Where are we going?” Ettie asked more
sharply than she intended.

“
The Mexican cantina. We haven’t been
there in a while would you like to go somewhere else?” he
asked.

“
Oh. I thought we were heading back to the
house,” Ettie said.

“
Aren’t you hungry?” Roy
inquired.

“
No,” Ettie said as her stomach
grumbled betraying her.

She couldn’t help it, she laughed.

“
Okay, maybe just a little.”

They had a delicious meal and great conversation. They talked about
the baby and about Lily. Roy said he was so proud of her for being
such a quick learner at swimming. He wanted to teach her tennis when
she showed an interest in his rackets and Ettie agreed that he could.
They talked about the books Ettie was reading. She found out that
they were Roy’s, Melissa had banned the worn copies from the
main house. She wanted the library to look more polished. Secretly
Ettie thought the worn books were warmer, less clinical, but kept the
opinion to herself.

Halfway through lunch she felt the baby kick and allowed Roy to feel.
It took some time but finally he felt it. There were tears in his
eyes when he looked up at Ettie in awe. His face was inches from her
and the way he looked at her made the rest of the world disappear.
Roy suddenly cleared his throat and pulled his hand away. Ettie
suspected the moment had affected him just as much as it her. They
sat in the restaurant for hours and only realized when Roy got a call
from his secretary asking if he would be coming back. He told her no,
which made Ettie oddly happy. When it was time for the check however,
an unexpected wave of sadness hit her. It must have shown on her
face.

“
Is everything okay?” Roy asked
concern in his voice.

“
Yes I’m fine. Heartburn,” Ettie
lied.

The truth was she was enjoying herself too much. She missed these
moments and she was sad that it was ending. The ride home was quiet.
Roy had sensed a change in Ettie and he was lost in his own thoughts.
When they arrived back, Ettie thanked him for lunch and retreated
back to her room. Roy seemed to avoid her the next few days as much
as she avoided him except for the occasional cordial conversation at
dinner. On Saturday Melissa was at another function. Ettie, who had
gotten herself and Lily dressed, made lunch for Andrea and was ready
to head to the local park, opened the door to Roy who had been about
to knock.