Ripe: A Stepbrother Pregnancy Romance (4 page)

“I didn’t know lesbians recognized god,” the man noted with an arrogant smirk, nodding at the pro-choice sticker on Deanna’s bumper. “

“Look, asshole,” Deanna spat. “I don’t know what this is, but I do know that you’ve been following me around all day. I saw you at the beach, then the gas station, and now here. Don't try and tell me that's all just one big coincidence.”

Deanna could tell by the embarrassed look on the man’s face that she'd caught him red handed.

“Fine,” he said, holding up his hands. “You’re right. I
have
been following you, but it’s really not what you think.”

“Oh, really? Give me
one
good reason why I shouldn’t call the cops on you right now.”

“Easy. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong?” Deanna laughed. “That’s rich. I’d say stalking a woman and a young child qualifies as ‘something wrong’ in the eyes of the law, wouldn’t you?”

The man didn’t say anything. He just stood there staring Deanna down as she pulled out her cell phone and began dialing.

“Fine, fine!” he said, holding up his hands as if to surrender. “Just let me explain, would you?”

“Alright,” Deanna said, sliding her cell phone back in her purse and glancing in the car to check on Isaiah. She had let him get a candy bar in the checkout aisle and he was still distracted by it. “You can start be telling me who you are.”

The man rubbed his neck, exhaling a deep breath before meeting eyes with her. “I’m Isaiah’s father.”

Deanna couldn’t believe her ears. “Wait a second,” she said, shaking her head as she gave him a slow once over. “
You’re
Jesse?”

Jesse nodded.

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Deanna said, keeping her voice low and glancing at Isaiah once more. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see my son.”

“But what about Elise?”

“She won’t let me anywhere near him.”

“So wait, you’re saying she doesn’t even know that you’re here?”

“She doesn’t,” Jesse noted. “And if you don’t mind, I’d
really
like to keep it that way.”

“No way.” Deanna shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way you’re pulling me into this. If Elise doesn’t want you around Isaiah, then I’m sorry, but that’s just the way that it is. I can’t get in the middle of it. I won’t.”

“You don’t think I have a right to see my son?”

“Why did you wait so long?”

“I didn’t know where she was!” Jesse said. “You have no idea how hard I looked for her and Isaiah. Her father wouldn’t tell me where she moved, and I couldn’t find her anywhere online either. It was like she just disappeared.”

Deanna couldn’t believe she was actually entertaining this. He seemed so desperate, but she wasn’t about to let a sob story shake her resolves.

“I’m sorry, Jesse, I am, but if you really want to spend time with Isaiah, you’re going to have to go through Elise. There’s nothing I can do. My hands are tied here.”

Jesse sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at his roots. It didn’t take him very long to realize that Deanna wouldn’t relent. What had he been expecting? Of course she was going to be loyal to Elise.

“Alright, I understand, but if anything changes, here’s my number.” Jesse pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to Deanna. “I don’t think it’s a very good idea for me to try and get in contact with Elise myself, but if you were to pass that on to her…”

Deanna nodded, meeting his gaze. “Okay,” she said, standing up a bit straighter. “I’ll think about it.”

Jesse nodded, glancing briefly at Isaiah before walking off.

“Who was that?” Isaiah questioned as soon as Deanna got in the car.

“That was your…” Deanna stopped herself in midsentence, eyeing Jesse in her rearview mirror. “No one,” she corrected. “Just a stranger.”

Chapter Seven

Deanna thought she’d been extremely clear with Jesse, but despite her precise choice of words with him, she noticed his car in front of her house as she and Isaiah made their way back from the beach the following week. Of course he knew where she lived. Why wouldn’t he?

“You can’t do this,” Deanna said as he rolled down his window to greet her. “This is why restraining orders exist, you know.”

“I’m not here to bother you, I promise,” Jesse said, glancing at Isaiah. “I was just wondering if you could do me another favor.”

“I highly doubt it,” Deanna said, turning her attention to Isaiah. “Go inside the house and watch cartoons honey. I’ll only be a minute.”

Isaiah did as he was told, but not before stealing a glance at Jesse on the way in.

“Look, like I told you—I can’t let this happen,” Deanna said, crossing her arms. “Elise is practically my sister and I won’t go behind her back. Not with something this serious.”

“I know,” Jesse said. “I was just going to ask you if you wouldn’t mind letting me
accidently
bump into him sometimes, you know, at the beach. Elise still hasn’t called me and it’s killing me. All I want is the chance to know my son. It doesn’t matter how.”

Deanna had to give it to him: if he was trying to pull at her heartstrings, he was certainly on the right track. Still, she didn’t have the heart to tell him that she hadn’t actually told Elise about him, nor had she given her his business car. She already knew what she was going to say, and there was no use in getting his hopes up.

“I don’t know,” Deanna said. The look on her face made it obvious that she was skeptical about the whole thing. It would never work. Not with Isaiah being as intuitive as he was.

“Come on,” Jesse urged, desperation leaking its way into his tone. “They don’t have to be long interactions. I can just build a sandcastle with him or something. If anyone asks, you can say I’m just a friend. Elise won’t find out and even if she did, I’d say it was all me. I’d leave you out of it. I promise.”

Deanna stared at him for a few seconds before relenting. “Fine,” she agreed. “But I don’t have a good feeling about this. Elise wouldn’t like it and Isaiah’s a smart kid. It’s only a matter of time before he realizes who you are. Just…get going before I change my mind. We’ll be at the beach again tomorrow. If we happen to bump into you, then so be it.”

Jesse thanked her about a dozen times and was all smiles as he continued down the road.

The agreement weighed heavy on Deanna’s conscience the rest of the afternoon. She felt as if she’d done something worthy of a steep punishment, and the cloud of guilt that surrounded her refused to let up, especially when Elise showed up later that night to retrieve Isaiah. She had a hard time even looking her in the eye.

In between rationalizing with her guilty conscious, Deanna wracked her brain for a way to bring up Jesse without letting Elise in on her ploy. Just when she thought she didn’t have anything, something occurred to her.

“Elise, have you ever thought about what would happen to Isaiah if something were to happen to you?”

Elise raised an eyebrow. “You’re not planning on doing me off are you?” she laughed, stopping only when she noticed the serious look on Deanna’s face.

“Seriously,” Deanna said. “Do you have some kind of plan in place for Isaiah’s future if something were to happen?”

“Well…I have a life insurance policy through work. It’s not much, but it’s all I can afford right now.”

“Okay, so financially you’re set…but have you thought about who Isaiah would live with?”

“Deanna, where is all this coming from?” Elise pressed. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“What about Isaiah’s father?”

“
What?
”

“If something were to happen to you the state would give Isaiah to him and not me. Have you ever thought about that?”

Elise was speechless. “Well, he’d never take him,” she said after awhile. “Trust me.”

     “You can’t know that,” Deanna continued. “A lot can change in seven years, Elise.”

“You’re right. A lot
can
change, but not Jesse Stone. That man will be the same until the day he dies.”

“Okay, fine, hypothetically then. If something
did
happen to you, and Jesse
did
take Isaiah, would you want him to suffer through the trauma of losing his mother and then having to live with a complete stranger on top of it?”

“Deanna, just stop it, would you? You’re talking crazy right now. Jesse doesn’t want anything to do with us. He’s made that pretty clear, don’t you think?”

“But how can you know he still feels that way? I mean…it’s not like you talk to him do you?”

“I don’t,” Elise said. “But by the way you’re talking, I’m starting to think that you might.”

The intensity of Elise’s tone caught Deanna off guard, but only momentarily. “Are you kidding? Of course I haven’t. I’ve never even met the man.”

“Look, Deanna,” Elise continued, not seeming to sense the dishonesty in her friend’s tone. “I get what you’re saying, but Jesse isn’t an option, he’s never been an option, and he never will be an option. Last I heard he’s this big shot lawyer working at his father’s firm. He doesn’t have any room in his life for a child.” Her voice cracked. “He doesn’t
want
a child.”

A lump of guilt surfaced in the pit of Deanna’s throat. She hadn’t intended to upset her this badly. “I’m sorry,” she said, pulling her into a tight hug. “I know how you feel, trust me I do, but you were both just kids back then. Look how much you’ve changed since you were eighteen. Maybe he’s changed too. And besides, men aren’t like women. They bond with their children after they’re born. I’m not saying it’s your fault, because it’s not, but you did leave Baltimore before he ever got the chance to come back from his internship...”

“He didn’t
want
the chance,” Elise corrected. “If he did, he would have put in more of an effort.”

“And that’s true, but what about Isaiah? What if he finds Jesse one day and he doesn’t reject him? It won’t be right, but he’s going to blame you for all the missed time.”

Elise thought over her friend’s words before standing up straighter and shaking her head. “That won’t ever happen,” she said. “I’ll make sure of it, and you know why? Because I know how it feels to love someone unconditionally only to have them turn their back on you. If I don’t do everything in my power to keep my son from experiencing that kind of pain, then what kind of mother am I?”

Elise unlatched herself from Deanna, picking up Isaiah’s backpack and walking into the other room to get him.

This conversation was over.

Chapter Eight

Jesse watched Deanna and Isaiah step off the boardwalk and onto the sand. He smiled as Isaiah bolted off towards the children playing in the water. Deanna nodded at him, taking a seat on a blanket a few feet away.

When Jesse saw Deanna glance over in his direction, he stood up and walked over to her. “Thanks for this,” he said, sliding down beside her.

Deanna shrugged, keeping her eyes focused on Isaiah. After her conversation with Elise, she’d almost managed to talk herself out of it, but it wasn’t like she could just avoid the beach. It wasn’t just Isaiah’s favorite place. It was hers as well.

            Jesse cleared his throat, following Deanna’s gaze. “He’s so big. I can’t believe he’s only six…”