Brought Together by Baby (20 page)

‘Oh, my God.’

Tears stung Holly’s eyes as the evidence of her sister’s cruelty hit home. Never mind that Julia had taken pleasure in ruining her chance at happiness—far worse was what she had done to Gus. Months of lies, allowing Gus to believe he was the baby’s father. It explained so much—like how wrong the due date had seemed. It
was
wrong—but Gus hadn’t known that.

It was so much fun at first
—
playing Holly and Gus off against each other, letting Holly believe Gus loved me and found her unattractive. It’s so easy to get to her
—
always has been. I’m the beautiful one, but plain podgy Holly always gets the attention because she’s so
good
, so
nice
. But I proved it was
me
they all wanted—first Euan and now Gus. She has no idea that Gus and I have never slept together, that we live separate lives
.
And I’m not telling her. Not yet. Until the baby is born Holly can go on thinking that the man she loves really loves me
.

Entry after entry was the same. Holly forced herself to read on, too stunned to take everything in. That Julia had planned to walk away once the baby was born was another shock revealed in later entries. She talked about the real father, Paul Dalziel…the man who’d been killed with his wife and whose funeral Julia had attended before her accident. It was clear Julia had loved the man who, it transpired, had been unable to leave the disabled wife who needed him. He had grown children and no wish for more, hence his rejection of the baby he’d made with Julia.

Despite past experience of her sister’s schemes, Holly believed that the baby had indeed been an accident, and not a way to trap Paul into further commitment. Julia’s intent was clear…the baby would stay with Gus while she returned to Paul. But that was not to be. Two tragic accidents had taken the lives of both Max’s genetic parents.

There were signs in the final entries that Julia had been reflecting on the past, Holly discovered, wiping the tears that blurred her eyes…

I’ve done some terrible things. I see that now. And I regret them. I’ve always hated that Holly is so popular. Everyone loves her
—
especially Dad. He was mine before she came along. Holly’s never had to try, whereas I’ve always found it hard to make friends. I do bad things to be noticed, to get attention, but the fact that my father, stepmother and Holly always forgive me somehow makes it worse. They make allowances for my behaviour
,
but what hurts me is the disappointment in their eyes when they look at me
.

I can’t repair the damage I’ve done. I feel bad because Gus is a nice man. Genuine. He’s been good to me…and I’ve been a real bitch to him. I know he’ll give the baby a happy life. I’ll write to him—and Holly—telling them enough of the truth to maybe help repair their relationship. Whatever else I think of her, Holly was always perfect mother material. Unlike me. Now, though, I can understand how she felt when she miscarried her own baby. Soon this nightmare will be over and I’ll have my life…and Paul…back again
.

Fate had intervened and prevented Julia from bringing her plans to fruition. Julia had struggled to come to terms with the news that Paul and his wife and been killed. On the outside she’d seemed like herself, but inside she’d gone to pieces. After attending the funeral, distraught and drinking to mask the pain, she’d crashed the car with inevitable consequences.

Her cheeks wet with tears, Holly dropped to her knees and cuddled Max, needing him close. She breathed in his familiar scent, giving thanks for the umpteenth time that he’d survived the accident.

‘Precious miracle baby,’ she whispered, kissing him as he snuggled in her arms.

Her thoughts centred on Gus. Whatever must he be feeling? She glanced at her watch and realised with shock how much time had passed since he’d left the house. Where was he? Fear curled within her. She had to find him. There was so much to talk about, so much to resolve, so many misunderstandings to settle.

First and foremost, she knew how deeply he loved Max. Right now he must be feeling lost, angry and hurt—deceived
in the worst of ways. Fresh tears stung her eyes. Her heart was breaking for him. And yet…dared she hope? If it was true that he cared for her, as he’d claimed, then this new development, whilst a devastating shock, freed them from everything that had held her back. She wasn’t second best. Gus had never been with Julia.

But even as hope rose it faded again. What if he no longer wanted her or Max now he knew what Julia had done? Scared, confused and sick with worry, she knew she had to find Gus as soon as possible.

* * *

Uncaring where he was going, Gus walked the streets, devastated by the discoveries he’d made. It took a moment to realise someone was calling his name, then he saw Seb approaching, with Monty the Labrador walking to heel on a lead beside him.

Seb took one look at him and without a word ushered him back to the townhouse he shared with Gina—Gina’s grandmother, Maria, occupied the attached granny flat. Sitting on the sofa, a mug of tea cupped in his hands, Gus blurted out the whole story, seeing the shock on Seb’s and Gina’s faces as they learned what Julia had done.

‘You need to talk with Holly,’ Gina advised when he had finished.

‘Whatever I say now will sound as if I’m grasping at anything to hold on to Max,’ he argued, a frown etched into his brow as he struggled to come to terms with the knowledge that Max was
not
his son. Nothing before had hurt as much as this.

Gina shook her head, clinging to Seb’s hand, a smile forming for the first time. ‘You told her how you felt before you found the journal. She told you what concerned her. Think
about it. Tell her what you’ve told us, Gus. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.’

He wanted to, but he was scared, daunted, riddled with doubts and what-ifs.

The phone rang—a shrill intrusion—and his heart lurched when Gina told him it was Holly. ‘She’s worried…scared for you. She’s been trying to find you. You left your mobile phone at home,’ she said, her hand over the mouthpiece.

He listened as Gina reassured Holly. ‘Gus is here, hon. Seb found him. We’ll bring him home.’ Gina paused a moment, glancing at him with a smile of encouragement before continuing. ‘You two have a lot to sort out. You need time. Will you let us have Max tonight so you can talk?’

Gus nodded his consent as Gina looked at him in query. Whilst he’d hate being without Max, even for a moment, he knew it was a good idea, and clearly Holly had agreed as Gina ended the call.

Max. His miracle baby. His son…who wasn’t
his
son after all. Pain, anger and confusion fought for supremacy. He had no rights whatsoever. Holly was Max’s true guardian now. What if she didn’t want Gus in either of their lives?

* * *

Gus looked terrible. Shell-shocked. Holly wanted to go to him, but she waited until Max and the bag she had packed for him had been handed over to Seb and Gina. It took minutes, yet it seemed a lifetime before the door closed and they were alone.

Tension fizzed in the air. Unable to wait another moment, uncaring that fresh tears were coursing down her cheeks, she wrapped her arms around him.

‘I’m sorry, Gus.’ Her voice was thick and unsteady. ‘So very sorry. I can’t understand how Julia could do such a terrible thing to you.’

For a dreadful moment she feared he was going to reject her. Then a pained groan escaped him and his arms encircled her, drawing her tightly against him.

Holly had no idea how long they stood there but she clung to him, absorbing his pain, trying to make sense of all the revelations that had bombarded them in the last hours. Eventually he loosened his hold, drawing back far enough so he could cup her face in his hands, his thumbs gently wiping away the remains of her tears. She saw the glimmer of moisture in his eyes—eyes that were clouded and devoid of their usual life and warmth.

‘We need to talk,’ she murmured, a knot of nervous tension clenching within her. She had no idea which way this would go.

Gus nodded, taking her hand and leading her to the living room. They sat side by side on the sofa, the silence building, their fingers twining together as their clasped hands rested on the cushion between them.

‘I’m sorry that I allowed myself to be so taken in by Julia and that I let her lies and deceptions override all I had come to know about you,’ Gus blurted in a rush, shaking his head, self-derision lacing his husky voice.

‘Don’t blame yourself, Gus,’ she chided gently, hoping to ease the burden he’d unfairly placed on himself. ‘I certainly don’t. No one knows better than me how clever Julia was at manipulation.’

He swore softly, opening up to her for the first time about the night that should have been their first date. ‘I thought you’d stood me up—made a fool of me, rejected me. I waited all the next day for you to apologise, to explain, to say it was a mistake, but I heard nothing and you blanked me when I came back to work. I was gutted. I couldn’t believe I’d been so
wrong about you, or that I had so misjudged what I’d thought was something special between us.’

‘You weren’t wrong. I felt the connection the first moment I saw you,’ she admitted, feeling the blush that warmed her cheeks, smiling as the clouds began to lift from his eyes and he smiled back. ‘Now you know that I had a text from your phone, cancelling. When I heard that you’d been with Julia instead…that she’d stayed the night…’

‘A night I had no memory of. Damn it, I
knew
things weren’t right. I couldn’t understand what had happened, and I knew deep down that I never would have slept with her, but when she came and told me she was pregnant I couldn’t take a risk with the baby’s life. I insisted on a marriage of convenience to safeguard my rights.’

As he ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair Holly tightened her hold on his other hand. ‘I understand. Given your own background, I know you would have done anything to ensure your own child had the things that you missed out on.’

‘Yes.’ He closed his eyes briefly, before long, dark lashes rose and his gaze clashed with hers. The expression in his smoky green eyes was full of torment. ‘But Max isn’t my own child, is he?’

‘Gus…’

Her throat tightened with emotion. She couldn’t bear his distress, and a renewed flash of anger ripped through her at what Julia had done. How had she dared toy with people’s lives this way—especially an innocent child’s?

‘She played us off against each other,’ Gus continued in a monotone. ‘I think she truly loved Paul. Those later entries showed evidence that she regretted many of the things she had done.’

Holly nodded her agreement, a shiver running down her
spine. ‘I know what she did to you was unforgivable, but I can’t help but be thankful that instinct or conscience got to her and stopped her from aborting the baby.’

‘Yes.’ He paused, his fingers tightening on hers, his voice husky when he spoke again. ‘If you don’t want to talk about it I understand, but I’m so very sorry about your own baby. What happened, darling?’

‘It was nearly two weeks after I’d split with Euan. I had no idea I was pregnant. I had a terrible pain and was bleeding abnormally, and…and my GP confirmed I’d miscarried,’ she finished, her voice catching as she tried hard not to cry again.

‘And Julia?’

Gus swore as she told him how her sister had reacted to the news. ‘As she wrote—how ironic that unexpected pregnancy then happened to her,’ Holly finished sadly.

‘When Julia died everyone was so kind, and I felt so guilty,’ Gus confided after a moment. ‘I still do.’

‘You have no need to,’ she reassured him, thinking of her own feelings of guilt and the mixed emotions she had experienced.

‘Yes, I do.’

Holly’s heart nearly stopped beating when he looked at her and she saw the anguish in his eyes. ‘Why?’

‘Because I wasn’t grieving for a wife I had loved,’ he confided, his voice low and raw. ‘Do you know what I felt, Holly? Relief. Freedom. Anger that she had risked Max’s life. Not that I would ever have wished such a horrible thing to happen to her. But I couldn’t tell anyone how I felt—not even you—not without seeming the lowest form of life and admitting all the lies and deceptions.’

‘Don’t.’ She choked out the word. ‘You’re not the only one, Gus. Truly. I felt relief, too. There were times I hated her, but I didn’t want her to die. She did so many bad things. I tried
to preserve the family, but she’d keep throwing everything back in my face. After she betrayed me with Euan and then cheated me out of the house I didn’t think she could hurt me any more.’ She drew in a shuddering breath and met his gaze, allowing him to see all that was in her eyes, her heart, her soul. ‘But then she did the worst thing of all. She took you away from me.’

* * *

As Gus drew Holly into his arms and held her, he wondered if he dared to hope that there might yet be a future for them.

‘Hush, darling,’ he soothed her. ‘No more tears. You’ve cried enough for her. You did all you could. Neither of us is responsible for her decisions.’

She nodded and gave him watery smile. ‘You’re right.’

‘So where do we go from here?’ he asked after a moment, fear and uncertainty gripping him. ‘I’m not Max’s father,’ he continued, choking out the words. ‘I have no rights over him. I—’

‘Of course you do,’ Holly interrupted with gusto. ‘But—’

She wriggled free, and he waited as she sat up and faced him, raising their joined hands and holding them against her heart. ‘I know you must be hurting. Julia tricked and deceived you. And I know how much you love Max—and how much he loves you. Any man can father a child, Gus, but it takes a special one to be a loving papa. And you are, in every way that matters, Max’s papa.’

‘Thank you.’

Her words choked him, and he felt as if he’d been given a precious gift. ‘The same way that you are and always will be Max’s mama,’ he added, smiling at the emotion in her eyes.

What he had not foreseen when he’d found the journal and learned its shocking secrets was how easily the truth would set them free.