Chapter 47 Case's Revelation
Case wasn’t exactly sure where to take Andrea to talk. At first, he thought perhaps a public place might be best since he was pretty sure she would try to kill him once she heard what Sarah had just said. But then, he couldn’t imagine telling her everything without getting emotional, and he didn’t really want cameras around for that. So he drove to a secluded part of the beach his friend, Jeremy, who’s apartment he was staying in, had taken him to a few times. It wasn’t too far from where he was staying so if she decided she wanted more privacy, that could be arranged.
Andrea had her door open before Case could come around and open it for her. She seemed familiar with the area and walked down to the beach. He followed behind her in silence. The waves were coming in, and the sun was starting to go down. It would’ve been beautiful if the gorgeous woman he was with didn’t look so angry.
Taking a seat on a bench behind some rocks, Andrea waited for him to join her. She still hadn’t said anything. He was tempted to wait for her to ask what was going on, but he knew she was just giving him time to process.
Running his hands down his face, he thought about how differently he’d intended this afternoon to go. He had planned to pick her up and take her to a nice restaurant for dinner—not here to do this. Finally, having enough of the silence save the squawk of seagulls overhead and the waves occasionally spraying them with cold water, he said, “Sarah’s pregnant.”
Her mouth dropped open, her eyes bulged, and for a moment he thought perhaps Andrea wasn’t even breathing. It took her a good long while to say anything at all, but when she did it wasn’t helpful. “What? Pregnant?”
“Yeah. She showed me ultrasound pictures. She said the baby has to be mine because she’s almost four months along, and she hasn’t been with anyone else since then.”
All the color had drained from her face as Andrea looked away from him, her eyes focusing out on the ocean.
Case didn’t know what to say either. There was more he needed to tell her, but he wanted to give her time to process. He didn’t have a brown paper bag with him and didn’t want her to hyperventilate again.
“Are you sure?” she finally asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t put it past her to lie.”
“I think so.” The thought had occurred to him, that she might be lying, but considering what had kept them together for so long in the first place, he didn’t think even Sarah would stoop that low. He looked at Andrea until she met his eyes. “This isn’t the first time.”
“What do you mean?” He wouldn’t have thought her face could be any paler, but somehow it lost even more color.
With a deep sigh, Case laid the whole story out there for her. “We hooked up one night after I lost a big race. We were both drunk. I woke up the next morning, knowing this was a huge mistake. I wasn’t a fan of hers. In fact, I knew some of the things she’d done to you and didn’t even like her. But I was vulnerable at the time, completely wasted, and ended up making a really bad decision.”
Andrea nodded, and he continued. “I told her the next morning I thought it would be best if we just went our separate ways. I really don’t care for one night stands, not that I’ll lie and say I’ve never had any before, but under the circumstances, I didn’t want to keep seeing her.”
“So why did you?” she asked, her voice quiet, as if she had an idea of the answer.
“A few weeks later, she called me. I’m not sure how she got my number, but she has her ways. She said she was pregnant, and it had to be mine.”
Andrea gasped. He looked away from her, unable to take the judgment in her eyes. “What happened?”
He shook his head. “She lost the baby. I got up in the middle of the night and found her on the toilet with a bunch of blood. She went to the hospital. Had Gidget take her because she didn’t want me to see her so upset. I went and stayed in the waiting room for hours. Turns out, she’d gone to a different hospital. By the time I got back to the apartment we were staying in, she was there, crying, saying she’d lost the baby.” He had tears in his eyes now. Even though he’d only thought he was going to be a father for a month or so, it had been devastating.
“Oh, Case. I’m so sorry.” Andrea put her hand on his arm. “I had no idea.”
“She hadn’t told anyone. She was only about two months along at the time.” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his tears at bay. “So… we tried to stick it out, but it didn’t work. She wanted me with her all the time, and I had work to do. We broke up because I just didn’t like who she was. I think, even if she would’ve had the baby, we wouldn’t have been able to stay together.” He shook his head. “I would’ve tried, though. I do think it’s important for a child’s parents to be together.”
“Are you saying… now… you want to give her another chance?”
“I don’t know, Andrea. I’m going to have to think about it. I don’t think it would be healthy for either one of us, but it’s really hard for me to imagine someone else raising my child. Eventually, she will get married, have more kids…. I’m going to need to think about it.”
She was shaking her head, but she had tears in her eyes. “I can understand that, Case. I’m sorry you’re in this situation.”
“Me, too. I was always careful. I have no idea how this could’ve happened. I guess I’m one of the one percent who manage to get through protection. Twice.” It seemed ridiculous that he could get the same woman pregnant two times when he always insisted on using protection.
They sat there for a few more moments before Case sighed and patted her leg, “I’ll take you home.”
“Okay.” Andrea’s voice was just a whisper. He couldn’t blame her for being upset. He’d been waiting for her to decide whether or not they were going to be together, but now it seemed like the decision had been made for them.
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