Letting Go of Us (Anchored Hearts Vol. 3) Read Free Page A

promise I didn’t…” Tears were
forming in Melissa’s eyes as she shook her head. I knew she hadn’t
done anything malicious, I was just lashing out.
    “ She’s unconscious. What
do I do?”
    Melissa reached into my
jacket pocket, took my phone and called 911. I listened as she
talked to the operator on the other end. “She’s breathing. Wait, I
think she’s waking up.”
    I was stroking the hair
back from her face as her eyes fluttered. Groaning, she reached for
her head as she made eye contact with me. I knew in that moment
that I couldn’t lose her. Cassidy winced and latched on to her
abdomen.
    “ James, the
baby.”
    Her words were like a punch
to the gut. The baby? What baby? The tears that had begun to fill
my own eyes dissipated as I looked up to Melissa. She stepped away
and relayed the message to the operator.
    Looking back down to
Cassidy, I asked, “What are you talking about?”
    She started sobbing as she
cried out, “I’m pregnant James, and I had to tell you. That’s why I
came here.” She spotted Melissa then, almost like she hadn’t
realized she was there before. NO, NO, NO. Her eyes darted between
the two of us.
    “ Cassidy, it’s not what
you think.”
    “ I think that I’m a fool.”
Her eyes left mine as she winced again, trying to move. “I need to
get out of here.”
    “ You’re not going
anywhere, but to the hospital.”
    Could it be true? Was she
really pregnant? My heart sped up at the thought of having a child
with her. If she thought I was overbearing before, God help
her.
    I managed to keep her
relatively still until the paramedics came. She wouldn’t speak to
me and Melissa had vanished upstairs, and returned, dressed, before
they wheeled Cassidy out of the hotel.
    I was about to climb into
the ambulance with her when she refused. “No. You’re not riding
with me.”
    “ Cassidy.” I looked to the
paramedic and proclaimed, “I’m her husband.”
    “ We’re separated!” She
looked to something, more like someone, behind me and I followed
her gaze. “You’re a whore.” Looking back to me, she choked out, “I
hate you.”
    Melissa hadn’t flinched at
Cassidy’s words, but I had. She then handed me Cassidy’s purse, the
broken strap dangling, before heading back into the
hotel.
    “ Maybe it’s best if you
follow behind.” I nodded at the paramedic and handed him the purse
and watched as he set it on Cassidy’s stretcher.
    I watched as she pulled
away in the ambulance. She would never hear me out, but I had to
try to find a way. Jane. Jane would listen to me and Cassidy would
listen to her. She had to. I ran across the street and jumped into
my truck, which sat in the parking garage, and started to dial
Jane, but decided to wait.
    When I got to the hospital,
Cassidy still wouldn’t let me stay with her. She’d insisted that I
call Jane, but wouldn’t say another word to me. Stepping outside, I
did just that. I called Jane and told her what had happened. Jane
confirmed that Cassidy was pregnant, but I still couldn’t process
it. Why the hell did Jane know and not me? Jane found me in the
lobby a short time later and asked me some questions.
    Sighing, she resigned,
“I’ll go back and talk to her. Wait here.”
    Waiting wasn’t something I
wanted to do. She had five minutes and I was going back there,
whether they liked it or not. Security would have to throw me off
the premises.
    Was she really pregnant? I
couldn’t wrap my head around the idea. How long had she known? When
had it happened? I mentally chastised myself, because the last few
times we’d been together, I’d left her before morning. I knew that
was a hard limit for her, she’d said so herself. But I wasn’t
prepared to unveil all my secrets to her, while she was awake, and
that’s what I wanted to do. Staring upon her, asleep and sated, I
would talk to her about my demons, unbeknownst to her. I was
pushing my luck because I knew eventually she’d feign sleep and
hear my secrets,