A few yards away from the tent was a playground and, beyond that, a makeshift parking lot. They reached the swing set and Cole stopped. “What is this about, Gemma?”
She sat down on a swing, and Cole’s mind wandered back to the day she told him she was pregnant. They’d only been dating three months, and sleeping with her had never been the plan. But Gemma could be very persuasive, and even though Cole tried to resist, his flesh was weak.
Somehow, her getting pregnant felt like a punishment he deserved. He’d never forget the moment she told him. His heart twisted into a ball of regret, followed by a healthy dose of fear. Because Cole was certain, that while he was a pretty great uncle, he wasn’t ready to be a dad.
It had never occurred to him to ask if the baby was his. Of course it was. Gemma wasn’t the type of girl to sleep around. So, he proposed. It was the right thing to do. They planned their wedding in record speed, as if that would stop people from talking, but three weeks after they got married, Gemma miscarried.
Cole got a call at work, and he rushed out without telling anyone where he was going. He arrived at the hospital in a matter of minutes, hurried in, and found her laying in a bed, covered with a sheet, staring off at the ceiling.
A nurse met him in the doorway. “Are you the husband?”
He nodded. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said quietly. “She lost the baby.”
Cole’s stomach sank.
The nurse squeezed his arm. “I think she’s in a little bit of shock.”
He nodded, holding back tears, then made his way to the side of Gemma’s bed. He pulled up a chair and took her hand. A tear streamed down her cheek, and she closed her eyes.
“Are you relieved?” she asked.
He frowned. “Why would I be relieved?”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at him. “Because you never wanted this baby in the first place.”
“I wanted this baby,” he said. “It might’ve taken some getting used to, but you know I was all in. I still am.” It was true. He’d warmed to the idea, so much so that this miscarriage hurt.
They’d mourned together, promised each other they’d try again when the time was right, and that whole experience brought them closer. Maybe they wouldn’t have gotten married if it hadn’t been for her pregnancy, but Cole was committed to Gemma. He was convinced they could make it work.
Which was why her betrayal hurt so badly. He never would’ve cheated on her. It never would’ve even occurred to him. He’d given up everything for her, and she repaid him with a knife in his back.
Now, she took hold of the empty swing beside her and shook it. “Sit?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t stay.”
She looked up at him through fresh tears that seemed to keep coming. “Do you need to get back to your girlfriend?”
Cole leaned against the metal pole of the swing set. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
Gemma eyed him for several seconds, as if deciding whether or not to believe him. “But you like her.”
He wasn’t having this conversation with her. “What do you want, Gemma?”
She looked away. She planted her feet on the ground but pushed herself back and forth. “Will you sit down for a minute?”
He hesitated. He didn’t want to do anything she asked. He wanted to run and find Charlotte, apologize to her for leaving, then kiss her senseless the way he’d been thinking about doing for weeks now.
“Please, Cole?”
He sat, the sides of the swing digging into his thighs. “Can we make it quick?”
She looked up at him. “I’m sorry.”
His stomach turned. “Okay.”
“I need you to know that I know how wrong it was, what I did.” She wiped away the tears as they fell. Gemma had always been great at emoting. She was a master manipulator—could he even believe a word she said?
“I was so wrong.” She buried her face in her hands. “You were always so good and kind, and I was too stupid to see it.”
He’d prayed for this day, the day she finally realized what a terrible mistake she’d made—the day he got his revenge. He’d played it out in his mind, and it always ended with him spitting out some insult and walking away. Now that they were here, though, he couldn’t think of a single word that would properly convey what he was thinking.
Gemma had torn his heart out and stomped on it, more than once. She’d ruined him for all future relationships. Why, then, was he resisting the urge to comfort her, to tell her it was okay?
“Once upon a time, I really loved you, Gemma,” he said. “I thought we’d be together forever.” He avoided her eyes.
“But now?”
He shrugged. “Now things are different. You’re with Max, and I—” No. He wouldn’t tell her anything about where he was. She hadn’t earned that right.
“And if I wasn’t?”
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and focused on the ground. “If you weren’t what?”
“With Max.” She’d stopped swaying and now turned all of her attention on him.
He drew in a breath. This was uncharted territory. He’d always believed that marriage vows were eternal. She’d never been faithful to those vows, but he had. He hadn’t been with anyone else since the day he met Gemma, not even on a date.
But he’d spent the last several months trying to forget her—to forgive her even though she wasn’t sorry—to move on.
That was the extent of his thoughts about Gemma. He didn’t have capacity to consider anything else.
“You’re not with Max?”
She buried her face in her hands and cried, shaking her head. “It happened again, Cole.”
He frowned. “What happened?”
“I lost another one.”
Cole stilled.
“I know it’s not your job to console me, especially after everything I’ve done to hurt you—”
Cole stiffened, then forced a question. “What did Max say?”
Gemma scoffed. “He said it was better this way. Said a baby would complicate everything.”
Cole didn’t point out that for a married man, yes, a baby with his mistress would absolutely complicate things.
“He was just so flippant.” She reached over and took Cole’s hand. He didn’t move. “I guess I took for granted how kind you were the first time I miscarried.”
“You took a lot of things for granted, Gemma.”
“I know, Cole,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
He pulled his hand away. They’d been here before. In fact, this was how they started. The only reason she’d ever come on to Cole in the first place was because she wanted to make Max jealous. It worked too. Max came running back, but Gemma failed to break things off with Cole.
And then she got pregnant, and Max reacted then exactly as he had reacted now, and Gemma got scared. So, she seduced Cole and told him the baby was his. She knew Cole would do the right thing. After she miscarried, Max returned, and the affair started up again, making Cole the biggest fool in the world.
He’d fallen in love with a wife and unborn baby that were never his.