“Sounds hot,” I teased.
“I’m happy. I’m just exhausted.”
“You could be napping right now. Why didn’t you tell me when I asked you out for drinks?”
“No, I need this more. And besides, this isn’t a one-nap fix. It’s more like a lifestyle, I think at this point,” she grinned. She was beaming, and I knew she was just teasing.
“Anytime you want me to take that precious girl off you hands overnight, I will.”
“And bring her back with a bunch of new toys and full of cupcake frosting?”
“Okay, there was a sale and also she loved my buttercream. Who can blame her?”
“No one, but she’s like a Gremlin on sugar. I don’t trust you for overnight visits at this point.”
“I won’t feed her after midnight?” I offered jokingly.
“Right, whatever I’m getting another drink,” Laura said.
24
Max
I’d been on edge ever since Jenna came to the cabin. I was having security cameras installed there today, ostensibly because I wanted to protect my tools and stuff from theft, because it would get me a break on insurance costs. Really because I wanted footage if Jenna came sniffing around again. I’d have her charged with trespassing if she did.
At the White Birch, I waited at the registration desk while they called.
“You can go right up, sir,” the clerk said, directing me to her room number. I decided this would be a better meeting spot because it was not in public where she could make a scene if she wanted to.
When I knocked, she opened the door, every hair in place, her makeup subtle but perfect. She invited me in and offered to order coffee if I wanted some. I declined.
“What do you want, Jenna?”
“I want my baby,” she said, bursting into tears. She didn’t turn away or cover her face, didn’t try to hide her distress. Because it was theatrical. And it was pissing me off.
“I want the chance to get to know her. I want to hold her and rock her and sing to her,” she sobbed.
“She’s going into first grade. She’s not lullaby and rocking chair age any longer. You need to get lost,” I said matter-of-factly.
“You need to have a heart. She’s my child, Max, whether you like it or not. If you’d bothered to get to know me, to try and work it out—”
“Work what out?” I demanded. “We both knew it was a fling. You sent my calls to voicemail every time. It’s not like you were madly in love and I callously tossed you aside and we both know it.”
“I couldn’t appear too eager, or you’d lose interest. If I picked up the phone every time you called—”
“Then we would’ve had four conversations in our relationship instead of just one? Don’t try to make it more meaningful than it was. We didn’t get along, and we didn’t have the same interests. We just hooked up. I took you to breakfast after we slept together the first time, and you played on your phone almost the whole time.”
“Like I said, I was young and immature, and my head was turned. You were handsome and charming, and I couldn’t resist. And I had your baby, all alone, knowing I meant nothing to you.”
“Jenna,” I sighed, already tired of dealing with her. “You are not going to disrupt my daughter’s life.”
She broke into sobs again, and I managed not to roll my eyes. “That isn’t working on me,” I said. “So you might as well just quit it.”
Jenna turned off the waterworks instantly and wiped her eyes with a tissue, not a drop of mascara out of place.
“Fine. You don’t have a sensitive side.”
“I could’ve told you that and saved you the trouble of fake crying,” I told her.
“Look, you want to know why I’m here? About a year or so after I left the baby with you, I found out who you were by accident. I hadn’t made the connection with your family name. I thought you dressed nice and had a flashy car because of your job. You had a family fortune and you had been practically printing money as a broker. I’ve been working on tracking you down ever since. Finally, I got a break, and here you are.”
“You want money,” I said, my voice hard.
“The way I figure it, surrogates get paid a hefty fee. I carried your child and gave her to you free and clear. That’s worth something. Not just my expenses while I was pregnant, which you never even offered to pay me for, but for my time and the wear and tear on my body. I’m always going to have stretch marks, Max,” she said.
“The truth comes out. You want, what? Laser treatments for your thighs or something? Look, I don’t care. You signed her over and left. You need to get out of town and leave us alone.”
“Or what? You make me disappear? Chop me up with your hipster ax?” she challenged. I did roll my eyes at that.
“No, Jenna. I’m not threatening you. I’m advising you that there is nothing to be gained by continuing to be in town and intrude on my life with my child. You’re not wanted here, and that isn’t going to change. I realize you don’t have an interest in her, and I’m not going to let you see her or upset her.”
“It’s your turn to listen to me for once, Max. You’ve got money and plenty of it. And if you don’t give me the cash, I will tell everyone in this shitty backwater how you seduced me when I was young and poor and then used your money and power to take away my baby. Then I’ll take you to court. It’ll be messy. The kid will have to be questioned.
