Chapter 68

Julia moved closer, but she stopped when she saw the look on my face. She had nothing on but a silk robe. She hadn’t even bothered to put on shoes before she came outside. I noticed, with some satisfaction, that she had ugly feet. It was nice to know she wasn’t perfect everywhere.

“What do you want?” she said.

“Nothing from you,” I snapped. I didn’t know where it came from, but I couldn’t hold my anger back. “I’m looking for Barnett.”

Her gaze darkened. “He’s not here.”

“Fine. Do you know where I can find him?” It was a long shot, but I was getting desperate. He needed to know the truth.

“He doesn’t want to see you,” she said, taking another step forward. “And you’re not welcome here.” She took out her phone and typed something into the screen. A moment later, a guard walked up.

“Ms., I’m here to escort you off the property,” he said, gesturing for me to get back into my car. It wasn’t like I could refuse him. He was a wall of muscle.

I glared at Julia. The embarrassment made my heart pound. She was seriously having me escorted off the property? It wasn’t even her house.

“You can’t do this.”

She smirked. “Sure, I can. I live here.”

I frowned. “But you’re divorced.”

Her smile was downright evil. “Not anymore. Didn’t you hear? We reconciled. I guess when two people are meant to be together, they find a way.”

I was too shocked to respond. I thought those were just rumors. At least I hoped they were, but maybe I was wrong. Every anxious thought that ran through my head when I saw them together was true. I believed that he’d never take her back, but people did surprising things all the time. Maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.

“I don’t understand,” I said under my breath. Unfortunately, she seemed to hear me.

“What’s there to understand?” she replied. “When two people love each other, nothing can keep them apart. We’re going to have a baby, and we’re going to be happy.”

“I don’t believe you,” I mumbled. There was no way he'd take her back. No way he’d fall for her again. It had to be some sort of mistake.

Her smirk grew as she pulled something from her pocket. She showed me the pregnancy test. “Do you believe this?”

Did she seriously bring that thing outside just to throw it in my face?

I took a step toward her, but the guard blocked my path. “You need to leave now,” he said.

“I’ve given up my career to be with him,” Julia told me, standing on her tiptoes to look at me over the guard’s shoulder. “I need to be around to raise his child, after all. It was something I promised him when we remarried.”

Her words finally hit their mark, and I felt tears pool in my eyes.

“Oh, and you need to stop trying to contact Barnett,” she said. “He doesn’t want to hear from you, and he doesn’t want to see you. Stop harassing him.”

I turned and got back in my car before she could see me cry. The guard followed me as I circled the fountain and drove back down the driveway. There was another guard waiting at the gate and he opened it for me, throwing me a pitying look.

I did my best to ignore him as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Barnett wasn’t going to be a part of our lives, not mine, and not our children’s. I’d have to raise them on my own.

I vowed to move on and focus on them. They needed at least one parent who was going to be there for them. I’d have to be good enough to be both a mom and a dad.

“I won’t let you down,” I mumbled, my voice rough with tears. “I promise.”

---

Arthur was nearly bouncing with excitement when I got to the office. I gave him a curious look as he beamed at me. Clearly, his morning went a lot better than mine did. Luckily, I was able to fix my makeup in the parking lot, so he couldn’t tell I’d been crying.

“I have amazing news,” he said, waving me over.

I walked up to him and put down my things. He waited until I’d unloaded everything before he pulled me into a hug. He spun me in a circle, and I squealed.

“Arthur!” I exclaimed. He let me go, his smile even bigger now. “What’s going on?” I said with a laugh.

“I got the best news this morning?” And to think I got the worst news.

“Oh? What news?” At least he was giving me something else to focus on. I was all cried out for the day. I needed to find a way to move on from Barnett, even if it made my heart ache.

“I’ve been asked to do a wilderness adventure show. I’m going to be abroad for an entire year.”

“Wow,” I said, my mind reeling. “That’s so exciting. Congratulations!” As happy as I was for him, I was a little sad, too. I couldn’t help but feel like I was losing another person close to me. It would be weird not seeing him every day.

He must have noticed my frown because he took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Anna, I want you to come with me. As my stylist, of course.”

I was too shocked to respond.

“I need you there with me to make sure I don’t look ridiculous. How could I trust someone else after working with you?”

“Arthur…”

“You don’t have to answer right now,” he said, cutting me off. “It’s just something to think about.”

I nodded and gestured for him to sit down. He smiled at me through the mirror as I laid out my makeup palettes. I returned the smile. It was sweet that he wanted me to go with him, but could I really do something like that? I was pregnant, after all. I’d need to have regular doctor’s appointments. Plus, wouldn’t it be odd traveling together all that time if we weren’t together together?

“Just think of how fun it would be,” Arthur said. “It would be such an adventure.”

“Well, what about…” I glanced down at my stomach, stopping myself from saying the words. His other employees were too close, and I didn’t want the truth to come out yet.

“Don’t worry,” he said, lowering his voice. “I’ll get you all the best doctors. Anything you need, it’ll be yours.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Oh, and I talked to the producers. They’re a huge fan of your vlogs. They even want you to guest star in some of the videos. Wouldn’t that be amazing for your career?”

“Wow,” I mumbled. It would be amazing, but could I really do that? Just leave?

“Just something to think about.”

I nodded. It was something I needed to consider. The old me never would have agreed, but after everything I’d gone through recently, it would be nice to get away. Even though I didn’t have cancer, my misdiagnosis taught me a valuable lesson.

I didn’t know how much time I had left, no one really did, and I wanted to make the most of every second I had. Plus, I had nothing holding me here anymore. Lily had her own life and Barnett didn’t want to see me.

Maybe it was time I did something for myself.

“Arthur?”

He looked up at me. “Yeah?”

“Can you put me in touch with the producers? I have some questions for them about the logistics and everything. I want to know more about what I’d be doing on the show.” I didn’t need a repeat of the Chuck Thaddeus situation.

He smiled. “Sure thing.”