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"The T-shirt you insisted you need is in the bag. So is everything else you left at my place." Pearl crosses her arms.
Leaning out the door, I look both ways, checking for my neighbors. No one is hanging around, but I still beckon her inside.
"Come in. Let's not give the neighbors anything to gossip about."
Pearl rolls her eyes but steps in the door. "What more is there to say?" she asks, her tone aggravated.
Closing the door, I head to the kitchen. There's no food in the fridge, but at least I can have coffee. "Let's just sit down and talk this through."
I grab a stool and the kitchen bar and pull it out for her. She looks at me with an unreadable expression and crosses her arms. "You're awfully calm about all of this.”
"I'm a problem solver, not one to dwell on things." I sit down and push a coffee mug toward her. She shakes her head.
"I'm not staying that long."
"Pearl. Come on, please."
Her mahogany eyes pin me in place. "No. You lost the right to ask me for things when you fucked me over."
Pushing out my cheek with my tongue, I heave a sigh. "I'm sorry that you're caught up in this. Okay? I am. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone."
"And yet you're still going to try to sell our land out from underneath us!"
I wince. "It's not my fault that Aunt Delta hasn't paid her property taxes in years. At least I care what happens to your family. Most land developers don't."
"Most land developers don't cook up a lame excuse to try to date the beneficiary and agree to give her a baby, either." She tenses her jaw. "I can't believe I fell for you, River Taylor. You're going to destroy me."
"Pearl..." I reach out for her.
Fire sparks in her eyes as she steps back. Rage flares on her face. "You don't get it, do you? I don't want you. I could never want someone who lied to me like you did for months and months about something so big. It's unforgivable."
Her words echo in my head. Unforgivable. Is that true?
"I’m sorry that I deceived you. Really, Pearl. I can’t change the fact that you eventually will be forced to move, one way or another. But I love you. I need you in my life. I’m begging.”
Pearl’s eyes mist up.
“How can I forgive you? How can a trust you ever again?”
The emotion in her voice skewers me. I can’t give her up. I won’t.
"It would take some time to rebuild trust. I’m not saying that it’ll be easy. But you have already taken risks. It's almost crazy to think that we could just sign a contract and bring a baby into this world with no repercussions. That’s a risk in itself.”
She swallows hard. "It was risky. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. But I do know that you can’t build a relationship off of sex. And without trust? That’s the only thing between us."
"Pearl…” Her words are braking my damn heart. “Don’t leave. Please.”
She shakes her head slowly. She turns on her heel and marches out of the room.
I watch her leave in silence. When the front door slams, I feel a gnawing emptiness in the middle of my being, threatening to eat me alive.
Forty
Pearl
Looking at the pregnancy test stick, I purse my lips. I already know what it is about to reveal to me.
Because what could be more perfect than finding out I am pregnant when I have spent the whole day in bed, crying over River's betrayal? It feels fated, in a way.
