Work of Art by Alexander Monica

Author:Alexander, Monica [Alexander, Monica]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Harper

Instantly Ryan’s arms were

around me as the tears continued to

fall. He gripped me tight, and it was

exactly what I’d needed seven years

earlier when I’d stood with my dad

and watched my son’s small casket

being lowered into the ground. And

I’d never, ever forget the feeling of

helplessness as I stood there

wondering why a sweet little boy

had been taken from the world too

soon and robbed of the love that I

had for him. But more than anything

that day I’d cried for Ryan and the

choice he made and the fact that

he’d never know his son.

Tyler was the most amazing

little boy. He was sweet and caring

and always smiling. I knew Ryan

would have loved him if he’d taken

the chance to know him, but he’d

never wanted that. And because of

that decision, he’d missed out. And

just like it had that day, my heart

broke for him all over again.

“Sorry to interrupt,” a voice

said then, pulling me out of my

memories and back into the present

where Anthony the plumber was

watching me cry against Ryan’s

chest.

I quickly pulled away and

turned to face him, wiping my eyes,

but it didn’t do any good. It was

obvious I’d been crying.

“Is everything all set?” I asked

hoarsely.

“Yes, ma’am, and Mr. Cooper

gave me his credit card, so

everything’s paid up.”

“Thank you, Anthony,” I told

him as I walked past Ryan to open

the front door. “We appreciate you

coming out on such short notice.”

“Anytime, ma’am.” Then he

leaned forward and lowered his

voice. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Not in the way you’re thinking.

I shook my head. “No, he didn’t.

He was comforting me.”

Anthony nodded. “You’re a

beautiful girl. Make sure he treats

you right.”

“I will,” I said, not having the

heart to tell him that Ryan and I

weren’t together.

When I returned to the living

room, Ryan was sitting in the

middle of the couch staring at the

wall with a shocked look on his

face. He looked up at me in

surprise, almost as if he hadn’t

expected to see me there.

“I had a son?” he finally said,

looking at me like what I told him

couldn’t possibly be true.

“Yes,” I said, sitting down on

the coffee table opposite him, and I

couldn’t help but start to cry again.

“And he was beautiful and perfect.”

Ryan met my eyes, and I could

see he was fighting back tears.

“What happened?”

I knew how he must have felt

learning about this for the first time,

but when he’d signed over his

parental rights, I had no obligation

to tell him anything about our child,

and I’d honestly been too pissed off

to tell him what was happening at

the time. And I’d truly felt like

everything would work out okay. I

never thought Tyler wouldn’t make

it.

But now I realized that not

telling Ryan was a mistake – a

mistake I’d made because I hadn’t

wanted to face him and relive

everything that had happened

between us, and I hadn’t wanted

him to reject us again. He’d already

done it twice, and I couldn’t

stomach the thought of him rejecting

Tyler, who was such a sweet and

amazing child that anyone who met

him instantly loved him.

“Harper, what happened?” Ryan

insisted when I didn’t answer.

I took a deep breath. I didn’t

want to talk about Tyler, in fact I

hated talking about him, because

when I did, it made me miss him so

much I could barely breathe.

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