“What you’re going to do is sleep in the other motor home tonight.”
That was definitely not the way to deal with it. But alright, Evan got it. Kendall needed time. This was a big deal.
“I’ll sleep on the couch here. I’m not leaving. If you want to talk, just wake me up.”
Not that he was going to sleep one freaking wink.
“By the way, congratulations again on your awesome finish, babe. I’m really proud of you.”
“Whatever.”
Yeah, she wasn’t going to be coming to talk to him anytime soon.
Evan passed the couch and went right back to the whiskey.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
KENDALL couldn’t believe it. That girl was on the same flight as they were back to Charlotte. Granted, it made sense given the time of day and that Jonas Strickland was on the flight, but really? Did she really have to be subjected to the sight of that virtual teenager bopping down the aisle, all perky and cute and smiling now that she had gotten what she wanted?
Sitting in first class, avoiding Evan next to her, like she had for the last twelve hours, Kendall felt mean and volatile and angry. It wasn’t fair. This was supposed to be the happiest time of her life—she was a newlywed and her career was taking off. But it had been marred by this skinny and extremely feminine woman, who was going to nursing school of all things. It was like everything that gave Kendall doubts about her own sexiness, her own worth as a woman, all rolled into one.
When she dug through the anger and was being rational, she realized that she wasn’t mad at Sara. Sara was only doing what anyone in her circumstances would do, and she seemed reasonable. There had been nothing hateful or manipulative about her words. Nor could Kendall begrudge her her happiness over having a baby. Even though she wasn’t sure if and when she wanted one herself, Kendall loved kids, understood the joy they brought, and could never think of a child as a mistake in any way.
But a small, pathetic part of her looked at Sara and thought that was the kind of woman Evan should have married—a traditional and beautiful woman who would stay at home and raise his children.
Which just made her feel like shit.
Pulling her travel blanket up tighter around her shoulders, she leaned on the window, not caring if it was dirty.
“You going to take a nap?” Evan asked her, his hand rubbing up and down on her thigh in a soothing gesture.
She moved her leg so his hand fell away. She didn’t want him to touch her. “Yes.”
“Sleep tight,” he said, but even as he did, his head was turning and his eyes were drifting back behind them, she had to assume to check on Sara’s progress.
Everything else Kendall thought would be possible to work through. They were her fears, her issues, and with time and concerted effort, she could get over her insecurities.
But this?
Watching her husband show concern for another woman? Having basically a third party inserted into their marriage, someone who needed him more than she did?
It hurt so bad she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Like a hand had reached up and cut off her windpipe.
“Damn it,” Evan said, frowning at his phone.
Part of her was feeling so petty and childish she didn’t even want to ask what was wrong, but curiosity got the better of her. “What?”
He held his phone out to her. There was a text from Eve.
It’s out already. Got a call from Carl to confirm. Call when you land.
Wonderful. Everyone knew already that another woman was having her husband’s baby. Great. Just utterly fabulous.
“I’m sorry, Kendall. I really am.” He tried to hold her hand but she jerked away again. “Will you just talk to me? This was an accident. I didn’t plan this.”
Well, duh. That was just a stupid thing to say. Feeling the tears in her eyes, Kendall knew she should stay silent, that this was neither the time nor the place to discuss the situation, but she couldn’t hold back her emotion. “I know that. I know that we were nowhere near dating at the time of conception. It doesn’t change the fact that in four months you’re going to be a father to a child and I won’t be any part of that. It doesn’t change the fact that today I am about to be thoroughly humiliated when everyone finds out. It doesn’t change the fact that I am about to become fodder for the gossip mill and no one will give a shit that I finished second on Sunday. They’ll just want to snicker at my situation.”
“No one will be snickering at you. It’s not like I cheated on you.”
“You know what? Just don’t try to put a pretty bow on this right now, okay? I don’t want to hear it.” She was snappish and she knew it. She knew he wasn’t hurting her intentionally, but he was still hurting her.
Maybe a better woman could have accepted the situation, embraced Sara and her baby with open arms, but Kendall wasn’t sure she could do that.
“We have to deal with this, whether we want to or not.”
She knew they did. But at the moment, all she wanted to do was bury her head under her fleece blanket and weep.
“YES, I did have a relationship with Miss Parker,” Evan said, trying to sound matter-of-fact and nothing more as he stared out into a room full of reporters, their pens moving across their notebooks, flashbulbs going off. “It ended approximately in late November.”
That was a polite exaggeration of what he and Sara had shared, but he was trying to put a positive spin on it for everyone involved, including his wife, who had refused to attend this press conference. Had refused in fact to speak to him for the last three days.
“Is the baby yours?”
Forcing himself not to fidget, Evan answered the question exactly the way he and Eve had rehearsed. “If that is the case, I am fully prepared to live up to my emotional and financial responsibilities as a parent.”
“So you’re saying there’s a possibility the child is not yours? That Miss Parker is lying?”
“I have no reason to believe Sara is lying.”
“Is it true that Untamed Deodorant has pulled all ads with your image?”
“That is true.” For which Evan was more than a little put out. It wasn’t like he had cheated on his wife. This was not a scandal of epic proportions. A little shocking, sure, and definitely a case of extremely poor judgment on his part, but it wasn’t like he’d kept a harem. Yet everyone was making it out to be a huge deal, and Evan actually suspected part of the reason was because of Kendall’s stone silence on the matter. It made him look guilty of more than he was.