By Request Collection Part 2. Natalie Anderson
she could tell something was wrong. She came into the sitting room to see him with a glass of spirits in his hand and it apparently wasn’t his first. His mouth was drawn and his eyes were even more shadowed than days before. She could see the tension in his body, his shoulders were slightly hunched and his tie was askew and his shirt crumpled.
‘Did you have a hard day?’ she asked.
‘You could say that.’ He took another deep swallow of his drink. ‘How about you?’
She sat on the edge of one of the sofas. ‘It was OK, I guess. I went for a long ride on Callida.’
‘Is that wise?’ he asked, frowning at her. ‘What if you fell off?’
‘I didn’t fall off and I will only ride until the doctor says it’s time to stop.’
There was a long silence.
‘Is something wrong, Javier?’ she asked.
He gave her a brooding look. ‘Have you spoken to anyone about your pregnancy? I mean outside the villa. A friend or acquaintance or anyone?’
She frowned at him. ‘No, of course not. Who would I speak to? I’ve been stuck here for days on end with nothing better to do than lounge about the pool or ride around in circles while you’re off doing God knows what without telling me when you’ll be back.’
He moved across to the coffee table and picked up a collection of newspapers. He spread them out before her, his expression dark with fury. ‘Have a look at these,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to read them all. Each one of them says the same. Mélendez Reunion—Love-Child Scandal.’
Emelia felt her heart slip sideways in her chest. She clutched at her throat as she looked down at the damning words. ‘I don’t…I don’t understand…’ She looked up at him in bewilderment. ‘How would anyone find out I was pregnant? The doctor wouldn’t have said anything. It would be a breach of patient confidentiality.’
In one sweep of his hand he shoved the papers off onto the floor. ‘This is exactly what I wanted to avoid,’ he said, scowling in anger.
Emelia moistened her bone-dry lips. ‘I exchanged a few words with Aldana the other day,’ she said. ‘I was going to mention it to you but you were late getting back.’
His gaze cut to hers. ‘What did you say?’
‘It was more what she said to me,’ she said. ‘She was in our room changing the bed when she heard me being sick. When I came out she accused me of only coming back to you because…because I needed a father for my child.’
His brow was like a map of lines. ‘What did you say to her in response?’
Emelia elevated her chin. ‘I told her she should keep her opinions to herself if she wanted to continue working here.’
A dark cloud drifted over his features. ‘I see.’
‘She’s never liked me, Javier,’ she said. ‘You know yourself she’s never really accepted me as your wife. She won’t let me do anything or touch anything or bring anything into this stupid over-decorated, too formal mausoleum. I’ve tried to be polite to her but I can’t allow her to say such an insulting thing to me.’
‘I understand completely,’ he said. ‘I will have a word with her.’
‘You don’t have to fire her on my account,’ she said, looking down at her hands. ‘It might not have been her, in any case…I mean, leaking the news of my pregnancy to the press.’
Javier came over to her and placed one of his hands on her shoulder. ‘You are prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt when everything points to her being guilty?’
She looked up at him. ‘But of course. She’s never spoken to the press before. She loves working for you. It’s her whole life, managing the villa. I don’t think she would deliberately jeopardise that.’
He placed his fingers beneath her chin, his thumb moving over the fullness of her bottom lip. ‘You are far too trusting, querida,’ he said. ‘People often have nefarious motives for what they do, even the people you care about.’
‘That stuff in the paper…’ She glanced down at the scattered mess on the floor. ‘Is there nothing we can do?’
He pulled her gently to her feet, holding her about the waist. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘It will blow over eventually.’
She looked into his eyes. ‘Javier…You really believe this baby is yours, don’t you?’
Javier realised she was asking much more than that. She was asking for a commitment from him that he had never wanted to give before. He wasn’t sure he wanted to give it even now. How could he be sure he wouldn’t turn out like his father? But what he had begun to realise over the past few days was that being a father was not just a biological contribution. It was a contract of love and commitment with no conditions attached. His father had not been capable of going that step further. He had impregnated his mother but once she had died he had not fulfilled his responsibilities as a father. He had shunted Javier off to teachers and nannies while he’d got on with his life. This baby Emelia was carrying deserved to be loved and cherished and he was going to make sure it lacked for nothing. ‘The baby is ours,’ he said watching as her eyes shone with tears. ‘I am proud to be its father.’
‘I love you,’ she said as she wrapped her arms around him tightly.
He rested his chin on the top of her head and held her close. ‘I’m very glad that is one thing you remembered,’ he said.
She looked up from his chest and smiled. ‘I would have fallen in love with you all over again if I hadn’t.’
‘You think so?’
‘I know so,’ she said and reached up to meet his descending mouth.
Paris was enjoying an Indian summer and each day seemed brighter and warmer than the previous one. The first week they had spent wandering around the Louvre and Notre Dame, stopping for coffee in one of the numerous cafés. They had mostly been able to avoid the paparazzi, although one particularly determined journalist had followed them all the way up the Eiffel Tower steps for an impromptu interview. Javier had been extremely protective of Emelia, holding her close against his body as he’d curtly told the reporter to leave them alone. It had made Emelia glow inside to think of him standing up for her like that. It made her wonder if he was in love with her after all. She sometimes caught him looking at her with a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was seeing her with new eyes.
The hotel Javier had booked them into was luxurious and private and close to all the sights. He even organised a private tour of the Palace of Versailles, outside of Paris, which meant she didn’t have to be jostled by crowds of tourists.
They were walking past the fountain towards the woodland area when Emelia felt the first cramp. She had been feeling a little out of sorts since the night before but had put it down to the rich meal they had eaten in one of Paris’s premier restaurants.
Javier noticed her slight stumble and put his arm around her waist. ‘Steady there, cariño,’ he said. ‘You don’t want to take a fall.’
She smiled weakly and settled against his hold, walking a few more paces when another pain gripped her like a large fish hook. She placed a hand against her abdomen, her skin breaking out in clamminess.
‘Emelia?’ Javier stopped and gripped her by both arms. ‘What’s wrong?’
She bit down on her lip as another cramp clawed at her. ‘I think something’s wrong…I’m having cramps. Oh, God…’ Her legs began to fold but he caught her just in time.
He scooped her up in his arms and walked briskly to the nearest guide, who promptly called an ambulance.
Emelia remembered the pain and the ashen features of Javier as she was loaded into the back of the ambulance and then