Chapter 17 - The Things Money Cannot Fix
Ethan and Rosa sat beside the lake.
It was the first private conversation they had managed in days.
No attorneys.
No reporters.
No security staff.
No police.
Just two people who had once loved each other and created a child before either understood what that would mean.
Rosa spoke first.
“You can’t fix the last four years.”
“I know.”
“You can’t buy back her first steps.”
“I know.”
“You can’t give me money and make everything uncomplicated.”
“I know.”
Rosa looked at him.
“You agreeing with everything is irritating.”
Ethan smiled slightly.
“I know.”
She laughed despite herself.
Then silence returned.
Ethan looked across the water.
“I’m angry with you.”
Rosa nodded.
“You should be.”
“I’m angry that you didn’t tell me.”
“Yes.”
“I’m angry that I missed everything.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m also angry with myself because disappearing made it easier for you to believe I wouldn’t want her.”
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“That part matters.”
“I understand now.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You’re starting to.”
Ethan accepted that.
Rosa continued.
“I loved you.”
He looked at her.
“Past tense?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer hurt more than no.
But it was honest.
“I loved you enough that hearing you reject our baby would have destroyed me.”
“I never would have.”
“You know that now.”
“I knew it then.”
“I didn’t.”
That was the tragedy.
Two people could love each other and still fail completely through silence.
Ethan looked down.
“I want shared custody eventually.”
Rosa stiffened.
“I’m not taking her from you.”
“That’s what powerful men always say right before attorneys arrive.”
Ethan absorbed the accusation.
“Then no attorneys.”
“You need one.”
“For paperwork.”
He looked at her.
“Not warfare.”
Rosa studied him.
“I want Lily to know you.”
Relief crossed his face.
“But.”
He waited.
“She needs stability.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t become Daddy because a laboratory said 99.99 percent.”
“I know.”
“You become Daddy at three in the morning when she throws up.”
Ethan nodded.
“You become Daddy when she asks the same question eleven times.”
“Yes.”
“You become Daddy when she hates you for turning off cartoons.”
“I can handle that.”
Rosa raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve never seen her when cartoons disappear.”
Ethan smiled.
“I’m prepared to negotiate.”
“You cannot negotiate with a three-year-old.”
“I negotiate mergers.”
“Exactly.”
They both laughed.
For the first time, the past loosened its grip.
Rosa became serious again.
“I want to go back to science.”
Ethan looked surprised.
“I thought you gave that up.”
“I postponed it.”
“What do you need?”
Rosa immediately hardened.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t solve it with money.”
Ethan stopped.
Then nodded.
“What do you need from me as Lily’s father?”
That question was different.
Rosa thought carefully.
“Time.”
“Childcare.”
“Reliability.”
“And no disappearing.”
Ethan looked at her.
“I can do that.”
His phone rang.
Margaret Sloan.
The criminal hearings had been scheduled.
Richard wanted to negotiate.
Charles wanted immunity.
Victoria wanted something else.
May you like
She wanted to speak to Rosa.
Alone.
