Read What the Lightning Sees: Part Three for Free Online

will.” I covered her with the quilt she’d offered me. “Lie back,” I said, and she tentatively lay against the pillows. “I’ll be here,” I said as I headed toward the chair in the corner. Shit, what was I doing? I wanted to be lying with Haven in my arms, not propped up in a chair in my ex-girlfriend’s bedroom. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and started to text Haven. She’d be asleep, but she’d have it for when she woke up.
    Jake: Millie seems fine. Just a little spooked. I’m going to stay here. I wish I were there with you.
    Being back here was a huge reminder to me of how different Millie and Haven were and how I felt so much more myself with Haven. If Haven had told me she was pregnant, I’d be bursting with pride. She would make an incredible mother. My thoughts wouldn’t be of paternity and complexity. Of being tied to someone I didn’t want to be with. The situation was so twisted, as if the universe were trying to send me a message. If I’d known Haven had been in my future, I wouldn’t have wasted time on anyone else. I would have waited for her. I had been impatient. I’d settled for okay for now and I was paying the price.
    I must have fallen asleep because when I came to, my arm had gone dead from me leaning against it.
    “Jake, I feel terrible that you’re stuck in that uncomfortable chair. You can come and lie next to me; I won’t bite,” Millie said in the darkness.
    I stood up. She was right. The chair was very uncomfortable. “I’ll be in the living room if you need something. Get some sleep.” I closed her bedroom door, trying to create some space, a barrier between us.
     

     
    The next morning I woke to the smell of coffee.
    “Hey, sleepyhead,” Millie said from behind the counter as I sat up on the sofa. “What can I get you for breakfast?”
    I checked my watch. It was almost eight. I climbed off the couch. She’d never offered me breakfast before.
    “I could cook something, or we could go out.” she said. She was showered and ready for the day.
    “I need to get going. Are you feeling okay? Are you going to go to the doctor today?” I asked.
    “Yeah, I think so. I’m sure they’ll say it’s normal. Are you sure you can’t stay?”
    “I’m sure. Do you want me to come with you?” I checked my cell. I’d missed a call from Haven and I badly wanted to hear her voice.
    Millie was pouting, probably annoyed that I hadn’t taken her up on breakfast. She had to understand that we weren’t together. This was about the baby, not her and me. “I’ll be fine.”
    I glanced around to see if I’d left anything but I hadn’t really brought anything. “I’m going to get off. Call me when you’ve spoken to the doctor.”

 
    Haven
    I wanted to look good for Jake. Tonight was the wrap party for Sandy Fox’s first feature film, and it would be fun to dress up a little. I zipped up the red dress that I’d worn in Paris, checked myself out in the mirror and then changed my mind. I needed something a little more . . . I knew just the thing. I quickly removed the Paris dress and changed my bra for what I called my magic-boob bra. I’d only worn it twice and one of those times had been in the changing room when Ash and I were shopping. When she’d seen me, her eyes had gone wide as saucers and she’d told me she thought she’d turned gay. I needed a little bit of magic tonight. The bra and my black, scoop-necked dress would keep his attention. I hoped.
    Jake and I had spent too much time figuratively surrounded by Millie this week, and I wanted us to spend an evening where it didn’t feel as if she was invited. It wasn’t that it had been strained between us; it was just that there was an elephant in the room, overshadowing every one of our exchanges. We were being careful with each other. I was always trying to say the right thing, which was almost impossible for me.
    Millie had called every day since her scare on Sunday night. It seemed as though she