Extra Time. Michelle Betham

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СКАЧАТЬ want to make this right, Amber. And I don’t even know how to start explaining things to you because there’s no excuse for keeping something so big from you… there’s no excuse.’

      She threw her head back and sighed, closing her eyes for a second as though that short space of time would give her some clarity on this situation. Like that was going to happen any time soon. ‘I take it he’s using his first game for Wearside Spartans to announce the family link, am I right?’

      Jim nodded, gently rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

      ‘Why, Jim? Why keep him a secret all this time? Because you’re right, that hasn’t been fair on him, never mind me.’

      ‘I don’t know, Amber,’ Jim sighed, looking down at their joined hands. ‘I don’t know why I do half the things I do sometimes. All I know is that having you back in my life… I didn’t want anything to jeopardise that.’

      ‘We’re talking about your son here, Jim. A real-life human being…’ The phone ringing stopped her from going on and she reached over to the bedside table, picking up the receiver and answering the call immediately. ‘Hey, Ronnie.’ She’d recognised his mobile number flashing up on the screen.

      ‘Did you know about this?’ he asked, his voice full of something she could only assume was surprise. ‘Did you know Brandon Palmer is…?’

      ‘I know,’ she said, interrupting him before he could finish the sentence. ‘Jim’s told me.’

      ‘Oh, so now he’s decided to tell you? I’m assuming you had no idea about any of this before?’

      ‘No,’ Amber replied, her voice quiet but steady, despite the somewhat surreal events surrounding her. ‘No, I didn’t. But that’s not the impression we’re going to give everybody else, okay?’

      Jim’s expression changed to one of confusion again as she spoke, an emotion that also seemed to have taken over Ronnie’s tone on the other end of the line.

      ‘Huh? What the hell are you talking about?’

      ‘If it comes out that I had no idea Brandon Palmer was Jim’s son, how’s that gonna look?’

      ‘It’s gonna look like the truth.’

      ‘I don’t want to start another media frenzy on top of the one that’s already going to happen now everyone knows who Brandon’s father really is. We can all do without that, especially now. I’ve got enough to deal with.’

      ‘Amber, babe, are you sure about this? I mean… when did he tell you? Jim, I mean.’

      ‘Just now.’

      ‘Just now?’

      ‘Yes. Just now. Look, Ronnie, we’re right in the middle of something, as you can imagine, so all I’m going to say is, if anyone asks you whether I knew about Brandon, the answer is yes. Okay? And I know everyone at Cloud Sports is going to think this is all a bit weird, that I didn’t say anything about this, but… well, I’ll deal with all that later.’

      ‘Amber…’

      ‘Can you just do that for me? Please? You know more than anyone that I’ve got a lot on my mind right now and I really don’t want this to become something bigger than it needs to be.’ She looked at Jim, his hand still holding tightly onto hers. ‘Jim knows what he’s done. He knows.’

      ‘Well, you’re more forgiving than I would be.’

      ‘Can you just do that for me, Ronnie? Please?’

      She heard him sigh heavily down the line. ‘Are you okay?’

      ‘I’m fine. Really, I’m okay.’

      ‘Well, you know where I am if…’

      ‘If I need you, yeah, I know. I’ll see you later.’ She put the phone down and looked at Jim. ‘He won’t be the only one ringing, you know that, don’t you? My Dad’ll be next, and Christ knows what he’ll have to say. He’s only just got used to the idea that you slept with me when I was sixteen years old.’

      ‘Did you mean that?’ Jim asked, squeezing her hand, probably tighter than was necessary but he was anxious. More anxious than he’d ever felt in his life. ‘About letting everyone think that you knew about Brandon all along?’

      She let go of his hand, standing up and walking over to the wardrobe. ‘You heard what I said to Ronnie. I really haven’t got the energy to deal with this right now, so yeah, I’ll play the happy step-mum and pretend this is such a proud day for all of us.’ She pushed a hand through her hair, her eyes meeting his. ‘I suggest you call Brandon’s agent and let him know what’s going on before we get to the stadium.’

      ‘I’ll call Max in a minute, but…’

      Amber frowned. ‘Max? Max Mandell? He’s Brandon’s agent? Jesus Christ, this day just gets better…’

      ‘Amber…’

      ‘What? Is there anything else you want to add to the crap you’re piling on me today? Got something else you want to throw at me? Any more secrets you’d like to get off your chest?’

      Jim flinched slightly, taking a deep breath before he spoke again. ‘Does Ronnie know that you… Did you tell him about…?’

      She let out another cynical laugh, turning away from him. ‘You not happy with that? Does that make you feel just a little bit angry that I confide in another man about something that involves you? Does that bother you?’

      ‘Yes, actually, it does.’

      She swung round to stare at him. ‘Well fucking tough, Jim. Deal with it. Secrets can really fucking hurt, can’t they?’

      ‘Amber… Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.’

      ‘That word is so overused by you, Jim.’

      ‘What you’re doing today… I really appreciate…’

      The expression on her face made him flinch again. ‘I’m not doing this for you, and I’m not even doing it for Brandon, although God knows he didn’t deserve to have to keep your secrets, too. I’m doing it because I really don’t need the drama. Not today. I can’t think about anything else except what I’m going to be told tomorrow, and this… this is just…’ It was almost as if everything had all of a sudden come crashing down on top of her, all at once. Everything he’d told her, the reality of what that now meant, and the fact that she might never be able to have a child of her own – something she really, truly hadn’t realised she’d wanted quite as badly as she did right now. And after what he’d just told her, the pain of never being able to carry his baby was going to hurt twice as much, she knew that. If that was what she was told tomorrow, if her worst fears were confirmed, she knew she was going to feel things she’d never experienced before, emotions she was going to find hard to keep in check, and the thought of that brought with it an all-consuming sadness that just took over, causing her to sink to her knees, the tears finally falling, her whole body shaking with sobs she couldn’t control.

      ‘Oh Jesus, Amber…’ Jim ran over to СКАЧАТЬ