Not when it comes to Jack.
He’s only been back in our lives for a day, and already I feel like I’m standing on a trapdoor. One wrong move and it’s all going to collapse.
Because there’s still one thing I haven’t told him.
That Josie’s not just a surprise roommate.
She’shis.
He doesn’t know.
No one does.
I swallow hard, blinking back the nerves crawling under my skin. Winter’s still talking, but her words fade under the roar of my own thoughts.
I was nineteen when I got pregnant. Fresh out of high school, terrified, alone. Jack had just shipped off to his next assignment, and I had nothing but a couple of letters and one unforgettable night.
My parents were furious. Conservative. Controlling. They put a lock on my life and tossed the key into a vault. Said I could keep the baby, but only if I did thingstheirway. Finish college. Get a degree. Let them raise Josie as their own. Never speak of Jack Rivers again.
They held Josie over my head like a hostage.
So I played along. Got my dual major. Science and English. Now I work from home writing for a science magazine and make custom jewelry in my free time. But the cost?
Jack never got to know his daughter.
He missed her first steps. Her first word. The first time she called me Mommy.
All those moments he should’ve had... I stole them.
And now he’s back. Under our roof. Looking at Josie like she’s a mystery he hasn’t solved yet.
I have to tell him.
But the fear won’t stop whispering.
What if he hates me for it?
What if he kicks us out?
What if I lose everything?
I glance back at Josie, who’s now hanging upside down on the monkey bars like she’s auditioning for a circus.
She deserves to know her father. She deserves to be loved by him. And Jack...
He deserves the truth.
But I’ve only had him back for one day.
And already, I’m terrified of losing him again.
Chapter Four
Jack
The last thing I need is a distraction.
Especiallythiskind of distraction.
