She looks up at me. “No. But you can,” she says.
“What are you talking about?”
“I took those photos. I planted everything. I basically wrote the story. But he loves you. And if I had to guess, you love him. And I know you love Bentley. You can still have all of that. But you have to talk to Zane.”
“I don’t know if it’s that easy,” I say.
“Of course it’s not. Nothing that is right is ever easy. Giving up my son so he’d have a better life wasn’t easy. Coming to you wasn’t easy. Convincing myself that if Zane doesn’t have the same feelings for me as I do for him isn’t easy. But it’s right. Isn’t it?” Nikki stops and waits for an answer, but I am too choked up to say anything.
“Talk to him,” she says, standing up from the stool and putting a five-dollar bill on the bar top. “Forgive him. You two belong together.”
With that, she walks out, leaving me feeling even more disarrayed than I was before.
Chapter 44
Ashlyn
“I can’t believeshe approached you,” Hannah says. “Considering the custody arrangement, I think I would have walked away.”
“It is a little unnerving,” Becca agrees. “But I kind of feel for her.”
“I guess I do too,” I admit. “I wanted to know what she had to say. I think another part of me was curious about who she is. What she’s like. I love her baby. I love him like he’s my own. But she’s his biological mother, so I was curious.”
“I guess I can understand that,” Hannah says.
We are outside on the playground with the four- and five-year-olds for their recess. The other age groups are with Amy and Adrian, the other girls who work here. We rotate who works with which kids each day so we don’t get burned out. Honestly, I never feel burned out from any of these kids. I’ve already gotten attached. No surprise.
“So, are you going to press charges?” Hannah asks. “For her sneaking around and taking photos?”
“I don’t think so. I think she’s just sad and lost. It can’t be easy,” I say.
“Miss Hannah?” one of the little girls tugs at Hannah’s hand to get her attention. “Miss Hannah, there’s a strange man over there,” she says, and we all swing around to look.
“Is it a bad man?” another girl asks. Meanwhile, we walk along the fence line to see who they’re talking about. “His car looks fast. He is probably a bad guy, and that’s his getaway car.”
“That’s not a bad man,” a little boy says. “That’s Zane Calloway. My mommy likes him. She buys my daddy his underwear. But my daddy doesn’t look like Zane Calloway.”
“It is Zane,” Becca says.
“He’s probably here to see me,” I say, walking over to the gate.
“Do you want me to make him leave?” Hannah asks. “I can call security.”
“No, it’s fine,” I say.
I make my way out of the gate, which uses a code to access for safety. It closes behind me. He’s standing next to a four-door Mustang, though, not his Corvette. He opens the back door and pulls out Bentley’s car seat, Bentley in tow, and my heart slams into my rib cage.
“If you thought bringing Bentley here would work to get me to talk to you, you’re only partly right.”
“I’m looking for childcare,” he says, walking over to me. “No other intentions.”
I nod, not believing him. Then I look down at Bentley and tears fill my eyes.
“You wanna go inside?” he asks. “We kind of have an audience.”
I look back over my shoulder towards the playground, and of course Hannah and Becca are watching with gaping smiles. All the kids are lined up against the fence watching too.
“Yeah, let’s go inside,” I say.
