I can feel every carefully built wall inside me starting to crack in a way I didn’t expect.
I swallow hard and force myself to stay steady, even as his silence stretches longer than I expected.
He’s still staring at her, not at me, at her, and something about that hits deeper than it should.
I tighten my grip on Hadley’s hand just a little, grounding myself in the one thing that’s always been certain in my life, because everything I’ve done, every choice I’ve made, every place I’ve left behind has been for her. I don’t regret that, not for a second, but standing here now I can’t ignore the weight of what I’ve just done. I brought her into his world, a world that looks nothing like the one I’ve built for her, full of dust and heat and noise and men who live hard and don’t apologize for it.
A world that feels dangerous in a way I can’t control.
My gaze flicks back to him, taking him in properly this time.
He’s exactly how I remember and nothing like it all at once.
Older. Rougher around the edges. Broader through the shoulders, like the years have settled into him instead of passing him by, and still drop dead gorgeous.
There’s a steadiness to him now that I don’t remember.
But it doesn’t change the first thing I thought when I saw him, that he’s reckless and unpredictable. The kind of man who doesn’t stay in one place long enough to build anything that lasts. The kind of man I told myself I’d never trust with something this important.
My chest tightens at that, but I don’t let it show.
Because I didn’t come here to trust him. I came here because he had a right to know, and that’s it, nothing more.
Hadley shifts beside me, her attention still locked on him. Her curiosity outweighing any sense of caution I wish she had right now.
“Mommy,” she whispers, just loud enough for me to hear, her voice soft and curious. “Is that him?”
The question lands like a direct hit. I close my eyes for half a second, just enough to steady myself before I look down at her. She’s watching him like she’s already decided he’s important, like something in her recognizes him in a way I don’t fully understand, and that terrifies me more than anything else.
I kneel down in front of her, straightening her dress, buying myself a second to choose my words carefully.
“Yeah,” I say quietly, keeping my voice even, even though everything inside me is anything but. “That’s him.”
Her eyes light up just a fraction, something warm and hopeful flickering there before she looks back at him.
I follow her gaze, my stomach tightening all over again.
Because he’s still staring.
Still trying to process something that I’ve had five years to come to terms with.
And I don’t know what he’s going to do with it.
That’s the part I couldn’t prepare for, not the drive out here or the moment I said the words, but this, the waiting and the unknown.
I rise back to my feet slowly, keeping Hadley close, my hand settling on her shoulder in a way that’s more for me than it is for her.
I can feel the other men watching, their attention sharp, protective in a way that makes it clear this isn’t just his space.
It’s theirs.
A family.
A unit. All in Shock.
And I just walked straight into the middle of it and changed everything.
The realization settles heavy in my chest, but I don’t back down from it.
