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“Whether you like it or not, I am this child’s father. Nothing will ever change that. You living in Winter Falls. You getting married.” He frowns. “Whatever happens, this child is mine.”
“Ours,” I interrupt to say because he is completely freaking me out.
He dips his chin. “Ours.” He clears his throat. “I want to be involved in everything from now on.”
“Everything?”
He nods. “Ultrasounds. Doctor’s visits. Whatever you need to do, I want to be there.”
“We use midwives here in Winter Falls,” I say to be contrary.
“Okay. Midwife appointments.”
“Are you going to be my Lamaze partner, too?” I’d change my mind and endure Lamaze classes with Cayenne the contortionist just to witness his reaction.
“Whatever you need. I’m here.”
Here? Wrong thing to say. It reminds me of why I can’t trust him.
“Exactly! You aren’t here. You’re not a local.”
“I know you don’t like outsiders.”
“It’s not that I don’t like outsiders.” I don’t trust them. It’s an entirely different thing.
“Winter Falls is going to be my base of operations for the next two years.”
“And then what?” I can’t help myself from pushing. “Then, you’re gone and we never hear from you again.”
A muscle in his jaw twitches and a vein in his forehead pulses. “I would never abandon my child. Never.”
He sounds sincere, but, “How do I know you won’t?”
He leaps to his feet and starts pacing my living room. He circles the room for a few minutes while mumbling to himself. Finally, he stops in front of me.
“I would never abandon my child because I know how it feels to be abandoned.”
What is he talking about? “Say what?”
“It’s such a cliché it’s almost funny. My dad went to the grocery store to pick up some milk for me and he never came back.”
“Never? He left your mom?”
“My mom. Me. He left our lives and never looked back again.”
“What an asshole!” I slap a hand over my mouth. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said your dad is an asshole.”
He waves my apology away. “It’s not a word I haven’t used myself in reference to him a million times before.”
“Do you ever hear from him? Does he write? Did he visit for the holidays?” Shit. All these years I’ve yelled at the residents of Winter Falls for being nosey and I’m doing the exact same thing. “Never mind. You don’t need to tell me. It’s your business.”
“Nuh-uh. No giving me the brush off. It’s our business. Because my father abandoning his family and never speaking to me again is the reason why you can trust me to never abandon our child. I know how it feels to be the person left behind. I would never treat a person that way, let alone my child.”
Wow. What can I say? How can I begin to understand when I grew up in a loving family? An irritating family but loving, nonetheless.
“Do you want a drink?” I don’t wait for his answer before walking to the sink to pour a glass of water.
“I’m sorry,” he apologizes when I hand him the glass of water.
