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She took a deep breath and let it out again. “Erik. You know you are always welcome to visit Casey, but surprising us like this isn’t a good idea. I know you didn’t just come because of the picture of me and Drew. Why are you here?”
At the sound of their son’s name, Erik fidgeted in his chair. Damn the man. He couldn’t even talk about their son without being uncomfortable.
“Well, like I said, I’m only here for a night. I’m not sure I’ll have time to see…”
“That’s fine.” Baylee swallowed tears.
Not for herself, but for her son. His father didn’t even want to visit him. It was times like these she was almost grateful Casey didn’t ask much about his dad. Almost. She fought the urge to look at Drew again. But if she did, she’d start crying and never stop. Something she was not going to do. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Drew was everything Erik wasn’t, but she was calling a spade a spade, right?
She’d cut Erik off, unable to hear his excuses for not visiting Casey. It was better for everyone anyway.
“If you’re not here to see Casey, they what do you want, Erik?”
“I wanted to tell you I’m getting married.”
Baylee sat back in her chair. Well, gracious. That certainly wasn’t what she was expecting to hear.
“Congratulations.” The desire to chuckle bubbled inside but she pushed it down.
Laughing right now would not go over well with Erik. And it wasn’t as if she thought it funny. Not at all. It was more a sense of… relief.
“Thanks. She’s awesome.” Erik sat forward, leaning on the table. “We met at the gym. She’s got two kids, one plays football, the other basketball. We’re at games every weekend.” He smiled and got a far off look in his eye.
The one he used to get when Baylee was pregnant with Casey and he’d talk of all the things he wanted for his son.
Tears lodged in her throat. She swallowed. Hard. Erik continued his glowing description of his new fiancé and their athletic new family unit. She searched to find exactly what she was feeling but couldn’t pinpoint it. Jealousy? No. A big, fat no. Anger at Erik for being so shallow? Nope. She’d accepted long ago who he was. Sadness? Maybe. But mostly for Casey. No. Actually, mostly for Erik. He’d miss out on a relationship with Casey and that was his bad. Casey would be fine. Erik made it clear he didn’t want to try and connect with his son, so Casey would never know the difference.
“You came all the way from Texas to tell me you’re getting married?” Erik was still going on and on, but she cut him off.
He clasped his hands together on the table. “Well, yeah. I wanted to make sure you were okay with it.”
“How thoughtful.” She tried to keep the sarcasm from her voice, but failed.
He glanced in Drew’s direction then back again. “But I can see you’re moving on.”
She didn’t like Erik’s tone. He was implying she was only with Drew because of his status and money. But she learned long ago that fighting with Erik didn’t do any good. He only wanted a rise out of her. One she would refuse to give.
“I am moving on. I’m happy here. Casey’s happy here.”
He leaned back in his chair again and nodded. “Good.”
“Is that all?”
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “You’re different.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“I don’t know. Just… different.”
“Moving to Silver Bay was the right choice.”
“Yeah, yeah. The whole baking thing and all that. How’s that going?”
She answered his questions and they exchanged small talk for a few minutes. The entire time Baylee could feel Drew’s eyes on them, his protective instincts not lost on her. How had she ever fallen for someone like Erik was a question she might never know the answer to, but honestly, at the moment she didn’t care. Erik was moving on. So was she. He was her past, Drew was her future.
She looked his way again and smiled. He returned it this time. He’d said he wanted to hold her forever. Every fiber in her being wanted that to be true. But what would that cost them? He needed to be focused on things in New York. She had Casey and her life in Silver Bay. Doubts floated through her mind. She’d pushed them back these past few weeks, but was it time to pay attention? She wanted Drew and all that came with him, good or bad, but did he want all that came with her too?
