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“Yeah,” he said simply, with a smile tickling his lips—a smile that made every fear and doubt that he would be mad at me vanish from my mind. “Is there a reason why I shouldn’t?”
I shook my head. “No, I just thought you would have questions, or maybe you’d think I was trying to trap you or something.”
“I wish you were trying to trap me.”
“Huh?” It was said in a low tone, so I thought maybe I was hearing things. Did he really just say what I thought he said?
But he avoided the question entirely, so instead, I simply shook my head.
“I believe you. I know you wouldn’t lie to me.”
Relief and gratitude coursed through me, along with guilt. Because the truth was that I had lied to him in the beginning. I’d hidden his child from him, and even though part of it was about protecting Casey, there was a part of me that wanted to avenge my sister. And I wanted vengeance for a situation I still didn’t understand.
Because now that I thought about it, it didn’t make sense that he never came for her, even when he knew she was going to kill herself. I didn’t understand why he didn’t stop her when he knew. Why did he let her fall?
But I would confront him on that issue later.
I still had to finish this. “I’m keeping the baby,” I said after a few moments.
“Yeah, I figured,” he responded.
“How did you figure?”
He gave an easy shrug. “Because you’re you.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, quirking my brow.
He turned to regard me, his eyes getting softer. “It means you would make an amazing mother.”
He said it in a matter-of-fact tone that made me feel impossibly good and warm.
“Do you really mean that?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to have to learn how to be a good dad, but I think you’ll be a natural at it.”
“I didn’t get pregnant just to get money from you.” He stared at me like I was crazy as I continued,“And while I would like you to be in your child’s life, if you don’t want to be, it’s fine. I won’t ask you for anything.”
“I would kill you if you didn’t ask me for anything,” he said, frowning deeply. “It’s my child, too, regardless of anything else. And I will be a father and give our child everything he or she needs. You too.”
It was exactly what I was hoping he would say, but the last part threw me for a loop. “Me too?”
“Yeah.” He sat up on the couch and edged his way to his feet. “I gotta go take a leak. I’ll explain more to you when I get back.” He ambled over to the bathroom, and I admired the shifting muscles in his back as he walked away.
After he did, I heard a beeping coming from the floor and immediately reached over to grab the phone. But when I brought it up, I saw it wasn’t mine. It must have dropped out of Zane’s pocket during the night after he dozed off in my arms, and I tucked him in to sleep.
The memory still surprised me. I never thought I would see him that vulnerable, ever, much less have him hold me as he cried.
It was a text message flashing on the phone, and I nearly put it down until I noticed something. I knew that number. But it made no sense. Why would this number be texting Zane?
I held the text message down to see a preview, recognizing that the man had sent a photo. It looked like the boy I’d seen on the kitchen counter. Toby.
You didn’t find what you were looking for, did you?the text read.
What on earth was going on?
“What is it?”
I looked up, too confused to even be embarrassed that he’d caught me snooping. “You got a text. It’s a picture of Toby.”
