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“I love chocolate anything, just so you know.” He bit into one. “These are really good.”
“Thanks. I made those.”
“So spill. What’s the deal with your ex?”
She was silent, her head now resting on his chest. He liked the feel of it even if it meant he had to turn his head to eat the muffin. He finished it in two more bites.
“I met Nick one night and we started talking. He seemed nice. Was nice,” she said. “We dated for six months, and I believed he was everything I’d always wanted in a partner.”
Ford hated him.
“I got pregnant with Ritchie. It was unplanned, and I’m not sure how it happened since I was on birth control.” She waved her hand. “I mean, I know how it happened—”
“I understand.” He didn’t want to think about her with another man.
“Nick’s parents come from old money and weren’t happy when he told them I was pregnant. I was not who they thought their son should end up with.”
“You look all right to me.” He tweaked a dark lock of hair.
“My grandparents weren’t much happier. It was history repeating itself as far as they were concerned.”
“What about Nick?”
“He changed overnight, said he didn’t want to marry or be tied down, that I’d tried to trap him. My grandparents may have been disappointed in me, but from that moment on, they stepped in to support me, especially when they heard the demands Nick’s parents had made.”
“Which were?”
“They wanted to raise Ritchie without me.”
Ford heard the anger even though she’d spoken softly.
“I told them to go to hell and that perhaps if they hadn’t been so controlling, their son wouldn’t have turned out the way he had. Not my finest moment, but I was pregnant and hormones were playing hell with me.”
“Sounds like they deserved it.”
“Short story is that Ritchie was born, they met him, but it was only once as they insisted on counting his fingers and toes and they wanted a DNA test. I told them to go away.”
“I hope you used stronger words than that.”
She snorted. “My grandparents did.”
“I stayed with them and worked to build up my bank balance. I was a qualified teacher but needed to be home for Ritchie, so I worked nights. I knew it wasn’t a long-term solution for either of us. They needed their space just as I did.”
“They sound like good people.” Ford rolled her hair between his fingers.
“They are.”
“What about dickwad?”
“Nick decided to forgive me for ruining his life and kept dropping by when he needed something. He never wanted to see Ritchie, just asked me to help him out of the next mess he fell into.”
“Sounds like a winner.”
“He was really sweet for the first six months.”
“I’m sorry he’s such an asshole.” Ford kissed the top of her head.
“It’s okay. I got Ritchie.”
