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Tears form in the corner of my eyes. I hate that I’m not strong enough to keep my emotions in check, but when it comes to Ayden—the boy I never stopped loving—his words shoot straight to my heart.
“I’m sorry, too. I wish I could’ve come with you. This would’ve been an awesome place to raise a family.”
He raises his brows as if it just occurred to him to ask if I had a family.
“Are you married?”
I shake my head.
“What about kids?”
This time, I nod.
“Really?” He genuinely smiles. “How old?”
I suck in a breath because there’s no avoiding this. It’s part of the reason I came here.
“She’s nine.”
His brown eyes stay glued to mine, neither of us moving or speaking while his brain catches up.
“Who’s the father?” he finally asks, his voice gruff and angry as he folds his arms across his chest.
“Ayden,” I say his name calmly. “Can we not do this right now, please?” I look around in case we aren’t alone.
“We’re not moving until you answer my question. Who’s. Her. Father?”
“Who do you think?” I shrug, then rub my sweaty palms along my jeans. “I didn’t find out until after you left.”
“Jesus Christ, Laney.” He paces. “You could’ve led with that.”
“I didn’t want to overwhelm you. Howie’s death was already big news to share.”
“I have a daughter?” His voice cracks as he stops in front of me.
“Wehave a daughter, yes.”
“Is she here?”
“No, she’s with my mother in Texas.”
“Does she know about me?”
“Howie and I talked about you a lot, yes. She doesn’t know the details of why you left, but she knows you exist—somewhere.”
“I can’t fuckin’ believe this.Shit.” He shakes his head in disbelief and then grabs my hand. “I would’ve never left, Laney. I swear, I would’ve stayed and raised our daughter with you. I would’ve married you. I’d—”
“I know, Ayden. I never doubted for a moment you wouldn’t have been the best father. For years, I tried to find you. You were never on social media. Your phone number was disconnected. Eventually, I saved up money to hire a PI to check if you had opened any credit cards or a bank account, but he came back empty.”
“You’ve been raisin’ her by yourself?”
“No, I had help.”
He frowns, releasing me. “But not mine.”
“You didn’t know,” I remind him softly.
“What’s her name?”
