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“These things happen—”
“It shouldn’t have happened and it was my fault, Grant,” I said with force, fighting back the sudden emotion threatening to take over. “Sierra is in a bad spot with her family. I’m all she has right now and I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“She’s got us, too.”
“I know I don’t deserve help from you, and especially not George—”
“Why do you punish yourself like this, Pete? You had every right to be pissed at George and Keely and you handled it badly, yeah, but it’s been a year since then—”
“I am not ready to be a father.”
“Then focus on just being a partner to her first,” Grant pressed with an almost desperate voice. “Keely hasn’t been quiet about what happened between you two a year ago, how you finally found someone—”
“I can’t talk about this,” I said, cutting him off.
“Maybe you should try. You think we haven’t noticed you pulling away? Isolating yourself in your office day in and day out while Keely tries to keep Sierra busy?” He paused, licking his lips. “Does she know how you feel about her?”
“How I feel about her doesn’t fucking matter right now, not when she’s going to have a baby and her entire life is going to be turned upside down. Mine, too, if it’s mine. Nothing will be the same between us. There will be no chance to—”
“Do you really think this baby is going to get between you?”
“I don’t know,” I ground out. Of course, I didn’t blame the kid. If anything, that baby was the reason Sierra came back.
What hurt was that if she hadn’t found out she was pregnant, I would have never seen her again.
“She’s not here for me, Grant. Okay? She’s here for my help and that’s what I’m doing. I’m gonna help her until she doesn’t need me anymore. There’s nothing going on between us, and there won’t be, so don’t get your hopes up that I’m finally settling down or that Moira and Keely are going to have a new girlfriend to hang out with because that’s not what’s happening.”
“And is that what you want?” Grant asked.
Before I could tell him the truth and sayno, my phone started to ring in my back pocket. I cursed under my breath and pulled it out, seeing Wes’s name flash across the screen.
“Hey,” I said, turning from Grant.
“We got a situation down here at the bar. Big fight—a few old-timers and some young bucks got into it bad and the police are coming.”
“Great,” I breathed. “I’ll be there in a few. Keep things tight until I do.” I hung up, nodding at Grant, who’d likely heard the entire conversation.
“I’m glad you came up tonight,” he said, nodding his head before I followed him back into the dining room. Keely was gathering dishes while Moira and Sierra laughed and smiled at each other.
“Ready?” I asked Sierra, my voice cracking a bit when I noticed her smile fade as her eyes met mine.
She nodded, and soon the room erupted in farewells as hugs and handshakes were exchanged.
“I’m joining their book club. We’re going to start meeting once a week at the bookstore,” Sierra said she buckled her seatbelt and settled into my truck. “If you’re okay with that.”
“You can do whatever you want, Sierra,” I said, trying to choke back some of the emotion from earlier and focus on the drive ahead.
“Hey ,Pete?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for introducing me to your friends. I feel… I feel a lot better now.”
I glanced at her, arching my brow. “Better about what?”
“I just don’t feel so alone anymore, and I guess I’m not used to hanging out with people who see each other because they want to, not because they have anything to gain from it. That’s new to me.”
“I understand that,” I said, gripping the steering wheel as we sped toward town.
