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She pushes back her hair, lets out a jagged breath. “I know.”
“I’m a different person.”
Her hands fall to her lap. Her fingers blanch as she twists them together. “We are different people.”
“But I think we should start with the past before we talk about the present... and the future.”
Rachel’s mouth presses into a line. “It’s probably a good idea.”
“Rach... I missed you when we went our separate ways. I just wasn’t ready back then. I didn’t have any idea who I really was. And the more certain you were about your path, the less certain I felt about the future.”
“I didn’t know that you felt that way.”
“I should have just told you. But it was an admission I wasn’t ready to make.”
“I’m sorry you felt that way.”
“I did a lot of self-reflection. I finally started to find a path when I went to work with the force.”
She sighs, “Hunter, I loved you just like you were.”
Damnit. Tears burn at the back of my eyes.
“Well, we can’t go back. We can go forward. My life is complicated in ways I never imagined it would be. But I’m not giving up on us.”
She nods and wipes a tear from her eye with the back of her hand. “I’m blown away, right now.”
“It’s understandable.”
“You show up in my life and I’m swept right off my feet again.”
I smile. “Same here.”
“And knowing you're a father now…”
I wait, unsure. Everything inside me feels cold.
“I’m still processing that.”
“I was that way for a year. Hell, I still am sometimes. Being a father figure is the most complex and hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“And the most gracious.”
Her hand reaches for mine. Her touch is warm as she winds her fingers between mine. “So, you and Marcus are living in Lynn’s Cove now?”
“We are. He needs a new start. I have a great job opportunity here. It’s a nice place. I think it will be a good place for him to find himself.”
“It is a nice place.”
“I’m sorry you found out about Marcus like this. I have been wanting to talk about this. I mean this is why I’m looking for a house. But so much was there between us. And my attempt not to fuck everything up has fucked things up again.”
Rachel’s arms slide around my shoulders. “You didn’t fuck things up any more than I did.”
“Rachel, we’re figuring this out.”
She presses a tender kiss to my cheek. “I want us to figure this out too.”
“And how do you feel about us having an instant family?”
