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My jaw dropped at the news. “I’m… I’m stunned.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lucas
A few seconds went by as I watched Emily’s reaction. She’d never been great at hiding her feelings, and this moment was no different. Her expression turned from shock, surprise, and confusion to anger.
We were still on the anger stage.
Her gaze flashed to mine, and I saw the fire behind it.
“How dare that woman,” she said, shooting up from the boulder. “It’s a damn good thing I didn’t know that before she tried to buy the poodle, or it would have been cracked over her head.”
This was a new side of Emily. I’d never heard her resort to violence. I hid in a chuckle but couldn’t believe how much lighter I felt.
It was like carrying around this secret for so many years had been slowly eating away at me, and I didn’t even realize it.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” she asked, coming over to me and sitting back down.
“What would I have said? It was all after the fact.” I eyed Emily as her eyes stayed on me. “I’m sure it sounds so weird, but I was actually really disappointed the baby wasn’t mine. Had she told me at month two, I doubt I would have given it much thought. But spending all those months preparing made me enthralled with the idea of becoming a dad.”
“What did you do with the crib?” Emily asked.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Of all the questions… that’s what popped into your head?”
“I’m in retail for a living.” She chuckled. “I can’t help it.”
“I just gave it all to her.”
“And your best friend?” she asked softly.
“Let’s just say we didn’t hang out much after that. I guess I gave her him, too.”
“So that is who she married and divorced,” she said matter-of-factly. “Is that why you don’t trust women and go through them like they’re objects?”
My eyes widened. “I trust women.”
Her brows arched into a befuddled expression.
“And I totally respect women. I’ve never misled anyone or given the impression that I wanted something long-term or…”
She kept her eyes focused on me.
“It would be hard for me to trust women after being lied to like that.” She shook her head. “There are so many levels of betrayal with that one scenario that I don’t even know what makes me angrier.”
“It was rough, but I got over it.”
“Until you heard her name.” Emily pressed her mouth into a frown and nodded. “All so I could see my favorite author.”
I laughed. “Who knew the horrors that would bring?”
Emily smiled and pulled my hand into hers. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I feel… honored.” She scowled. “And pissed.”
“It was all a long time ago,” I said, waving my hand around. “We were young. People make mistakes.”
Emily nodded as her eyes stayed on mine. “But I’d say that’s pretty gutsy to try to date you.”
“Yeah. There’s that.” I nodded in agreement. “It kind of told me she hadn’t changed much.”
