Page 129 of Scores Of The Heart

“What the heck do you expect me to say?” He stares at his wife while she tries to soften the blow for us. I hear Cindy take a deep breath next to me.

“They’re doing their best to explain. It isn’t their fault that they were photographed without their consent.”

“Like heck it isn’t!” He grits out. “They were supposed to be there on official business!”

“Those photos were taken away from the rink,” Cindy pleads. “Dad, we never meant for this to happen, but it has happened.”

“I don’t like these kinds of surprises,” he says sharply.

I take another sharp breath. “Then you’re definitely not going to like the next thing I have to say.”

Everyone looks at me. It’s now or never. I’ve always been taught to tell the truth, and her family can’t find out this shit I’ve gotten us into by reading today’s edition of The Seattle Times.

“There’s something else going to print about me and my ex, Stacey Robinson…”

CHAPTER 26

Cindy

I thought Tyler and I had held things up pretty well until he drops the ex bombshell. But we both agreed everything had to come out in the open in one sitting. We both owe my dad and Angelique that much. I don’t even want to think about my mom right now and her reaction to all of this when I see her.

As soon as the pregnancy words are out of Tyler’s mouth, and the added bonus of The Seattle Times article, Dad abruptly gets up out of his seat and goes a strange color, from red to purple, and then he just seems to blank out for a moment.

“What exactly is this!” He shouts after a moment.

I run a hand over my face, as if things aren’t bad enough with me trying to make sense of it myself, now Dad is as angry as I’ve ever seen him.

“You knock one girl up, then move on to a precious angel like my daughter?”

Tyler tenses next to me. I know these hits on his character can’t be easy, but Dad isn’t going to see things exactly how they are right now. He’s just going to see the worst of it, and I guess in the light of day, it looks pretty bad.

“That really isn’t how it is,” Tyler says carefully, looking up at my dad, who’s just standing there with his hands on his hips. “Believe me, I’m just as shocked as everyone here. Like I said, I just found out myself. It was after Cindy and I started seeing each other. I only saw Stacey yesterday.”

He tells them his plans going forward. If Stacey doesn’t want to keep the baby, then he will raise her with the help of his family.

“And where does my daughter come into all of this?” He grits, pointing at Tyler.

He’s so mad I don’t think he can even see straight.

“Clive, please sit down,” Angelique pleads.

“No, goddamn it, I won’t sit down! What does he expect me to say? He knocks up one girl he says he conveniently didn’t know about, and now wants to raise the kid but still date my daughter? I don’t understand how that’s going to work out.”

“Dad, please. We haven’t sorted out the details yet. It’s still early days. Tyler and I have just started dating, so it’s a difficult situation, but we’re trying to navigate around it.”

“Meaning you’re still willing to stand by his side.”

“We both agreed to see how things went over time, but I love him, yes.”

Dad balks. “You love him?”

“Yes, Dad. I do.”

“In the short space you’ve known him?” Dad shakes his head and glares at Tyler. “You need to leave, Tyler, NOW!”

“Please, coach… I never meant for this to happen. I love your daughter. But I want to do the right thing by my ex. We’re doing the paternity test next week…”

“Great, so you don’t even know if the kid is even yours!”

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