Page 140 of Scores Of The Heart

“Oh, Tyler.”

I run my hand over my face as I walk back and forth, unsure of what to do next.

I feel fucking sick to my gut.

“I need to call Stacey.”

“And they’re sure?” She whispers.

“It’s ninety-nine point nine percent accuracy.”

Cindy buries her face in her hands for a moment while I grab my cell and dial Stacey. She lifts her head, watching me with worried, wide eyes. She looks on the brink of tears, too.

Of course, there’s no answer. I can only assume that she knows the news as well, and now she’s dodging me. Luckily, I know where her friend’s place is that she’s been staying at, closer to the hospital. And that’s where I need to be.

“I have to go,” I say, picking up my clothes off the floor and quickly redressing.

“Tyler, I should come with you.”

“Not a good idea.” I shake my head. “I need to confront her alone.”

“You don’t have to do anything alone, Ty.”

“I need to think, babe.” I dip my head down to give her a quick kiss and give Henry a pat in the doorway who’s just appeared. Striding out to the kitchen to grab my keys, I’m out the door before Cindy can even get dressed. I hear her call after me, but this is something I need to do alone.

I try Stacey’s cell a squillion times before I even get to her friend’s place. I’ve no idea if she will be there, but I don’t know what else to do because I don’t have Stacey’s home address. My heart is beating a million miles an hour and everything I thought I knew about Stacey comes crashing down.

No one is at her friend’s place, unless she’s hiding, of course, and that well could be true. I find myself sitting in my car on the side of the road with my head in my hands again. I don’t know how long I sit in the sheeting rain.

Cindy is worried. I know from the messages she’s sent me in the last hour.

I glance down at my cell buzzes.

Stacey.

I swipe to answer.

“Tyler…”

“Where are you?” I grunt.

“You obviously heard the news from Doctor Calhoun.” She sounds about as grave as the doc did. I don’t know what game she’s playing now, or whether she’s practiced this too, but it’s not going to wash this time.

“Why do you think I’m driving all over town looking for you? Yes, he called me. He said the baby isn’t mine. Not that you wouldn’t already know that.”

She bursts into tears and I wait for her to say how crazy and absurd that is.

How there has been no one else like she told me, and they’ve got it wrong.

But none of those words come out of her mouth and my heart sinks even deeper.

I was just getting my head around becoming a father and coming to terms with it. Now it’s been wrenched away from me with no warning. I’ll never forgive her for this.

“I’m so sorry, Tyler.”

“So it’s true?” I balk, incredulous.

“I had a one time thing just after we broke up. I didn’t tell you about it because I didn’t for one second believe I could get pregnant from a one-night stand!”

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