Page 149 of Scores Of The Heart

“Should what, exactly?”

“I’m sorry for how things went down. I should have told you about the other guy.”

“Yes, you should have.” I grit my teeth. It feels like everything is being undone from the last few weeks, where I’ve had to try to get life back on track again. How quickly it all comes rushing back.

“I never meant to hurt you, Ty.”

“Well, you did.” I glance at the baby again, sleeping against her chest. “I take it you decided to keep her?”

She kisses the top of the baby’s head. She seems so much more… at peace. I think that’s what it is.

“I went into labor a few days after I saw you. The second I held her, I knew I couldn’t let her go.”

I’m glad for that part at least.

“I wish it could have been different,” she says. “I wanted her to be yours.”

I feel a lump in my throat. I don’t think I’ll ever truly know if she’s lying or not about who she thought was the father, or if she was just trying to sucker me in.

I really just hope she’s learned her lesson from playing with people’s lives.

“You look content,” I tell her. “That’s a good thing.”

“You’re a good man, Tyler. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”

I feel goosebumps run over my body because she actually seems genuine. “And you’re going to make a great mom,” I say from nowhere. Maybe I’m being too nice, but the fight I felt before isn’t in me anymore.

We both need to move on. “Don’t let anyone tell you different, okay?”

“Okay.” She smiles. “Goodbye, Tyler.”

“Goodbye, Stacey. Look after her.”

“I will.” She starts to walk away.

“Hey, Stace?”

She turns to look at me.

“I’m curious. What did you name her?”

She looks down at the tiny little bundle and kisses her again. “Hope,” she says simply.

I smile at hearing that. “It’s beautiful. She’s beautiful.”

I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again, but I guess at least we cleared the air. She and the baby are well and that’s the best I can hope for.

In a strange way, I feel at peace as I watch her leave.

I glance back over the road and scramble to my feet as I see Cindy’s car.

Fuck. I hope I didn’t miss her.

I’m halfway crossing the road when I see her open the trunk and grab a bag out, placing it on the ground. Then she bends over to pick something up she dropped. Thank fuck she’s not wearing a skirt. But she knows I’m watching her, even if she’s not facing me right that second.

She’s bending over on purpose. She may as well be shaking her tush towards me.

I’m there within a minute, just as she’s straightened out and striding across the lot.

---