Page 93 of Time for Change

I can’t believe this is happening.

I sensed something was off with Gianna, but I never expected the outburst I just witnessed. She clearly doesn’t like me, and what’s worse, I’m left facing an impossible situation. I could never—andwouldnever—force her to be around me if she didn’t want to be, which begs the question…now what?

Never in a million years did I picture myself in a situation where the man I’m dating’s kids don’t like me. How will this even work?

Canit even work?

I’m still so numb, my mind spinning, that I’m unable to truly relax, and by the time Jack returns home after dealing with the late-night emergency, I’m exhausted.

“Hey,” he says with a soft smile the moment he walks into the house and sees me on the couch. He must register the despair on my face, because that smile instantly falls away. “What’s wrong?” he asks, quickly approaching.

“Umm, we had an incident,” I mutter, clearing my throat and standing up.

“What kind of incident? Are the kids okay?”

I nod rapidly. “They’re fine.”

He swipes at a tear falling from my eye. “You’re scaring me, Sweets. What happened?”

Sniffling, I place my hand on his forearm, desperately needing to anchor myself to his stability. “Well, Gianna came downstairs around eleven.”

“Okay,” he says slowly.

“She, uh, well, she wasn’t too happy to find me here and you gone.”

“Really?” He seems genuinely surprised. “Did she say something?”

I almost snort.Oh, yeah. She said something all right.

“Jack, I don’t think she likes us together,” I tell him, opting not to repeat the harsh things she screamed at me.

“I don’t understand where this is coming from. Did she say something to you?” he asks, repeating his question.

“Umm…”

“Stevie.” There’s nothing but confusion and concern in his eyes, and my God, I’m going to miss those eyes, because I know, right now, standing here in front of him with my heart cracking wide open and bleeding, there’s only one thing I can do.

I have to go.

This will never work if one of his kids doesn’t approve. They’re too young, too impressionable, too embedded in his daily life.

And I love him too much to ever make him choose.

Love comes and goes, but the relationship you have with your kids is forever. I was raised by a woman who looked at me as a burden. Someone who preferred being with the man she was dating instead of the child she was supposed to be nurturing. I was dealt a crappy hand, but these kids, they have it all, including a father who would do anything for them.

They come first.

Always.

“Listen, Jack,” I start, trying to clear the emotion lodged in my throat. “This isn’t going to work.”

“What isn’t going to work?” he asks, his confusion growing by the second.

“Us.” That single word may be the most painful I’ve ever spoken.

“I don’t understand. Everything was fine just a few hours ago,” he counters, running his hands through his hair.

“I know, but things change. You deserve to be with someone who not only makes you happy, but those near and dear to your heart as well.”

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