Page 13 of Unforgettable

Zach was like me in more than one way, though. We both had similar dirty-blond hair, and he was tall for his age, just as I had been. His outgoing personality and athleticism were also from me, however, his eyes were ice blue like his mom’s. But I liked to think he was the better version of me—he’d get the childhood I wished I’d had, at least.

Whether Sam and I were together or not, I promised when he was born to do right by him, no matter what. And although Sam and I butted heads, we weren’t actually too bad at the whole co-parenting thing.

Our custody agreement meant Zach was with me every Wednesday evening and every other weekend, except in the summer when he stayed with me for a few weeks. It wasn’t what I had hoped for when Sam and I renegotiated our agreement based on Zach beginning kindergarten the previous year. Before he really began school and was only attending preschool, our agreement was much more flexible, and although we maintained a decent schedule, I saw him more often.

But we both agreed that it would make more sense for Zach to have a schedule that reflected that change. So, he spent most of his time at Sam’s. Luckily, Sam agreed that I could come by on Sundays when it technically wasn’t my weekend to spend time with him, and I took him to all of his baseball practices and games.

It was a compromise I could handle, at least in the interim.

“Can we go to Nashville and visit Miles soon, Dad? Aunt Delilah said we could stay with them.”

I chuckled as we pulled into Sam’s neighborhood. “We’ll see, bud.”

Zach grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. “That always means you’re gonna say no.” He wasn’t wrong, that’s usually what it meant, but sadly, co-parenting meant decisions like that weren’t fully my own to make.

“What else do I usually say when you ask me something like that?” I asked, peeking into the rearview mirror to see him relax and roll his eyes.

“That we have to ask Mama,” he answered correctly.

I pulled into the driveway and noticed Sam seated on their porch step. It was odd that she was waiting outside, and I immediately began to grow concerned. Usually, she only waved a “hello” from farther into the house when I dropped Zach off; more often than not, I had to search her out to make sure she was even home.

Seeing her was immediately unsettling, and she looked nervous as her leg bounced on the concrete step.

Zach was out of my truck and sprinting toward the house before I even opened my door. He threw his arms around Sam and kissed her cheek like he hadn’t seen her in forever.

“Me and Daddy are gonna go to Nashville, Mama,” Zach said, smiling back at me. The kid knew exactly what he was doing.

“I said we had to ask Mom. Don’t go getting me in trouble, dude,” I said as I set his overnight bag, including the muddy clothes, on the step next to Sam.

He huffed again but mumbled his agreement. Both Sam and I laughed, and he gave me a quick hug before he sprinted into the house, yelling about Legos.

“I’ll be by on Tuesday to pick him up for practice,” I said to Sam, who hadn’t yet made eye contact with me or even acknowledged my presence.

“No, we’re going out of town this week. We won’t be back until Sunday,” Sam said.

“Shit, you’re right. To see Travis’s family, right?”

Travis was Sam’s boyfriend I had met a handful of times. He wasn’t my favorite person—he laughed too loud at his own jokes and worried too much about his appearance. But he seemed to care about Sam and, in turn, cared about Zach.

“Yes, we’re going up to Michigan to meet his family. It’ll be the first time Zach’s meeting all of them.” That all appeared normal, but I could tell there was something else in her voice. A hesitance that wasn’t usually there.

“What’s up, Sam? Just tell me.”

She sighed and twirled her long ice-blonde hair in her fingers like she always did when she got nervous. It usually ended in her telling me something that I didn’t want to hear.

“I think he’s going to propose when we’re up there, and I just wanted you to know that if he does, I’m going to say yes.”

Her confession was like a shot to the gut, and not because I still had feelings for her or imagined that we’d one day be together. But because I knew the carefully constructed relationship and agreement we had precariously built would undoubtedly change with the entrance of a new stepparent. All of our lives would change.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. They’d been together for two years and, as far as I knew, spent every waking hour together.

“Well, congratulations,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

“Thanks… that’s all you have to say?”

“I’m not sure what else to say. You seem happy, and he’s a… good guy.”

She studied me for a moment, likely waiting for a bigger, more dramatic reaction, but it wasn’t going to happen. After several seconds, she seemed to believe that I had nothing else to add and retrieved Zach’s bag from the stairs. I didn’t miss her eye roll.

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