Page 109 of Dreaming of Dawson

“His timing sucks,” Ryan says, although he hands his son to Peony. “He’s beyond tired, but I can’t go back to the farmhouse with him. Zara’s over there, and I don’t wanna walk in on her unannounced.”

“It’s okay. I’ll take him. I don’t think he’ll take long to settle, and hopefully by then Tanner will be here, and I can escort Zara back.”

She leaves with a smile, and Ryan goes with her, at least as far as the door, although they both stop there for a moment, and exchange a few words with Everly Wright. I haven’t seen her for ages and am surprised that she’s carrying a tiny baby in her arms. I’d heard she was pregnant, but didn’t realize she’d given birth… to a girl, I’d say, judging by the pink ribbon in her hair.

“Who’s that?” Macy asks.

“Everly Wright. She owns the coffee shop.”

“She appears to be alone. Is her husband not here?”

“She doesn’t have a husband,” I say, turning from Everly and looking down at Macy.

“Okay. Boyfriend, partner, fiancé, whoever the baby’s father is. Is he not here?”

“No. He left town sometime last spring, I think. I can’t be sure about the timing because I was barely sober…”

“He left his pregnant girlfriend? Sounds like a nice guy,” she says, shaking her head, her disapproval obvious.

“Oddly enough, Seth was a nice guy. I don’t know anyone here who had a bad word to say about him… but I guess kids aren’t for everyone, are they?”

I notice her shoulders drop and she steps away from me, just slightly. “No, they’re not. But if that’s the case, isn’t it more responsible to ensure they don’t happen? Isn’t it better to be careful than to abandon your girlfriend and leave her to raise your child alone?”

“Hey…” I put my arm around her waist and pull her closer, moving us over to the side of the room. “Whatever happened between Everly and Seth, it’s not our fight, babe. I can’t even be sure they broke up because of the baby. It could have been something else altogether. Like I say, I wasn’t sober enough to know what I was doing, let alone what was going on in someone else’s life.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, and I pull her into a hug.

“Is something else worrying you? It’s not like you to react like this.”

“No, it’s not.” I lean back slightly, looking down into her eyes, and she bites on her lip. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“It’s just I’m kinda confused.”

“What about?”

“You,” she says.

“What about me?”

“It’s just… you seemed quite enamored with Rory, and then you came out with that line about kids not being for everyone, and…”

I get where she’s coming from now. “You wanna know how I feel about kids? Is that it?”

“Yes.”

I smile down at her. “I like them,” I say simply, and she nods.

“Okay, but does that mean you like them when they belong to other people, or you want to have one or two of your own?”

“I’d like to have at least one, yeah.”

She nods, and although I expect a smile, it doesn’t happen. She just continues to stare at me and then says, “Why didn’t you have any with Stevie? You were together a long time, and…”

“I know, but we never got around to it.”

“Even after all those years?”

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