Page 35 of Fate

How the fuck am I going to explain this to Kathleen?

Chase’s aggressive tone startles me back to the here and now. “This is insanity! You have a daughter? An eighteen-month-old child you knew nothing about? Jesus, Carson. How is that even possible?”

I take a deep breath and allow his chastisement to hit me in the nuts. “I told you. That night, I didn’t know. I was blitzed out of my mind. And then I never saw her again. Well, until I walked into the same haunt she works at now. Well, did work. She will not be going back to that shithole.”

“This is…fuck! I don’t even know what to say.” After a few moments, he sighs heavily. “How is she? Your daughter?”

Leave it to Chase, Dad of the Century, to go right to the child. Pulling my hand back, I fumble with my phone. “Just a sec. I’ll send you a photo. I snapped one while she was playing a few minutes ago.” I find the picture I took, forward it to Chase, and lift the phone back to myear.

I know the second Chase gets it. “Sweet mother, she looks exactly like Chloe!” He gasps. “My, the Davis genes are strong. She’s beautiful, Carson. Really lovely.”

My chest lifts with pride. It’s an unusual but not unwanted sensation. “She is. But right now, I need your guidance. Not only do I need family around to help me through this, I need your assistance, man. As in, I need you to bring over something for my kid to sleep in. We picked up pajamas and a car seat, but your kids sleep in a crib. Cora was cranky and needed to rest so we came back home with the first round ofloot.”

“Her name is Cora?” His voice softens to the tone I’m used to hearing him use when he speaks to his wife or children.

I smile, feeling that same happiness filter through all the muck of the situation. The man can be a harsh businessman and an overprotective asshole when it comes to his wife and kids, but deep down, he’s very old-fashioned and sentimental.

“Yeah. Fate, right?”

He inhales loudly. “Baby, we need totalk.”

“Oh snookums, I didn’t know you cared,” I say, knowing he’s not addressingme.

“Carson has news.” I hear him say this as if he’s farther away but probably just holding the phone away from his mouth.

“What’s going on?” Gillian’s seductive timbre comes through the phone, concern lacing her words.

“I’ll tell you shortly, sweetheart, but for now can you get the Pack ’n Play out of the closet in the hall under the stairs?”

“Sure, butwhy?”

“Soon, my love. Go on. And put on some casual clothes. We’re goingout.”

He finishes his conversation with his wife. “Sorry about that, Carson. We’ll be there in an hour. I’ll pull together some essentials to get you through for a while.”

An instant blanket of relief covers me. My family will help me through this. I’m not alone. I’ll never be alone. “Thanks, man. And Chase…there’smore.”

“What more?” His voice hardens instantly.

I close my eyes and remember last night. The unbelievable rightness of being wrapped in Kathleen’s arms. I remember distinctly how it felt to sink deep into her heat, how I finally was able to tell her I loved her. And nowthis.

“I was with Kathleen last night,” I say in a forced rush of air. It’s as though if I say it fast enough, somehow it will make it all okay. Chase won’t be angry, I won’t be dealing with being a new dad without planning it, and Kathleen and I can ride off into the sunset together.

“Excuseme?”

“Kat and I hooked up. I mean, no, not hooked up. We were together. Imean…”

“You fucked Kathleen last night?” Each word is a tongue-lashing I would expect to get from a parent, not a family member slash best friend.

“Well, yeah, man, I did, but it’smore—”

“And now you have a woman and her child moving into your house?”

“My child, Chase,” I remindhim.

“This is so fucked up. What are you going to do about Kathleen?”

I sigh and grip my hair, tugging at the roots until the pain reaches my psyche. “I don’t know. I left in a rush because of the fire and Misty and Cora needing me. I told her I’d call tonight, but how can I? I’ve got another woman in my home with my baby daughter, who needsme.”

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