Page 83 of Finding Our Reality

I turn around but don’t make it far before his arm grabs my waist, spinning me around and pinning me to his side. The movement makes my head swim, and a quick fire of nausea flames in my stomach. Ughh. Hangover.

“There’s someone I want you to meet.” He lifts his hand in the air and whistles, drawing the little’s girl’s attention. He yells to her, “Laura, come here!”

I push against his sweaty and massive frame. The salty smell of his body makes it hard to think. “Ry, I don’t think this is the best time to—”

He interrupts me, completely ignoring my protest. “I’ve told her a million times that she needs to wait until dusk to go fishing, but she insists that the fish want lunch, just like people.”

I’ve never seen him look at someone with such innocent and pure love. Not me. Not anyone. And it breaks my heart into a million pieces, imagining what could have been.

She skips up to us in a bundle of energy. Her brown hair is in a ponytail and she’s wearing a purple shirt with small white flowers on it. She’s pretty. She doesn’t really look like Ry, but she’s pretty. And that’s when I see it. Her head turns up and she pushes the small pair of glasses up on her nose.

Her eyes. The same translucent green as Ry’s. The exact same. And just as gorgeous.

“Laura, this is Lulu.”

Her little hand sticks up in my face, waiting on an introduction. “Hello, my name is Laura Margaret Crutchfield. Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

He has a child. He made a baby. With someone else. And he gave that childmymiddle name.

What the hell is this guy doing to me?

I stand there, frozen like a statue, unable to flap one single syllable out of my stupid mouth.

Finally, she grunts. “Are you okay?” She flips her hand over and looks at it. “It’s just a little dirt. Uncle Ry says that a confident, mature woman always introduces herself with a firm handshake.”

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I shake my head and quickly wrap my hand around hers. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I just—”

Wait. What did she just say?

“Wait. What did you just say?”

Ry’s hand snakes around my back. His fingers massage against my hip. Bending, he brushes his lips against my cheek. “Lulu, I’d like you to meet Laura. My niece.”

Chapter 28

ELLA

Niece. Niece. Niece.

I keep repeating the word in my head.

He leans across the chair, rubbing his hand across my thigh. “Can you talk now? Or are you still in shock?” He nods at Laura as she swings from a tire swing hanging underneath one of the trees. She’s holding a baby doll in her hand and mumbling under her breath, her imagination fueling a conversation between the two of them. “Because I can tell you from experience, we only have about fifteen more minutes before she gets tired of swinging with the baby and wants to do something different.”

“I thought she was your daughter.”

Sitting back in his chair, he rubs his fingers across his stubble. “I gathered as much from our conversation last night. I assume you heard what I said to Brooke yesterday? I really wish you would’ve just talked to me when I kept asking what was wrong.” He cocks his head to the side. “Why didn’t you?”

I start to shrug and say I don’t know, but I decide against it, however wise or unwise that decision may be. “Because I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of the answer. Of what you’d admit to me.”

“What if she were my child? We’ve been apart for twelve years. We lived our lives. You were married to someone else. What was so upsetting about the thought that I may be a father?” He narrows his eyes when I don’t immediately answer. “And so help me, Lulu, if you lie, I’m gonna flip my shit.”

“Because that was literally the very thing that I wanted. I wanted to marry you, have a life with you.” I look at the beautiful house behind us. “Fill our home with babies. For so long, that’s what I wanted.”

He stares at me, swallowing hard. I watch as a small bead of sweat rolls down his temple. “And now? What do you want now?”

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