Page 78 of Snowed In With The Second Chance Daddy

It’s hard to hide my shock. “You got married when you wereeighteen?”

“See? You don’t even believe it.”

“I mean…no, no, I don’t.”

“My high school sweetheart. It was normal where I grew up. I was really religious, it was just what you did.”

I can’t reconcile the Iris from the past with the one in front of me. “I never would have expected.”

“I’m not the first girl who grew up in a super religious household who became a rebel,” Iris cracks a little smile.

I pause. “Okay, yeah, that…that makes sense. But why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s embarrassing.”

“It’s not at all, it’s just a part of your history. Who you are.”

Iris crosses her arms over her chest. “It’s not who I am. It’s who Iwas. And that’s the whole point.”

I don’t respond. I don’t want to say anything to spook her away. Despite all the questions swirling in my head, all the confusion, I remain calm and stoic.

I’ll listen. I’ll wait. Then, when the opportunity comes, I’ll act.

“I don’t talk about it because I’m embarrassed by her. I know I should be kind to her, the girl I was, but she made so many choices that I look back on with so much rage.”

I lean on the edge of my desk. “I assume you loved him.”

“I did. At least in the way an eighteen-year-old loves.”

I chuckle. “Sure.”

“Naïve. I was naïve. And my ex-husband… He wasn’t a good guy.”

“He was a boy.”

“Yes, but you couldn’t tell him that.” Iris shrugs off her coat. “I’m hot, is it hot in here?”

I start to respond, but Iris tosses her coat on the back of the couch and places her hands on her hips. Best not get in the way of a woman on a mission.

“I don’t like people knowing that at a time in my life I was going to be a homemaker. A stay at home mom. I mean, we got married and immediately started trying to get pregnant.”

I ignore the swell of possessiveness in my belly. “Don’t tell me you have a kid out there too?”

“No, no. If I did, I’d probably still be in Texas. Unhappily married. Or divorced still, but…” Iris rubs her temple. “I don’t want to think about that.”

Me either. For her sake more than mine. “So, what happened?”

“Nothing happened. Which was the problem. We just couldn’t get pregnant, and we were too poor for IVF, not to mention that was frowned upon in our community. And it was all my fault, of course. He wouldn’t get his sperm count checked or anything. It had to bemybody.”

“Fuck that guy.”

“Trevor.”

“No, seriously, fuck him. Misogynistic piece of shit who–”

“Trevor, just let me tell you the story.” She’s smiling, though.

I tilt my chin down. “And then I can talk about how I’d fight him?”

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