Page 103 of Curveball

I wordlessly nod.

She rubs my face. “Are you okay, baby?”

I shake my head as tears sting my eyes. “No, I’m not. I hope I will be one day, but it won’t be anytime soon.”

“Still no word from him?”

“No. It’s over. I’ll be raising this baby alone. You did it. I’ll do it too.”

Tears drop down her cheeks. It’s very rare for June St. James to cry. “I wanted you to have a better life than mine.”

I rub her arm. “I’ve had a good life, Mom. I know I was unplanned, but I never felt unwanted or unloved by you. I hope to make my child feel as loved as you made me feel.”

She gives me a small smile of gratitude.

I shrug. “My father didn’t want me, just like Quincy doesn’t want our baby. I suppose it’s a bit of history repeating itself.”

She takes my hand in hers. “Ripley, your father wanted you. Very much.”

Tears now fill my eyes. I’ve never heard this before. “Will…will you finally tell me about him?”

She takes several deep breaths before beginning her story.Ourstory.

“Lucas Beaumont was the most beautiful man you could ever imagine. Both inside and out. You have so much of him in you. He had an innate genuine kindness that I know you got from him. The desire to make other people happy. It’s all from him.”

Tears drip down my cheeks at hearing the name of my father for the first time in my life and knowing there’s some part of him inside me.

“He was a politician and was assigned to oversee the Olympic team. We met about a year before the Olympics, and our affair started shortly thereafter. I say affair because he was married, not happily, but still married. I have a lot of shame over that.”

I squeeze her hand, letting her know she has my support, no matter what comes out of her mouth today.

“He was in a marriage of convenience. She came from a wealthy, influential Canadian family. His family all but forced them together for appearances. They lived separate lives privately, but publicly maintained a united front. I fell hard and fast. So did he. So much so that he was willing to leave her,even knowing exactly what the political fallout would be. I was puking my guts out at the Olympics. I thought it was nerves at first, but shortly after, I realized I was pregnant.” She smiles as if remembering something. “He was over the moon excited about it.”

She grabs my face. “You may have been unplanned, but you were wanted. You were loved. I promise that you were conceived in the purist love there is.”

I nod, too choked up for words.

“He told his wife he wanted a divorce, that he was in love with another woman, that she was pregnant, and he intended to marry me.”

She takes a deep breath before continuing. “His wife threatened pretty much every nasty thing you can imagine, but he didn’t care. We planned to build a life together in Toronto regardless of the damage to his reputation.”

“Why didn’t you plan to move out of Toronto? Away from the spotlight?”

She visibly swallows, clearly suffering with what’s about to come out of her mouth next. “He had two young children with her. A boy and a girl. He couldn’t move too far away.”

I suck in a breath. “I…I have siblings?”

She nods. “You do.”

“What happened? I don’t even remember him. I’ve never seen a picture of us together. Nothing.”

Her shoulders shake with sobs, and she briefly closes her eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look so pained. Eventually, she steels herself to continue our story. “He died in a helicopter crash a week before you were born.”

I hug her. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Mom.”

“A part of me died with him. I never truly got over the loss of my soulmate. That’s exactly what he was, my soulmate.”

“I’ve never seen the name Lucas Beaumont on anything.Why isn’t his name on my birth certificate?”

---