Page 40 of When Love And Destiny Collide

"Go ahead, Dad," I say, meeting his steady look. "Tell me what you're thinking. I’ll listen, but it won’t change anything. Noah and I are in love."

"In love?" He repeats the words like they’re a bad punchline. "You have no idea what love is. You're innocent, and he's taking advantage of that—using your inexperience for his own gain."

Well, he certainly didn’t hold back. "Dad, you don’t know him. It’s unfair for you to pass judgment on someone you’ve never even met."

"He's a forty-year-old man wanting to—" he stops in mid-sentence, leaving me to imagine the rest.

"Noah has been nothing but a gentleman. He’s a good man, Dad, and you’ll just have to trust that I know how to judge his character because I know him. You don’t."

"What does the mother of his son think about all this?" he asks. "I can't imagine she’d be thrilled about a woman half her age raising her child."

"Dad, I’m already raising her child," I point out. "I spend all day, every day with Davey."

"You’re taking on a life and a responsibility that don’t belong to you, Mija."

I take a moment to consider his words before responding. "It’s what I want, Dad. I want Noah and I want Davey in my life. It’s the life I choose, and what you call responsibility, I call a blessing and an honor. I love them. I love them both."

Putting feelings into words, feelings that have been growing in my heart for weeks, makes me realize just how far I’m willing to go to protect what Noah and I have built—and the future that awaits us.

"Have you told him about your accident?" Dad asks, pulling me back from my thoughts. "Because once he knows you can’t give him more children, he’ll dump you."

"Dump me? Dad, sometimes your words can be so harsh."

"I’m sorry, Mija, it’s the language barrier," he laughs nervously.

"I’m sure it sounds just as cruel in Spanish," I reply, my tone devoid of amusement.

"Well? Have you told him?"

"Yes, I told him. He doesn’t care that I can't have children. He loves me, Dad."

"Oh, Mija. At your age, it’s so easy to trust a man when you’re infatuated with him."

"So when Mom met and married you, was she justinfatuated?"

"You make a valid point," he concedes, "but your mother wasn’t half my age when we met."

"You're so focused on our age difference that you're missing the most important point I’m trying to make. He. Loves. Me."

"Is your daycare open for business yet?" he asks, shifting the subject from Noah and me to something that won't start a fight.

"Enrollment begins next month," I say, "and the doors will open the day after Labor Day, on the first day of school."

"I would love to see what you've done with the space," he says. “The last time I came to see you, you showed it to me, but it was hard to picture what you had envisioned for it."

"It's perfect!" I exclaim, my voice brimming with pride.

"I can hardly believe you’ve accomplished so much on your own," he says. "I’m so proud of you."

Dad doesn’t spell it out, but what he means is that I’ve managed to start a business without touching a single penny from my trust fund—the one I can’t access until I turn twenty-five or get married, whichever comes first.

"I can't wait to give you a tour," I smile. "Maybe after you get settled in at the house."

***

"Lily!" Davey exclaims, running to greet me at the door with Lisa close behind.

"Hi, Davey!" I say, lifting him into my arms. "Thank you so much for watching him, Lisa."

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