Page 42 of Single Chance

“Please. Can I help with something?”

“You sit. I got this.”

I tried to remember the last time someone had cooked for me, cared for me. Gram, sure, but it’d been years since she’d been able. Guys? No one came to mind. I’d had lots of short-term relationships. Christian was the only one I’d thought was more serious at the time. None of them had cooked for me.

Not that this was a relationship. Just a kind gesture. Or maybe just what he’d said—a way for us to talk in private.

“So you wanted to talk,” I prompted, thinking a lunch hour was hardly enough time to cover the complexity of our situation.

“Yeah.” He began slicing chicken into bite-sized pieces on a cutting board. “I stand by what I said Friday, Rowan.” He paused and looked at me. “I’m in this. We share responsibility for what happened, and that responsibility is a lifelong thing. Not just financially. I don’t know how we’ll make it work, but this child will have me in his or her life.”

“That’s important,” I said cautiously.

“You sound like you don’t believe me.”

I sorted through my thoughts and searched for the right words. Careful but sure words. “Your involvement is welcome, as long as you don’t have any ideas about taking this child away from me or trying to get full-time custody.”

He set down his knife and faced me again. “Have I given you the impression I’d do that to you?” He looked genuinely confused and maybe even…hurt?

“No. You seem like a good man determined to fulfill your responsibilities as a father. I just needed to be sure we understand each other. I’m the baby’s mother. I’m in a vulnerable position, trying to get back on my feet, but Iwillbe back on my feet. This baby is everything to me.”

Chance turned back to the food, dumping the chicken into a hot pan. “A child needs her mother,” he said with conviction. “I know this firsthand. I’m hoping we’ll be able to work as a teamsomehow. Being the only parent…” He shook his head. “Zero stars. Two thumbs down. I don’t recommend it. What that’ll look like for us? I have no idea, but all I meant to say was that I’ll be part of it. An active parent.”

I relaxed a little. “Okay.”

“Are you planning to stay in Dragonfly Lake long-term?”

“My career will dictate that to some extent. If I could get a position at the high school…” This fall was likely out, but next year I’d be ready to get back in the classroom. “I’m starting to love the town. I’d like to make it work.”

“This place is like that. It left an impression on me when I was a kid. I came back.” He busied himself prepping a salad while the chicken cooked. “That’s a long-term concern. More pressing is how we’ll handle work and town gossip. We’ll need to level with Holden and Chloe.”

“Of course.”

“Which means it’ll become common knowledge. Which means we’ll have our day on the gossip train. Can you handle that?”

I shrugged. “It is what it is. We had a fling. I won’t apologize for it.”

With a smile, he looked at me and said, “I like your guts.”

“We should tell our bosses sooner rather than later.”

“I agree, but first…”

“Your daughter,” I guessed.

“Yeah,” he said on an exhale. “That’s not going to be fun.”

“It’s a firsthand lesson on the odds of getting pregnant,” I said sympathetically.

“It is that. I haven’t had any relationships since her mother died. So she’ll have to face that her dad had sex, as well as the prospect of becoming a half sister.”

“That’s a lot to swallow at fourteen.”

“I don’t want her to hear it from someone else.”

“That would be bad.”

“I need some time to figure out how to break it to her.”

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