Page 76 of Single Chance

“And boys… The one time he got me to admit I had a crush on someone, he told me I’m too young and I should forget boys until I’m thirty.”

I held in a laugh.Iknew that was Chance being a protective, loving father, but I could see how that might not land right from Sam’s perspective.

I pressed my lips together and pondered what to say. “Dads don’t want their daughters to get hurt. Ever. But that was a total dad comment. I can see why it would make it hard to talk to him about boys.”

“Not hard. Impossible. I messed up and told him Cody Billings tried to get me to drink beer, and my dad got this look in his eyes like he wanted to murder Cody. Which honestly I would support because Cody is a creep and a jerk.”

“Therearea lot of those in high school,” I said.

“Tons of them,” she agreed.

I set my fork down and took a drink, figuring out so much about this father-daughter relationship in just a few short minutes. Maybe I could help Chance understand how he came across without betraying Sam’s confidence. I didn’t want to be in the middle, but I wanted them to have a better relationship.

As I put my glass down, I said, “The one thing I know for certain is that your dad loves you a lot. He might bumble like boys do, but you’re the most important person in his life.”

“Now he’ll have two kids,” Sam said evenly. “I was pissed at him when I found out about you being pregnant.”

“That must’ve been really hard to hear. I will say this. Your dad’s biggest concern the whole time I’ve known him is you. He loves you to the moon and back.”

“I know.” She scraped melted cheese off her plate with her fork.

“It’s still okay to be mad,” I said. “Your emotions are your emotions.”

“I don’t think I’m mad anymore.”

“Yeah?” I asked, encouraged but afraid to say the wrong thing.

“Kinsley and I have talked a lot.A lot.”

“Girlfriends are the best,” I said.

“Her little sister is barely two, and she’s adorable. Kinsley loves being a big sister and—” She whipped her head toward me. “Wait. Will I be able to be in your baby’s life?”

“I was hoping you’d want to be,” I said. “You’ll be family.”

She seemed to consider that as she continued to focus on cheese scraping.

“I don’t have any family left,” I continued. “I’d love my baby to have a big sister like you.”

“We’d make a weird family.”

“Unconventional,” I corrected. “Different, but who cares? Family’s everything, whether it’s blood family or found family.”

“Found family.” She nodded pensively. “I like that. It’s really only my dad and me. My mom’s parents died before I was born, and my dad’s parents… We don’t talk to them very often.”

I so didn’t understand that whole dynamic, but if Chance’s parents were too blind to see what a wonderful person their son was, that was their loss. And how could they not want to know their granddaughter better?

“That’s too bad,” I said.

She shrugged. “I figure if they don’t want to be in our lives, we’re better off without them.”

“It’s their loss.”

“It’s sad that your grandma won’t meet your baby. She sounds like the type who’d be excited about a great-grandkid.”

“She would’ve loved this baby so much.” I put my hand on my belly, my eyes tearing at the thought.

“I’m sorry,” Sam said. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

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