Page 6 of Make Your Save

“Hadley...” My voice trails off for a moment, my heart pounding erratically in my chest as I see whatshe’s holding. It’s a baby. A whole-ass tiny human. “What’s going on?” My eyes widen slightly as I realize that it might be hers. “I didn’t know you had a baby.”

Her nostrils flare, her slender throat bobbing as she swallows roughly, blinking back the moisture that coats her eyes. “I don’t,” she chokes out the words, shaking her head at me as she holds out a small stack of papers. “But you do.”

My heart flatlines in my chest, my airway instantly constricting. “No,” I argue, my head moving back and forth. “That’s not possible. I—I don’t have—” I pause, the words dying on my tongue. There’s no fucking way. Not a goddamn chance. I may not be a saint, but I’m always careful. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but you have to take it back to the hospital.”

“Rowan, I can’t,” she whispers, her eyes searching mine. Devastation along with perturbation engulfs her expression. “If I take her back, they’re going to think I tried to steal a baby.”

“Okay, I’m sure if you explain whatever the hell happened, they will under?—”

She pushes the papers closer to me. “Please, just look at these, Rowan,” she pleads, her face on the edge of crumbling. I’m reluctant to take them, but I do it anyway. I’m trapped in a state of shock and denial and honestly...I don’t know what the fuck is even going on in my mind right now.

It’s like everything moves in slow motion. Hadley watches me, cradling the small infant in her arms as I look at the things she handed me. First is a picture of me, but it’s not one someone would have gotten fromthe media. My mind starts reeling and I remember where it was taken. It was a party that I went to with Carson for his cousin’s thirtieth birthday.

I flip over the picture, reading the note scrawled in perfect cursive writing.

Rowan Taylor is her father. He can give her a better life than I ever could.

I’m sorry.

There’s no fucking way. This has to be a joke or some kind of a ploy for money or something. I drop the photo onto my lap, my eyes scanning the birth certificate. Lucille Maeve Taylor. Almost three weeks old. She gave this little girl my last name without me even knowing of her existence.

Hell, there’s no proof she’s my child. Any name can be written on a birth certificate.

I look at the mother’s name and it instantly jogs my memory.Selena Mackey. My stomach sinks as I play over that entire night, remembering the brunette I ended up talking to. We barely exchanged names, played a few drinking games together, and then I ended up fucking her in their laundry room because we didn’t have a chance to make it to a bedroom.

Fuck.

I glance at Hadley, the emotion welling in her eyes palpable as I swallow past the lump lodged in my throat. My eyes drop back down to the baby, nausea rolling in the pit of my stomach. She can’t be mine. Thedetails of that night are hazy at best, but I’ve never made a mistake like that before. I’ve always been careful to make sure shit like this didn’t happen.

Letting the birth certificate float onto my lap, I look back at the envelope with my name written across it. I slip my finger along the seal, tearing it open before pulling out a perfectly folded white piece of paper. There isn’t a single crinkle in it and my breath catches in my throat as I slowly unfold it, unsure of what I’m about to find inside.

Rowan,

I don’t know where I should start, but I suppose saying sorry is probably a good place. I should have called you when I first found out I was pregnant. Springing this on you isn’t right, but I also know me keeping the baby is equally not right.

When you and I met, my life was a mess—it still is. I had just gotten out of a shitty situation, but I was using pills and alcohol to numb the pain. When the morning sickness started, I thought it was just my body unable to handle the things I was doing to it.

And then I found out I was pregnant.

I hadn’t planned on telling you aboutany of this because this isn’t something I ever wanted. My sister took me to the clinic for an abortion, but I couldn’t go through with it. I never wanted a baby but the thought of living with that on my conscience was too much to bear.

My entire pregnancy was spent teetering on the edge of whether or not I should keep her. Whether or not I could ever be a fit enough parent to raise another person.

When Lucy was born, I knew I couldn’t. I knew this is not for me and she deserves a shot at a real life. A chance with a loving parent who can give her everything and you can do that for her. You can provide for her in ways I will never be able to.

I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you.

I just want her to have a chance at a good life.

I’m sorry.

Selena

I’m barely breathing as I read over the second to last sentence three separate times. My heart barely movesinside my chest, although I can hear the sound of my blood racing through my veins, whooshing past my eardrums. My palms sweat and the muscles in my jaw hurt from clenching my teeth.

Slowly releasing my jaw, I suck in a breath, turning my head to look at Hadley. “This is some kind of a joke, right?”

Hadley’s lips part, discontent encapsulating her facial features. “I don’t know,” she admits, her voice gentle. “I was going out for my break and found the baby with those things. I didn’t read the letter.”

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