Page 123 of Dancing in the Rain

“Yeah.” He hesitated. He’d seen it, too. He wasn’t sure if he’d fucked up epically by having them meet Chloe…because now not only washegoing to be crushed when Chloe and Peyton moved to New York, his parents would be, too. And yet…as when he’d found out about Chloe’s existence…how could they live their lives knowing about her but never meeting her? He sucked in a long breath and said, “I went to see a lawyer.”

Peyton regarded him with a crease between her eyebrows. “Why?”

“About getting custody of Chloe.”

She stepped back, her eyes widening. She stared at him. Time stretched out. His gut tightened.

“Are you serious?” she finally asked.

“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m her father. Her biological father. I have some rights. I don’t know all the laws, but I did some research online. I talked to my lawyer about what I have to do.”

She still stared at him and his insides twisted even more. “You want to take her away from me?”

His jaw tightened. “No. That’s not what I want. But if you take her to New York,you’retaking her away from me.”

Her arms wrapped around herself as if she was freezing. “So you’re basically blackmailing me into staying here.”

“No! Jesus.” He shoved a hand into his hair. This wasn’t going well, but then, he hadn’t expected it was going to be easy. “I just want to keep her in my life.”

Her face blank, but her lips tight, she nodded slowly. “I understand.” She stood. Her chin lifted. “You can leave now.” She rushed to the door and flung it open. Cold air blasted in. “I’ll see you in court.”

“Peyton…come on. Don’t.” He moved toward her but she backed away, her eyes sparking.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me. Just get out.”

His jaw locked. “Could we talk about this?”

“No! I’m not giving her up!” She fought to keep her voice low so Chloe wouldn’t hear. “Sara made me her guardian. That was what she wanted!”

“That was before I was in the picture.”

She glared at him. “She didn’t change her mind after you came into the picture.”

He swallowed. “I know, but…”She hadn’t had very long.He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. “She asked me if I would have a relationship with Chloe, if she wanted. So I think she wanted that, too.”

Peyton’s lips parted. “Please leave.”

“Fuck.” He cast one last miserable glance at her, her mouth set in a stubborn line, her eyes narrow, her posture stiff and unyielding. “Come on, Peyton. You’re going to take her away from her home and her school and her friends…and me. Are you so fucking focused on your precious career that you can’t see what you’re doing?”

Her eyebrows pulled down and her hand went to her throat.

“You’ve got your whole life planned,” he snapped. “So much that you can’t adapt when something changes.”

Her eyes widened and the flash of hurt in them made his heart stab.

“Well,” she said in a tight voice. “Youdidn’thave your whole life planned, andyouweren’t doing such a great job of adapting whenyourlife changed.”

He narrowed his eyes as he received the shot with another spasm of his heart. Then he turned and walked out the door.

It shut behind him with a bang and he stood on the veranda for a few seconds. Anger heated his blood and his hands curled into fists. Dammit. Why wouldn’t she just fucking listen to him?

He had a right to have his daughter in his life. Yes, he knew that Sara had made Peyton Chloe’s legal guardian, but it was true that there hadn’t been time for her to change her mind about that after she’d found him. If she’d lived longer and he’d spent more time with her and with Chloe, she would have wanted him to be involved in Chloe’s life.

Wouldn’t she?

Peyton’s direct hit about how he hadn’t been adapting to life after hockey was like a knife in his gut, twisting. The doubts that had been eating away at him since he’d had to retire reared up again.

Fuck.

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