Page 3 of Dancing in the Rain

Something about the expression on her face made him pause. She wasn’t disappointed, and she was holding his gaze in a way that made him think she wasn’t bullshitting him, whatever this was about.

He tugged the sleeve of his long-sleeved T-shirt to glance at his watch. “I have five minutes.”

A lie. He had nowhere to go other than his house for Advil and an afternoon spent playing videogames.

“Fine.”

He gestured at a small table nearby. They moved over to it and sat. She had no coffee and he didn’t offer to buy her one. The coffee he sipped slid into his gut and lodged there like a burning rock.

“I know you don’t remember me,” she said quietly, her purse on her lap. “I barely rememberyou. We got drunk at a party one night and slept together. I knew your name was Drew and that was about it.”

No. No fucking way. No.

Drew closed his eyes.

“I’ll just get right to the point,” she continued in a low, steady voice. “I got pregnant.”

“Knew that was coming,” he said dryly.

Her forehead creased. “What? You did?”

“Honey.” He leaned over the table. “You’re not the first chick to think she can make bank by claiming a pro athlete knocked her up. Why do you think so many guys carry their own condoms and nondisclosure agreements around with them?”

Her lips parted and she gaped at him again. “That’s what you think this is?” She swiped a hand over her face then focused on him again. “Of course you think that’s what this is. I don’t blame you. Let me just set your mind at ease—I don’t want anything from you.”

“Then what the hell is this about?” Anger edged his tone, and he fought to keep from snarling the words.

“If you’d let me finish, I’ll enlighten you,” she said calmly. She sucked in a deep breath. “Yes, you have a nearly twelve-year-old daughter. Her name is Chloe and she’s awesome. She doesn’t know about you or that you’re her father. I didn’t know myself until a few weeks ago.”

“I’m supposed to believe I’m the father ifyoudidn’t even know it yourself? If you slept with a bunch of guys, what makes you thinkI’mthe father? Jesus.” He pressed his fingers to his temples, which were now throbbing even more. “This doesn’t make sense.”

This really couldn’t be happening.

“I didn’t sleep with a bunch of guys.” Surprisingly, she didn’t seem offended by his comment. “I slept with you. One guy. One time. We used a condom, because I was drunk but I wasn’t stupid. However, shit happens.”

“Fuck.”

“I’ve had over twelve years to accept it,” she said wryly. “Sorry, this is new for you. Anyway, I didn’t even know that you didn’t go to Notre Dame. I tried to track you down, but I couldn’t find you. Nobody else knew you. One of my friends said maybe you’d just been visiting someone that weekend.”

“I went to Boston University,” he said slowly. “Played hockey there.”

“I didn’t know you were a hockey player.” She met his eyes again. “I did know we were both freshmen.”

He remembered now, vaguely. He was pretty sure the team had only traveled to Notre Dame once that year. He’d gone to a party after the Saturday night game with a couple of teammates…

“I’m really sorry. Believe me, I’ve had many years to curse myself for doing something so stupid. This is a lot for you to handle in five minutes.” She gave a pointed glance at her watch.

“How did you find me?”

“It was a complete fluke, actually. I saw a picture of you in aSports Illustratedmagazine while I was waiting at the…doctor’s. Once I knew your last name and that you were a hockey player, it was pretty easy to track you down.” She paused. “I might not have done it, except…” She closed her eyes briefly.

Drew once more noticed how pale she was, blue veins visible at her temples, tendons in her neck standing out.

“I have stage four metastatic melanoma.”

Drew blinked, his body stiff.

“Like I said, I don’t want anything from you. Chloe and I have done fine. But…well.” Once more she met his eyes and this time they shone. Her chin lifted and her voice was steady as she said, “I’m dying. And since I have the chance I never thought I would, I thought I should do something about it before I’m gone. If you don’t want to know Chloe, that’s fine. It’s your prerogative. She doesn’t know about you, and if that’s what you choose, I won’t tell her.”

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