Page 30 of In this Moment

Tony laughed at his enthusiasm. “I think we have an answer.”

The knot in her stomach twisted tighter. “Just wait a moment,” she said, trying desperately to stall as she wracked her brain for a reason why Jonah shouldn’t go with his father. Besides the fact that they’d just met, of course. Which, as far as she was concerned, was reason enough. But looking at her son and how excited he was to spend time with his dad, Evie knew that wouldn’t be a good enough reason for him. “I don’t think tonight is a great nightfor—”

“Oh Mom. Whynot?”

“Yeah, Evie. Whynot?”

She could have killed him right then and there. And if their son hadn’t been standing in the room, Evie might have done justthat.

Instead, she took a deep breath. “Because it’s such short noticeand—”

“Hey, Evie?” Declan called to her from the kitchen before poking his head into the living room. “Hi, Tony,” he addressed the other man. “Can I talk to you for a quick second?” he asked Evie and without waiting for an answer, ducked back into the kitchen.

“Let him go,” he said as soon as Evie joined him in the privacy of the kitchen. “Didn’t Russ say you should be cooperative?”

“There’s cooperative and then there’s—”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

The worst? The worst was that Jonah could…that he would enjoy spending time with hisdad.

The realization hit Evie like a brick. She didn’t want her son to enjoy spending time with his dad because that might mean he’d want to spend more time and then…she didn’t want to think aboutit.

“It’ll be okay, Evie.” Declan wrapped her up in a hug. “It’s a good thing that Tony wants to be a parent. Even if it took eight years. It’s good for Jonah.”

She couldn’t disagree withthat.

And she really didn’t think anything bad would happen. Even if she didn’t like him, Tony was a responsible adult. Jonah would be fine. And he’d have a little fun. And that was important.

“I don’t likeit.”

“You don’t have to.” Declan kissed her on the forehead in a move that was becoming more and more frequent. Even when no one was around.

She sighed and straightened her shoulders before she headed back into the living room to give her permission.

Judging by the whoop of joy from her son, she knew she’d made the right decision. But when Jonah gave her a quick hug and ran out to the car, she thought she might actually be sick. It wasn’t easy to watch her son leave. Even if it was with his father.

Maybe especially because he was with his father.

It should have made her heart happy to see how easily Jonah had opened up to Tony and accepted him into his life. It should have made her smile to see the light in his eyes when he talked about his dad after all these years. She’d raised a forgiving, easygoing son with a huge heart, and she’d done a good job making sure Jonah had no ill will toward his dad, who’d been largely absent for all those years.

All of those things should have made her happy.

But it washard.

Reallyhard.

One of the hardest things she’d ever have to do was stand there and talk to Tony as if her heart wasn’t breaking a little inside while they discussed the details of what time he’d be dropping Jonah off the nextday.

As was becoming the habit, Declan was there with his strong arms, a solid hug and his unwavering support. She let him hold her while they drove away and the cascade of feelings that were tied to the whole situation crashed throughher.

“If you don’t want to go for dinner tonight, that’s okay,” he said after a moment. “I understand if you don’t want to be around a bunch of people. We can do somethingelse.”

Dinner. She’d forgotten all about the family dinner. It was the last thing she wanted to do. Not because she didn’t like the McCormick family; she did. A lot. But the idea of spending the night trying to convince everyone they were engaged when all she really wanted to do was forget about the whole situation was toomuch.

It must have shown on her face, because even without Evie saying anything, Declan nodded. “I’ll go call Mitch and tell him it’s not a good night. They’ll understand.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Ijust…”

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