Page 44 of Come Back for Me
“We can’t stay here.”
“Why?”
“Why?” I repeat. “Because . . . you’re a bachelor and you have this farm to fix up and I don’t think you need another broken thing to repair.”
Plus, being around him makes it hard not to see the similarities between him and Hadley. Keeping the possibility of him being her biological father to myself is wrong. He deserves to know. What keeps me from saying it is how I feel when I’m around him. I want to be close, rely on him, and these are dangerous thoughts for me. It’s impractical, and I worry that I’ll form an attachment to a man who I know is going to leave.
If it hasn’t already happened with him and Hadley.
But what if she’s his?
What if all the signs that point to it are real?
I have to tell him.
He shakes his head slowly. “I’m more than able to fix up this place with you both here, and I think you and Hadley feeling safe is more important than my being a bachelor. Do you feel safe with me?”
And that’s the craziest thing. I have never felt safer than when I’m around him. He’s strong, steadfast, and has stepped in when I needed him most. I trust him, and I barely know him.
It’s now or never.
I gather any courage I have and prepare to confess something that could forever change both their lives. “I do feel safe with you, and that’s the only reason that I have the ability to speak. Connor, I have to tell you something. Or . . . tell you that there’s something that is eating away at me.”
She’s the world, and he deserves to orbit around her as well—if it turns out that he’s her father.
“You can tell me anything.”
I sure hope that’s true because this might not go as I imagine.
“I found out I was pregnant with Hadley about a month after my wedding. I’ve always wondered . . . if maybe . . . she was . . .” I trail off, afraid to say it aloud. “There’s a chance that Hadley isn’t Kevin’s daughter.”
His gaze snaps up before moving to the door she ran out of and then back to me. “You think she could be mine?”
“I don’t know, but she has your eyes.” The admission falls from my lips as a tear drops from my lashes.
Chapter Fourteen
Connor
There’s a chance Hadley could be my daughter?
It isn’t . . . it can’t be . . . possible. Could it?
We made love so many times that night it’s hard to remember if we were careful each time. No, we were. I know I was.
“It was one night,” I say. “I wore a condom.”
“It was. But the timing of it all leaves the possibility. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking because she’s so wonderful and that night was . . .”
I don’t know what to say or think. If she is my daughter, I need to know. “How long have you wondered?”
“Since the day I found out I was pregnant.”
Jesus Christ. I could be a dad. I’ve been around Hadley all this time and hadn’t known I could be her father. I sit back, trying to wrap my head around it all.
What would’ve happened if I had come back? Would I have known then? Why didn’t I piece any of this as a possibility when we met? I’m a fool, and yet, there’s this hope inside me that she is mine.
“Why didn’t you try to find me?”
