Page 121 of Against All Odds

Miles grins. “Violet, you can stay here for as long as you want. The idea of having to interview again is terrifying. If you want a job, you have it.”

And one more piece of my life clicks together perfectly.

“Of course he gave you the job,” Everett says as he’s messing with the fire that’s going out. “He knows I’d kill him if he didn’t, and he still owes me for hiring you.”

I roll my eyes as I put my book down. “Or, you know, it could be because I’m an amazing teacher.”

“That is absolutely the reason, babe. I’m just saying I’m an extra incentive.”

Yes, I’m sure that’s what he was saying. “Sure that’s what you meant. I’m getting tired. Are we staying at your house or mine?” I yawn as an added mark to the question.

He ended up staying later at the clinic today, which normally wouldn’t faze me in the least, but I cooked—and baked—so he came over to grab a plate, which led to him eating it, which then had us curled up on the couch together.

“Do you mind coming to my house?” he asks after finishing whatever he was doing with the fire. “Mom wants us to come for breakfast.”

I smile. “I’d love that.”

A few times a week we go to his mom’s for either breakfast or dinner. She came here yesterday, and Everett was planning totell her about the baby, but we both decided to wait, as she had a few really bad days over the last week.

Everett shifts so we are both sitting. “Might as well go now before you pass out on the couch and I have to carry you over there.”

The sad part is that is definitely a possibility. I swear, I can fall asleep anywhere.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” I say, as we both stand and I stretch. “I was sick again in the teachers’ lounge, and Miles guessed I was pregnant.”

“Did you tell him that it’s ... ?”

That it’s Dylan’s baby. I hear him finish the thought. I walk to him, resting my hands over his solid chest. “No. Dylan doesn’t want anything to do with him or her. His lawyer sent over paperwork asking to agree to dissolve his paternal rights, which means I’ll proceed with the divorce. All of this will be over soon. We’re still trying to figure all this out, and I don’t know what we tell people.”

He wraps his hand around mine. “What do you want to tell people?”

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to lie to our friends and family. I’m pretty sure everyone will assume the baby is yours. Everyone knows we’re together, and if you’re by my side, that makes it appear that way.”

“Other than the feeling of lying, is there something else that holds you back from telling people?” Everett asks, his eyes not moving from mine.

Sometimes it’s as though he can see right through to my soul. That he knows all my fears and insecurities, and it’s his job to ferret them out so he can fix them.

I have a lot of other things that hold me back in small ways. While I know that Everett is absolutely nothing like my ex, thefear of him finding me lacking is still there. It’s a lifetime of never feeling like anyone’s first choice.

It’s being made to be small, to fit in the box that others wanted me in.

But being scared and feeling it, working through it, is what’s going to make this work.

And, God, I want it to.

“I’m afraid that one day you’re going to leave. It’s not your problem, it’s mine, and I worry that this fear is always going to live inside of me. I hate that this is a part of me, and I promise I’m working on it. So to answer your question, I think I’m scared to tell everyone and then we don’t work out and ... then what? Do you tell everyone that the baby was never yours? Do I have any choice but to leave Ember Falls? This is your home. It’s your family and friends and ...”

He squeezes my hand, and I take two deep breaths before looking up at him. “There is no world where we just break up. I know what commitment looks like and it doesn’t scare me. You are the woman I’ve loved for the better part of my life, and if for some reason we choose to end our relationship, this baby will forever be mine.”

No one has intentions of their relationship ending.

I sure as hell didn’t enter my marriage thinking I’d get a few years out of it and we’d walk away. I watched a man go from being this sweet, loving, and attentive guy to the most egotistical asshole you can imagine.

People change, but I can’t hold the sins of someone else against Everett.

It’s not his fault, and he’s done absolutely nothing to warrant my mistrust.

“I know.”

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