Page 84 of Falling Stars

I shake my head. How did I think this man was charming? I hope I never have to see another nasty cup of chewed-up tobacco again.

Vera, who’s bouncing Leo in her arms, brings him to me. I try to keep my voice steady. “What do you want, Sean?”

“Can we go talk for a bit?” he asks as he smiles down at Leo.

“I have a business to run.”

Over his shoulder, Vera mouths, “I can watch things. Go ahead.”

Annoyed that Sean’s ruining my afternoon, I reluctantly agree. “Fine. I have ten minutes.”

We walk down to the park around the corner. Because it’s rush hour, everyone’s out and about, and I swear we pass half the town. Awesome. I love being the center of gossip.

“Hi, Baylee,” Estelle Dutton of Darling Divas shouts as though we’re friends. “Sorry to hear business isn’t great.”

Business is fine, and she knows it. I hold up my middle finger and smile sarcastically at her. My mother would be mortified, but I’m out of fucks today.

Sean’s head whips back and forth between me and my nemesis. “Who’s that?”

“The co-owner of Darling Divas.”

“What’s that?”

“Doesn’t matter.” If he doesn’t remember the half-dozen conversations we had about that woman, it’s not worth wasting my breath.

I march toward a grassy area in front of the courthouse that has several picnic tables. The sidewalks are busy, but there aren’t many people in the park. I sit with Leo in my lap and wait for Sean to join me.

He settles a foot away and turns toward me. “How have you been, Baylee?”

“Great, Sean. I love being a single mother and doing everything by myself.” Granted, I’ve had help recently from Maverick, but if it weren’t for him, I’d still be drowning.

He flinches like I struck him. “I know I really screwed up. I want to apologize.”

“And how does Giselle feel about you being here today?”

“Dunno. We broke up.”

“So you thought you’d check out how your backup girl is doing?”

“I’m sorry. None of that was fair to you. If it’s worth knowing, I regret everything.”

The misery on his face melts away some of my anger. I blow out a breath. I’m tired of being angry with my ex. “I guess… I guess you can’t help who you fall in love with.” God knows I tried to get over Maverick for years.

“I suppose there’s no chance of you giving me another shot, huh?”

“Because you’re the father of my child, I’ll forgive you for how you treated me, but I’m not ready to forget how you treated Leo. And no, I’m not interested in dating you again.”

“But we could be a family. Isn’t that worth taking a chance?” he asks as he grabs Leo’s little hand.

My son not only doesn’t smile at his father or coo, but worse, he starts to cry. I turn him away from Sean so that he’s nestled at my shoulder. I pat his back and he settles down. “That’s not the kind of life I want to live, and neither do you. I want someone who loves me, someone who picks me first, Sean. You didn’t. So, no, I’m not interested in going down that road again. We can co-parent, but that’s it.” He starts to argue, but I hold up my hand. “Do you want a relationship with Leo?”

“Of course.”

“Then show up. And if you start dating someone next month, do me the courtesy of not bringing some rando around our kid until you know it’s going to work out.” Am I being a hypocrite hanging out with Maverick? Maybe. But I carried my son for nine months, and that should buy me some flexibility. Plus, I’ve known Maverick my whole life.

Nodding, Sean pats our son’s back. “Does he need anything? Do you need money?”

I debate how much to tell him, but I want to get everything on the table. “I’m not sure you heard, but my house was vandalized.” I leave out the other creepy stuff because talking about it freaks me out a little. Fortunately, I haven’t had more hang-up calls or notes on my car.

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