Page 49 of Deal Breaker
For a breathless moment, she just stands there, staring up at me, but she doesn’t walk away.
I reach out, slow but sure, and brush my fingers along her forearm. It’s feather light, barely there, but I feel her shiver under my touch. Her eyes close for a heartbeat and when they open, they’re softer. Warmer. I don’t kiss her. Not here.
“See you in the boardroom, Sinclair,” I say, voice low, pushing off the counter.
That’s enough for now.
NINETEEN
Landyn
The kettle whistles, sharp and shrill, but it barely registers through the thud of my heartbeat. It’s too early for this kind of adrenaline. But here I am—pacing my tiny kitchen, double-checking my bag, glancing at the clock for the fifth time in as many minutes.
Ford said he’d pick me up at 8 a.m. and drive us to Whistler. It’s 7:42.
“Landyn, sweetheart, you’re going to wear a groove in the floor,” my mom calls from the living room, her tone warm but amused.
I glance over to see her perched on the couch, coffee in hand, like this is just any other morning. Poppy’s curled up beside her, half-watching cartoons, half-singing to herself, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing in my chest.
“I’m fine,” I lie, shoving my charger into my tote.
“You’re nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“Of course you are,” she says, smiling into her cup. “It’s Ford.”
I freeze. “It’s work.”
“Mm hm,” she hums, unconvinced.
Two nights ago, I’d asked my mom if she and my dad would mind taking Poppy for a few days so I could attend the conference in Whistler. I didn’t want it to be too much for them, especially my mom, so I arranged to have Tessa take Poppy both afternoons to give them a break. I sat at her kitchen table when I asked, twisting my hands together like an anxious teenager asking for permission to stay out past curfew.
“Will Ford be there too?” she asked. I wasn’t surprised; my mom has always been direct. She also doesn’t shy away from sharing her opinion—whether it’s asked for or not.
“Yes, he’ll be there. It’s an important conference.”
She nodded, looking at me thoughtfully. “Seems like your paths have been crossing quite a bit since you came back to town.”
“He owns the company I work for, Mom. It would be hard for us not to see each other.”
“Landyn, I’m not going to tell you what to do. But I do think you need to be honest with yourself. You’ve kept Poppy from him even now that the two of you are living in Deep Cove. Is that still about protecting her? Or is that about fear?”
Her words landed like an anchor in the pit of my stomach. When I made the decision to leave here, I did it to protect my child. I was protecting Ford too. I found out I was pregnant and panicked. Not just about the baby, but about Ford, about what it would mean for him. He had dreams. Big ones. He was working like hell to build something out of nothing; to prove he wasn’t his father. To give him and his brothers the life they all deserved. And kids? He wasn’t even sure he wanted them. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
So, I left. At first, it was just for space. To think, to breathe, to figure out what I was going to do.
But one day turned into two, and two turned into weeks, and then… it was too late. I’d gone too far to turn around without shattering everything.
“It wasn’t easy, and maybe it wasn’t even right, but I made the best choice I could,” I reminded my mom, tears pricking my eyes.
She reached across the table, her hand warm over mine. “I know, honey, but you’re not that scared girl anymore, and he’s not the boy he was when you left.”
She agreed to watch P but not before giving me one more bit of advice: “You don’t have to have all the answers right now but if he’s going to be part of your life again in any way, you owe him the truth.”
I couldn’t meet her eyes after that, but I knew she was right. I need to tell Ford about his daughter.
But how? It’s all I’ve thought about for the past two days, my stomach in knots. I still don’t have an answer. I check my phone, hoping for some last-minute reprieve. Maybe Ford can’t make it after all. Maybe the entire thing has been cancelled.
