Page 51 of My Song for You
“How are you planning to tell Logan?” Nolan asked.
Logan was still laughing at the puppy’s antics, oblivious to the conversation about him and his future.
“I have no idea, but I’ll have to tell him at some point.”
“I wouldn’t tell him yet,” Hailey said. “Spend more time with him. Be father and son. Show Callie that you’ll be the kind of father Logan deserves. And once you tell him the truth, give him time to adjust before you remove him from the only home he’s known…especially since Callie won’t be a major part of his life anymore. Think about whatheneeds over what you want.”
Hailey’s words were like a knock to the head. No wonder Callie had looked so panicked. It wasn’t because she’d been caught in a lie. Her life would be torn apart all over again, and this time I was the one responsible for her pain.
Chapter 22
Callie
It was official. My butt was numb from sitting on the bathroom floor for so long. How long? God knows. But long enough for everyone to wonder if I had an exotic gastrointestinal disease that required a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom.
A knock on the door interrupted my pity party for one. “Callie, are you okay?” Jared asked.
Define “okay.”“Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute.”Or a hundred and fifty.
“Can I come in?”
“I’m busy.”
“On the floor?”
And that was what happens when you had a pity party on the floor next to the door. At least if I had enjoyed it from the toilet seat, I could have easily pulled off the GI disease excuse.
Knowing he wouldn’t leave until I let him in, I reached up and unlocked the door. Then I scooted out of the way.
He entered and lowered himself onto the cold tile floor next to me. “Comfy?”
“Very.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been an ass. I guess I was in shock, but that didn’t give me the right to act that way.”
I sniffed. “You’re right. You were an ass.” And a few other names I could think of that would’ve shocked my mother, had she still been alive.
He let out a sharp breath, as if gathering his thoughts. “When she first told me she was pregnant, I did what any other twenty-one-year-old guy would do—I panicked. I had goals and they didn’t involve a baby, at least not yet. But the truth is that even though I didn’t love your sister, I would’ve been there for her and our child. I would have loved our child. Things would have been challenging, but I’m positive we would’ve figured it out.
“But then two days later she told me that she couldn’t go through with it. She had aborted the baby. She hadn’t even talked to me first. She told me it was her choice and I had no say in it. I was angry. I called her a selfish bitch. I said all kinds of things I shouldn’t have.”
I fiddled with the wet tissue in my hand, unsure what to say. Did I think my sister was a selfish bitch? Far from it. She had been the sweetest, most generous person that I knew.
“She did what she believed was best for you and your unborn child,” I told him.
“Right, she did,” he said. From his tone, it was clear he believed that as much as he believed in Santa.
“If she’d known the kind of father you would’ve been, the father I’ve seen you be with Logan, she would’ve done everything differently.” If only she hadn’t been so blinded by her own insecurities when it came to Jared! Things could’ve been so different, and she might still be alive.
The disbelief in Jared’s tone settled on his face. He shifted slightly, his arm brushing mine. A hum buzzed through my body, radiating from that spot. I gasped softly, but not enough for him to realize what his touch did to me. He never needed to know that.
He pushed himself up and held his hand out to me. “We should probably go back outside, before Logan wonders what happened to us.”
I barely managed to ignore the tightness in my chest as Jared pulled me up to stand. My legs were a little wobbly from sitting on the floor for so long, and I stumbled.
Jared placed his hand on my hip to steady me. His fingertips slid under the hem of my T-shirt and brushed against the skin just above the waistband of my jeans. The nerves between my legs perked up. I was surprised they remembered what to do after the past three years of my self-inflicted celibacy.
“So when are you telling him?” I asked.
