Page 41 of Inevitable
Emma looked confused. “How is that possible? You’re a retired veteran, and Last Hope is a volunteer organization.”
Hell, I knew I was going to have to share something with her that I hadn’t shared with another soul.
“I’m not retired,” I explained. “And I’ve been investing since the day I got my first paycheck from the military. Those investments have paid off extremely well. I also work for the US government. I’m a contractor on top secret operations. You’re the only person I’ve ever told about my job, and I’d prefer to keep it that way. Most of my work is done by computer, but I get paid well for it.”
“Are you a government hacker?” she guessed.
I shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s just say I gather intel and I’m exceptionally good at it.”
Emma held up a hand. “Okay, I get it. You can’t really talk about it, and I’m okay with that. I’m assuming it’s highly sensitive information.”
“Very sensitive,” I confirmed. “Lives depend on me keeping it to myself.”
She tilted her head. “Yet you just told me about it.”
“We have a child, Emma,” I said irritably. “You need to know that I’m not on a budget and unable to provide for Wren now and in the future.”
“She’s going to want you in her life, Colin,” Emma shared. “But she’ll understand if that isn’t something you’re prepared to do. I don’t even know if you’ve ever wanted a child.”
An hour ago, I would have said it wasn’t something I wanted.
Now that I knew I had a kid in the world, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted.
Hell yes, now that I knew Wren existed, I wanted to be in her life somehow.
“I’m not just going to walk away,” I admitted. “I have no idea how to be a father, Emma. I’m sure I’ll suck at it. I’ve never even interacted much with kids. It wasn’t something I ever wanted before, but I sure as fuck can’t pretend that Wren doesn’t exist.”
I wanted to be there for my child. I just wasn’t surehowto do that.
“She’s not a typical kid,” Emma said in a warning voice. “She’s kind of like a small, very intelligent adult in a teenage body. Her brain functions like an adult, but she still has teenage hormones and emotions. Just get to know her, Colin. She’s not going to expect you to instantly be her father. Honestly, she’s a lot like you. We’ll tell her together when she gets back from San Diego. I’d like to give her some time with her grandmother first if that’s okay. Wren has another two weeks there before she comes back to spend the rest of the summer with me. She looks forward to her time with my mom in San Diego every year.”
“That works,” I agreed. “I think you need some time to recover from the kidnapping, and I don’t expect her to change her life just because her father finally decided to show up.”
Hell, now that I knew that Wren existed, I wanted to meet her today. But my needs were secondary to what was best for Emma and Wren.
“I’ll fill you in on Wren’s past before you meet her,” Emma promised. “Just tell me what you want to know.”
“Start from the moment you knew you were pregnant and fill me in on what happened for the next fourteen years,” I requested.
Emma threw her head back and laughed.
Fuck!It was the first time I’d heard her laugh like that in years, and it made my gut twist painfully.
I’d loved her laugh so much that I’d done everything possible to hear it years ago.
“That’s going to take more time than we have on this flight,” she said once she’d recovered.
“We have time in Cherry Cove,” I said with a shrug.
I’d make time to hear about everything I’d missed over the last fourteen years.
For the first time in my life, Last Hope and my work wasn’t my priority. I knew in my gut that my regimented life was about to be turned upside down, and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt aboutthat.
Chapter 13
Emma
“We can do a paternity test if you want to know for sure that Wren is your child,” I told Colin later that night as we laid in my bed in my beach cottage.
