Page 43 of Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars (Rock Canyon, Idaho 2)

“Who’s his father, Gemma?”

She looked up and met his gaze, and he knew the answer by the tears in her eyes.

“You are.”

Chapter Eleven

* * *

“HE’S MINE?” TRAVIS hi

ssed, and Gemma saw his muscles shaking like he was about to erupt. His eyes were wild, and in the eerie streetlight, he looked almost purple. “Mine!”

Gemma winced at the harsh pain in his voice. “Yes, yours.”

“How?” His tone was biting, and she saw his jaw clench.

Gemma’s smile was nervous. “The usual way.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his hands roughly driving into his hair until the short curls were mushed. She bit her lip, trying to fight down her flight response to his restrained anger. She had to face the music and deal with Travis or she’d just be proving her dad right.

“I couldn’t,” she said, wrapping her arms around her body. “I didn’t find out until you were on the road, already launching your career. That was why I came to see you in Phoenix, to tell you, but I just kept thinking, ‘All he’s ever talked about is music, and I’m about to crush his dreams.’ You were starting this whole new chapter of your life, and despite what I thought had happened between you and that woman, I loved you, more than anything, and I wanted your happiness. I didn’t want you to hate me.”

“And you not telling me had nothing to do with punishing me for what you thought had happened between me and her?”

“You have every right to be angry, but please believe me; I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was trying to protect myself and my baby,” she said, her voice wavering at his outraged expression.

“By keeping my son from me? I never would have hurt you!”

“Not purposefully, but you were gone, Travis. There was nothing holding you back from your life but me. You had been given so many raw deals; I just wanted you to have your dream.”

Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her gently. “I loved you. I would have taken care of you both! I would have married you, Gemma. I would have provided for you.”

Pulling away from him, she snapped, “I’m sure you would have, financially. But you would have been on the road the rest of the time. You forget—I’ve been reading about your exploits for ten years.”

“That’s no excuse! You kept my kid from me because you were worried about me fucking around on the road? That wasn’t your call.”

“It was a valid concern, but I was also a kid, Travis. I panicked. I had so many reasons why I couldn’t tell you, and I made a decision that I thought was for the best. It wasn’t like you didn’t agree at the time. Ten years, Travis? In the ten years since I broke up with you, I haven’t heard boo from you,” she said.

She saw a flicker of what looked like regret pass over his face before he took on a defensive stance. “Are you seriously putting the blame on me? It’s my fault you didn’t tell me you were pregnant?”

Gemma heaved a sigh. “No, of course not. It was my decision, and mine alone.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Where is he?”

“He’s away at camp until next week.”

“Okay. I need some time to process this,” he said, turning away from her and walking to his truck. She jumped when he fired it up, spinning the tires as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Gemma walked to her own car door, but her hands were shaking so bad, she could hardly grip the handle. So many scenarios ran through her mind, ways she could have handled things better, but it was too late now.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

GEMMA WAS SO tired of feeling like shit. With the hangover from the weekend, the lack of sleep the previous night, and the stress, she was ready to have some Eternal Sunshine–style memory erasing crap done. She was just pouring a second cup of coffee when her cell phone rang. Pulling the black rectangle out of her pocket, she saw the caller ID for Camp Shoshone.

“Charlie?”

“Ms. Carlson, this is Roberta Wilson at Camp Shoshone. I’m calling because Charlie was in a fight this morning. As you know, we have a zero-tolerance policy regarding violence, so I’m going to need you to pick him up.”

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