Page 161 of Sugarloaf Ridge Lies

A growl emanates from Jerry. “Don’t tempt me, fucker.”

“Jerry, go inside,” I order.

His dark eyes swirl with uncertainty as he drops his arms to his side.

“Please,” I add with a weary smile.

Jerry gives a slight nod and storms inside. The screen door slams.

I take a second to compose myself before turning to the man in the suit. It seems like a lifetime ago since that night. It was a different place, then. Things have changed so much.

“Why are you here?” I finally ask.

He raises his pale brows. “Is it mine?”

My voice caught in my throat, I motion towards the new timber park bench to the side of the garden path leading to the porch. The rich scent of his aftershave suffocates me as we sit, my sense of smell now more heightened. It transports me back to that night, stirring an unsettling feeling in my gut.

The afternoon sun aims at me like an interrogating spotlight. “How did you find me?”

He casually leans against the timber, placing his closest arm on the back of the chair. “A friend of yours was asking about me. I got wind of it and looked her up.”Steph.

“I’d asked Steph to try to locate you. Get your contact details so we could talk.”

He licks at his lower lip and slips his sunglasses on. “When I checked her out on Facebook, I stumbled across your profile, a photo of you, clearly pregnant. I did the math. I messaged you. You never responded.”

He did?

“I-I never got anything from you. Still, you found me?”

“You shared the Logan Lavender page. Put two and two together. Figured this was the kind of conversation to have in private.” He reaches for my hand, so I knit my fingers in my lap and sit farther down the chair, turning to face him.

“A heads-up would have been nice.”

He raises one brow. “Again, you didn’t reply.”

I straighten my spine and remember how he spoke about me moments ago. I might’ve sought his touch once, never again. “First of all,” I say, voice stern. “I don’t appreciate how you spoke to Jerry. I know we were both consenting adults, but coming here, throwing it in my partner’s face like that, it’s plain rude.”

“He practically came out swinging.”Nope. You would be looking second best if he did.

“And he would’ve laid you out if I didn’t stop him.”

He mumbles something under his breath that sounds like“redneck”.

I cock my head to the side and shake it. This conversation is going nowhere, fast.

He looks down to my stomach then back up to meet my eyes. “So again, I ask... Is it mine?”

A chill drives up my spine as I prepare to deliver the truth. I hope it will set me free of Kurt. “Yes. It’s yours.”

His jaw drops. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. I’m due December nineteen.” I’ll let him do the math.

He huffs out a breath, seeming to empty all the air from his lungs. He draws in a ragged breath. “Fuck. I’m gonna be a father?”

His cold stare softens, and his Adam’s apple bobs.

Oh, no, no, no.

Don’t look at me like that.

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