Page 23 of Grumpy Ex's Secret Baby

“If it weren’t for Trinity, I wouldn’t even consider asking for his help, but she’s involved, and I need to do what it takes to protect her.”

“Then talk to Tyson.”

“What’s his life been like in the last four years? I know you said a little bit about him living in a van. Is that where he still lives?”

“No. He has a pretty nice condo and a couple of vacation homes throughout a few different countries. Other than that, though, my lips are sealed. I’m rooting for you two to figure this out because I want a relationship with my niece, but I’m not going to play the middleman.”

“I had to try,” I said with a shrug.

Leigh laughed and shook her head. “You did try. Now, tell me everything you can about her. Do you have pictures? I don’t want to waste another moment not knowing anything about her life.”

“It’ll take me a minute to get the album I have.”

“I’m not going anywhere for the time being. I want to get to know you and her. You’re family.”

Tears gathered in my eyes as I wrapped her in a tight hug. Leigh laughed, sniffling as she hugged me back.

“Everything is going to be okay. You have more family now,” she whispered, hugging me tighter. “We’ll deal with this stalker situation and make sure you guys are safe.”

“I’m glad you came here today, Leigh. I’m sorry that I kept her from you.”

Leigh pulled back from the hug and wiped away her tears. “You did what you thought you had to do to keep your daughter safe, healthy, and happy. Even if I disagree with how you went about it, I would never fault you for that.”

“I’m going to get that album now and get you all caught up.”

Later, as Leigh and I flipped through the album and talked about Trinity, one of the pieces of my heart that had been missing seemed to click into place.

10

TYSON

Mostofthenighthad been spent wide awake, on a call to Leigh, trying to work through all my frustrations with Haley. I thought that if maybe I talked it out, I would be able to see something that I hadn’t about the situation. I thought there would be some magical solution just waiting for me to stumble on it.

The conversation only made me more frustrated. Leigh had been her rational self and told me more was going on than I understood. That I couldn’t possibly understand everything about Haley’s perspective because I wasn’t Haley.

I hated to admit that Leigh was right.

There would be no truly understanding Haley’s perspective because I wasn’t her. Even though I had been by her side every single day, first as a friend and then as a boyfriend, there was no way I would understand what she felt.

She had done what she did because she felt she had a reason to keep Trinity away from me. That bothered me more than anything.

Even now, as I walked through a town, I barely recognized, I hated how much I still loved Haley. I hated how she made me feel and how I wanted to understand her.

I hated the way being with her was as easy as breathing.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, stepping into a little café to grab a coffee before walking down to the laundromat. Roy was outside having a cigarette while a demolition team was ripping apart the inside.

“How’s it been going in there?” I asked, nodding to the large window along the front of the building. “They look like they’ve nearly got the interior gutted.”

“I still think that new machines are a bit much. There’s nothing wrong with the machines I’ve got,” Roy said, though there was a relaxed look to his expression that hadn’t been there when we first started discussions to buy his business.

“Those old machines were ten years old.”

“Still nothing wrong with them.”

I grinned and took a sip of my coffee. Going into the remodel, I knew that Roy would give me a hard time. He had always been like this. He was resistant to change at best.

“I’ve got to go talk to the sheriff, but I’ll be back later to go over the tile samples and paint with you.”

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