Page 102 of Her Greatest Adventure

“What did you and Ava bet this time?” I ask, swiping a blueberry muffin and sitting at the kitchen table.

He grins. “You know me so well.”

“I also know that mini cheese bagels aren’t going to get her to switch to our team. She’s a Hutton through and through.”

“Have some faith in your wife, son. She’ll stray from the dark side soon enough.”

My appetite spoils at the reminder. I stop picking at my muffin and set it aside. “She’s not my wife.”

Dad laughs, brushing off my comment as a terrible joke. “That’s funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny. There’s nothing funny about it.”

The mood shifts in an instant. Dad’s expression twists with confusion. I nod, answering the question he has to be repeating over and over in his head.

“It wasn’t real. Someone screwed with us.” The words taste sour.

“When did you find out?” is what he asks first.

“Yesterday.”

“How?”

He listens intently as I explain everything the lawyer told me on the phone. A vein pulses in his forehead, and I wince, familiar with what that means.

“Can we find out who did this? This is a cruel joke,” he huffs.

“I doubt it. That night is still blank for me. Addie too.”

“Shit,” he breathes, collapsing on the chair across from me. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t think I have many options here. Tell Addie and hope she doesn’t abandon ship?”

“She won’t abandon ship. But telling her is definitely the right move. Especially before someone else does.”

I swallow thickly. “Nobody else knows besides us, Braxton, Maddox, and the lawyer.”

He gives me a disbelieving look. “Did you forget who Adalyn is? It won’t be long until the truth weasels its way out to the public. You want to be on the right side of the reveal, Coop.”

He’s right. Shit, he’s too right. It’s easy to forget about the publicity that follows Addie when it’s just us. I’ve never spent too much time thinking about it, but I should have.

“I was going to do it yesterday as soon as I got home, but she was so happy it felt worse to tell her and take that away. Then I woke up this morning, and she was already gone.”

“Tonight. Do it tonight, whether you want to or not. Even if she’s happy. Trust me, she’ll appreciate the honesty more than anything.”

Nodding, I decide to open up completely.

“I got the university teaching job. I start at the end of August.”

Something deep and heart tugging flashes across his face as he swallows. “For real?”

“Yeah. For real. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was nervous, I guess. Didn’t want to jinx anything,” I admit.

Without saying a word, he crushes me in a tight hug. I shut my eyes, soaking in the moment.

“I’m damn proud of you, Cooper. I knew you would get the job. You’re my boy, after all. You’ve always accomplished everything you’ve set your mind to.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Relief rushes through me as the weight of carrying my secret slips away.

---