Page 54 of One Unexpected Gift

“I’m sure if your mother were alive she’d be proud.”

“Not of me keeping this from you. You’re taking it much better than I expected.”

“I’m still in shock. I have no idea what I’ll be like tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being... rational.”

He was tempted to reach out and touch his daughter but was afraid. Fear wasn’t a common feeling he possessed. Facing a four thousand foot alpine drop on unmaintained slopes, didn’t scare him. Dirt biking across a desert and taking jumps that could easily wreck his bike and shatter his bones, didn’t faze him. He didn’t bat an eye at rock climbing in Aspen without a harness or ropes.

Holding a baby—his baby—was another story. It was too soon. He needed time to process.

“I can’t promise I’ll be rational tomorrow.” He rubbed the back of his head, the ache spreading to his forehead. “I’m still in disbelief. Shock. When the adrenaline rush wears off it may be a different story. I honestly don’t know what to say. What to do.”

“I’m not asking or expecting you to do anything, Nick. Gabby isn’t your problem or responsibility.”

“Excuse me?” He leapt to his feet and paced the living room as Skylar had done earlier. It had calmed Gabriella down, maybe it would do the same for him. “She’s my daughter. Of course she’s my responsibility. And as far as a problem goes, I won’t think of her like that, I don’t think of her like that, and I’m insulted that you think so little of me that you think I think she’s a problem.”

There were way too many thinks coming out of his mouth, and he hadn’t a clue if any of them made sense, but she pissed him off with the insult.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect—”

“You didn’t expect me to take responsibility for my child because you don’t think I take responsibility for anything, do you?” Nick’s temper, something that rarely surfaced, boiled in his neck. “Tell me, Skylar. When you look at me, what do you see?”

She averted her gaze and rubbed Gabriella’s hand with hers. “I see... I see...” She turned the baby and cradled her in her chest. “You’re a good man, Nick.”

“Oh, that’s classic.” He barked out a sarcastic laugh. Her lack of words was more telling than if she’d lied to him. “I think you should go. We’ll... figure this out later.” His ears rang and he feared he’d say something he’d forever regret.

Nick avoided looking at the pink bundle in her arms. His daughter. Hell, he didn’t have the time or energy to deal with this right now. He needed to have his head on straight and not pounding like he got smacked by a two-by-four. No, instead he got smacked with a life that half-belonged to him. She wasn’t unwanted. Unplanned, yes.

But then, so was he.

***

Sky leaned on the vanity in Gina’s downstairs bathroom and played back the conversation she’d had with Nick. It had been forty-eight hours since he’d learned he had a daughter and he had yet to contact her. Part of her was relieved because she didn’t have a clue what to say to him, or even what she wanted from him. The other part of her was sad that he’d so easily dismissed them.

No, not easily. He’d been surprisingly calm. She expected him to go off the rails, to deny Gabriella was his or accuse her of setting him up. He did neither. Nick had been a consummate gentleman... until he’d kicked her out.

There’d been a sudden shift in his demeanor. She tried to play back what she’d said that set him off but couldn’t remember her words. He’d asked what her opinion of him was and she’d replied that she thought he was a good person.

Laughter from the other side of the door had her lifting her head and studying her reflection in the vanity mirror. The circles under her eyes had returned. After her first week in Maine, they’d lightened, thanks to her best friends helping with Gabby.

The past two nights of restless sleep brought back the purple bruising on her sensitive skin again. Knowing it was time to come clean with her sisters as well, she took in a deep, cleansing breath and left the bathroom. Gina and Charlie sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table while Brooke danced around the room with Gabby in her arms to the upbeat dance party music playing from the living room.

Olivia was at a friend’s house and Bryce went out with the guys. Sky wondered if Nick was part of the guys. She couldn’t keep her secret any longer. It wasn’t fair to her friends. Her sisters. She’d been lying, keeping secrets from them for too long.

“Grab a chair, Sky, and dig into the antipasto platter before Charlie eats it all.” Gina tapped the space next to her.

Sky plucked an olive from the tray and studied it as if it was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen. “Nick Pierce is Gabriella’s father.” She plopped the olive in her mouth and waited for the onslaught of questions, the gasps, the shock.

Swallowing the salty snack, she scanned the room realizing she was the only one in shock. Brooke still swayed with Gabby, a knowing grin on her lips, while Charlie nodded her head in agreement, like Sky hadn’t just dropped a bombshell on them.

She looked to Gina, who averted her gaze and stabbed an artichoke heart with her fork.

“Did you guys hear me?”

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