Page 55 of Reuniting with Lucy

Jack stared at her and shook his head.

“Seriously, it’s me.”

She looked exactly like Lucy, had blond hair now, and wore a “Drip” baseball cap, but he instinctively knew it was Lizzie. He stared silently until she broke.

“How’d you know?” Lizzie finally said.

He shrugged. “You…feel different.”

She studied him for an intense minute. “Ourparentscan’t even tell us apart,” she said.

“I don’t know what to tell you. I knew the second you walked in. What’s up? Why are you here?”

She raised a shoulder and gave him a chagrined smirk.

“Oh, so you’re like the closer or something? Lucy sent you to do her dirty work?”

“It’s not like that, Jack,” Lizzie said. “She needs some time before you guys talk again. She’s in a lot of pain.”

He sat up straight, instantly worried. “Is the baby okay?”

“I don’t mean physical pain. The baby’s fine. I mean, you hurt her. Again.”

He relaxed a little. “I overreacted about the baby news. That’s the reason I wanted to meet. I owe her an apology.”

“You’ve done some damage that won’t easily be undone,” Lizzie said.

He sighed. “I know. I don’t know what to do. I think I might be in love with her.”

“Sometimes love’s not enough,” Lizzie said. “Not if you ultimately want different things out of life.”

“Like marriage?” he said. “I tried that once. It didn’t turn out so well.”

“So, you’re gonna base the rest of your life on what one woman did or said to you? That seems extreme.”

“Hm. Well, and now there’s a baby in the mix.”

“Lots of women are single mothers. Lucy will be fine without you.”

“Without me? What do you mean? She thinks I’m just gonna walk away, like some asshole?”

“That was her take on your conversation yesterday.”

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I could see how she would think that. I was pretty upset. Said some things I shouldn’t have.”

“If you want to be a part of the baby’s life, she’ll work something out with you, for visitation and all that. If you want to wash your hands and walk away, she’ll deal with that too.”

“What about money?”

He’d seen the exact indignant expression on Lucy’s face yesterday. “Contrary to what you may believe, she doesn’t want money from you, Jack.”

“Whatdoesshe want?”

“That’s something you’ll have to talk to her about. When she’s ready.”

“What if I still want a relationship with her?”

“You can’t have a relationship without trust.”

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