Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
I turned to her. “This is why you said you needed more time.”
Blair nodded. “Before I found you at the wedding, I’d resigned myself to the fact that you’d never know him. I wasn’t happy about that, but I’d accepted it.” She paused. “This? You being Taylor’s father? I don’t have a plan for this scenario, Tate.”
I still had so many questions. But those could wait. There was only one thing that mattered right now. I walked over to where Nicholas was playing, sat on the couch, and watched him. I soaked in every inch of him as Blair stood in a corner of the room and looked on.
His eyes were like saucers as he focused on adding a block to his structure without the rest toppling over.
Eventually I had to force myself away because there was still so much I needed to ask Blair, and I realized it was probably better to do that while his attention was on the toys.
I walked past Blair and into the kitchen. She followed.
“I need to know everything,” I told her, leaning against the counter. “From the very beginning. Tell me what happened after you got back from our trip, how you found out you were pregnant.”
“Well, I didn’t know I was pregnant right away. There was no reason to think that, because we were safe.” She shrugged. “It was a fluke. I didn’t know for almost three months. I hadn’t felt sick or anything. Just noticed I wasn’t getting my period, so I went for a test.” She exhaled. “Those first few months after I got home, I was mostly devastated about losing my phone. I spent those days really mad at myself—mad that I’d never asked you for your full name.” She shook her head. “Of course I didn’t know the half of it then. I wondered if the stress of losing you had caused me to skip a couple of cycles. It wasn’t until the third one I missed that I decided to take a test just to be sure.”
I had to force myself to breathe. “You’ve been out here all this time, raising my kid.” I let out a long breath. “Blair, this is…”
The right words escaped me. There were no words. I didn’t know whether to mourn all that was lost or celebrate. Never mind me, though. What about her?
“What happened to your plans?” I cried. “School. Did you graduate?”
Her gaze fell to her feet. “I dropped out. I’m only now finishing nursing school. I didn’t have that much longer to go, and I joined an online program recently to finish my degree.”
My chest constricted. This had impacted her life so profoundly. “After you found out, did you try to find me?”
She nodded. “First, I redownloaded the app, hoping you were still on there, but you must’ve deleted your account.”
“I did.” I sighed. “I figured you had my number and wouldn’t need the app to reach me.”
Blair continued, “I even enlisted Taylor’s help to get a roster of names from the resort—people who’d stayed there that week. But there was no Tate.”
Shit. Of course there wasn’t. “My name wouldn’t have been on there anyway, because I didn’t pay for my room the normal way. If there’s a room open, anyone in my family can take it without having to formally book it. So I wouldn’t have been on any official list.”
She chuckled. “Because you own the freaking place. If only I’d known that.”
“My parents own it,” I clarified. “And again, I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about me being entitled.” My thoughts felt like ping-pong balls. I could hardly contain them long enough to make a connection. “What does Taylor know about Nicholas’s father?”
“I told him I’d met an older guy on vacation. And I told him the guy’s name was Tate. He never seemed to suspect anything.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “Fuck.”
“Tate...” Blair murmured.
“Yeah?”
“I’m still processing this, too. I never thought I was keeping anything from Taylor. I didn’t know who you were until the wedding. I don’t want to be responsible for his pain any more than you do.”
I nodded. “I know. We have that in common.”
She ran her hands over her arms. “I’m still not sure we should tell him.”
For me, this discovery changed everything. I looked into her eyes. “He has a brother. He needs to know.”
She sighed. “He’s close to him already. Nicholas sees Taylor as an uncle. He and Juliana even babysat Nicholas once.”
I cringed. “Jesus.”
“I know.” Blair’s eyes welled up again.
I wanted to hug her, but it didn’t seem appropriate. Fuck. I still felt my heart beating for her. “It’ll be okay, Blair. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
She sniffled. “You really need to consider whether telling Taylor is the right idea before we make any rash decisions.”