Ace hummed in response. “So, do I get to see your pretty face sometime soon?” he asked. “Maybe this weekend?”
“I’m free tonight,” I blurted out. The truth was, I had been psyching myself up to this all week, and now I just wanted it to be over, one way or the other. Telling Ace the truth was frightening, but I knew that it had to be done, and the more I waited, the guiltier I was going to feel.
“Okay,” Ace said, sounding taken aback. “I’m free, too. Why don’t we go for dinner?”
“Sounds great,” I said. “Why don’t I come over to your place around seven, and we can go from there?”
“Sure,” Ace said. He still sounded a little confused, and I wondered if he knew that something was up. But it didn’t really matter either way. I doubted he was going to be able to figure it out on his own. If he was able to, he would have already done so. We would have talked about Ava a long time ago.
I spent the rest of the day puttering around my home office. The knot in my stomach got progressively worse, even though I’d already done my best to prepare for the worst that could happen. I just didn’t want to lose Ace. I wanted to pretend that this was just another date, that we were going to go out and have a good time and maybe end up kissing in his truck again.
But that wasn’t the way tonight was going to play out.
I was starting to wonder if I really had to do this, but I knew I did. I should have told him about Ava ages ago. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier.
Finally, it was time for me to head over to his place.
“Good luck,” Maisie said from the doorway.
“Thanks,” I sighed, accepting her hug of support. I bent down and kissed Ava good night. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay, pumpkin?"
“Okay, Mama,” Ava said, already wandering off to play.
I smiled after her, reminding myself that this was all about her. Ace needed to know the truth about her so that he could decide how he wanted to be involved in her life. It wasn’t fair for me to keep the two of them apart.
I knocked on Ace’s door and waited for him to answer. When he did, he pulled me into a quick hug. “Hey,” he said, but he seemed subdued.
I frow
ned, wondering if something had happened at work. “How was your day?” I asked.
“It was fine,” Ace said, shrugging. “Nothing unusual.”
That wasn’t exactly the response that I’d been looking for, and it didn’t really give me any way to build off it either. I shrugged to myself as we got in his truck. Maybe there was nothing off about him at all. Maybe I was just reading too much into it, misreading my own nerves as some weirdness of his. That could be it.
Shit, I was so nervous.
We went to a Japanese steakhouse, one that I’d mentioned wanting to try. I was surprised that Ace remembered it. But then again, he seemed to be filing away everything that I said to him. As though he was really in this for good.
I swallowed hard, hiding my face behind my menu for the moment as I tried to compose myself. We ordered our food, and I drummed my fingers against the table anxiously. I couldn’t think of a single thing to talk about other than the Big Truth: that Ava was Ace’s daughter.
But could I tell him that now, before we even had our food? I felt like maybe I should wait. If he was going to storm out and resolve to never speak to me again, we should at least have dinner first, right?
One last, sweet dinner together. Not that Ace was acting particularly sweet that night. He was still so distant. “Is something wrong?” I finally asked.
Ace jumped a little, giving me a guilty look. It was almost as though he hadn’t expected me to notice that there was anything off about him. But he wasn’t his normal talkative self, and he wasn’t trying to hold my hand like he normally would.
He shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said. I studied his face, but if he was lying, I couldn’t tell. I wondered if his military training had taught him to lie so seamlessly or if he had learned that skill back before.
I also wondered what had happened between our phone call and now that had soured his mood so considerably. Over the phone, he’d seemed excited to see me. Maybe a little confused when I suggested that we meet up tonight, but he’d still wanted to see me. He’d still agreed. I was racking my brains, trying to think of anything that I might have done wrong, but I kept coming up blank.
Maybe he was nervous, too. What did he have to be nervous about, though? I was the one who was about to tell him the huge news, that Ava was his daughter. I was the one gearing up for the fact that he was never going to want to date me again, not after this. Either way, he reacted, he wasn’t going to ever talk to me again, unless it was in court, through a lawyer.
I really hoped it didn’t come to that.
The air felt heavy with tension, though. For a long moment, we both just stared at each other. I was sure, now, that something was up with Ace as well. He wasn’t normally this quiet. He didn’t normally stare so seriously at me.
It was another excuse not to tell him: if he was already having a bad day, I didn’t need to heap this on top of him as well. But again, I knew that it was just an excuse. And if I didn’t tell him tonight, I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to get the courage up. There would always be another excuse.