She sits back in her chair. “Gage has a daughter?”
“Kristin,” I say her name. “She’s nine. Kristin is nine.”
“Nine?” Her brow furrows. “She was born before you two met?”
I nod. “He didn’t know about her until the day he broke up with me.”
She shoves a hand through her hair. “Wow. This is just…wow, Kate.”
My gaze travels past her shoulder to a framed picture of her and Sebastian on their wedding day.
Regret bites at me. I didn’t get to have that with Gage. I now know why but it doesn’t change what I felt back in those moments. I had to tell my parents, and the three hundred guests who had RSVP’d that there wasn’t going to be a celebration of the love that Gage and I shared.
“Is he married to the little girl’s mom?”
I turn my attention back to my best friend. “No. She lives in London with her husband and Kristin.”
Tilly pinches her bottom lip. “He told you all of this tonight?”
“He sent flowers to the store. I went to throw them in his face, but then he told me about his daughter.”
She inches the wooden chair she’s sitting in closer to me. “You must be in shock. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now.”
“Numb,” I say with a heave of my shoulders.
I don’t add that a small part of me feels relief; relief that I finally know what took Gage away from me days before we were set to say our I do’s.
Chapter 20
Gage
Staying home wasn’t an option after Katie left my apartment last night. I needed a distraction, so I slipped on a pair of shoes, grabbed an umbrella and took the stairs as soon as I heard the elevator doors close. I reached the lobby just in time to see her getting into the front seat of a police car.
It took off down the street. I hit the sidewalk to walk back to Tin Anchor.
By the time I got there, the place was packed so I jumped behind the bar to help Zeke. I served drinks and talked people through their problems until closing time.
When I got home, I dropped into bed, but sleep didn’t come for another hour or two.
I was restless. I couldn’t shake the look on Katie’s face when I told her about Kristin.
The ball is in her court now. Whether she volleys it back to me is completely up to her.
“You’re here earlier than usual.” Gus walks up behind me. “This brilliant blue sky was hiding behind those rain clouds.”
I look up at the rising sun. “It was worth it.”
“Storms are always worth it.” He brushes past me to sit on the bench. “Lois used to say that the darkest skies give way to the brightest days.”
“She was a smart woman.”
“You’re telling me?” He laughs causing the skin at the corner of his eyes to crease. “Why do you think I married her?”
Because you loved her. Because you had faith in her love for you.
I lacked that with Katie. It took me months to realize that. I didn’t give her a chance to respond to the news that I was a dad. I stole that from her by making a life-changing decision on my own.
I was a twenty-four-year-old fool who saw the world through a black and white lens.