Millionaire Daddy (Freeman Brothers 2)

“Yeah,” I told her, nodding. “Okay. I know somewhere. It’s not too far from here, the food is good, and there are tables where we’ll be able to talk without people listening in.”

“Sounds fine to me,” she said. “Where is it?”

“Just follow me,” I told her.

I walked out of the garage and stopped by the lockers to get my stuff while she grabbed hers, then continued to the parking lot. The threat of rain that night made me bring my truck rather than ride a bike, so I got inside and waited until Kelly was in her Jeep and turned the engine over. I pulled out of my parking spot and drove past, going slowly enough for her to get behind me. When we got out of the parking lot, I headed away from the usual direction I left to go home. I knew Kelly probably wasn’t familiar with this area, especially the back roads I turned back and forth along. We were following a shortcut that brought us right to the coast. It was a place I hadn’t been in a long time, but I was happy to be back.

Parking in a small gravel lot, I climbed out and waited for Kelly before heading toward what looked like a shack sitting right near the water’s edge. It didn’t look like much, but it as one of my favorite places to eat. There was no seating inside. Instead, we walked up to a window at the front of the building and read the menus positioned on either side. Kelly looked confused and unsure, so I finally broke my silence.

“Does anything look good?” I asked.

“I really don’t know. I’ve never been a big seafood eater,” she admitted. “Just order me whatever you eat.”

I ordered us both food, and when she reached for her wallet, I waved her off.

“You don’t have to do that,” she said.

“I’ve got it,” I told her without any justification or elaboration.

We sat down at one of the weathered picnic tables outside, and Kelly looked around.

“This place is really cute,” she said.

I nodded.

“I guess you can call it that. Full disclosure, it’s not exactly neutral.”

“What? Are you going to tell me you secretly own this place?” she laughed.

“No. My brother does,” I said. Her face fell. “Well, he half owns it. And it’s not a secret. But I just figured I should tell you since we’re working on being more honest with each other.”

The comment obviously stung, and she looked down at her hands on the table.

“I guess I deserved that,” she said.

A waitress came out with our food and set it in front of us. I waited until she was gone to keep talking.

“So, she’s mine. I have my proof. Now I need to know why you didn’t tell me. Why you thought I didn’t deserve to know. Because I honestly can’t think of any reason you could give me that isn’t total bullshit.”

32

Kelly

Those were the kind of words that should have offended me. I really wanted to be upset by them. I wanted to be righteous and indignant, to square my chest and to defend myself against Darren’s blunt observation. This would be the time for me to come up with some sort of powerful self-reliance statement, then condemn him for questioning me for deciding what was right for myself and my child. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to actually feel that way.

It hurt, but not because he offended me. The truth was it all boiled down to him not being wrong. Everything Darren said was true and accurate. As much as I would have appreciated him being a little gentler with me, I didn’t deserve it. Every bit of his anger and frustration was warranted. The man had just found out he had a daughter. Not that he was going to be a father after having a one-night stand, but that he already was and had been for over two years without knowing. It wasn’t news that went down smoothly, and I couldn’t really expect him to just go with the flow.

But it wasn’t just that he was right about me not being honest or that he deserved to have his feelings. Darren said he couldn’t think of a reason I hadn’t told him about Willa, and that was true.

“You’re right. There isn’t really a good reason I didn’t tell you about her. The only one I have is I was scared,” I told him.

“What were you scared of?” Darren asked.

“We didn’t even know each other. That night I knew I was leaving the next morning, and I didn’t go into that bar with any intention of picking somebody up. I left the next morning with good memories and, to be honest, wishing I didn’t have to go. Then two months later, I thought I had the flu. I was sick every morning and so exhausted. But it was chilly weather, and I thought I’d just picked up a bug somewhere. But when I went to the doctor, they did a blood test and I found out I was pregnant.”