He steps closer to me with hope gleaming in his eyes. “Can we talk? Tonight?”
I grin as I nod my head. “Sure. I’d like that. Let me get my mom to watch Leighton.”
“Leighton …” he says under his breath.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. It’s unique.”
“He’s a pretty special kid.”
The slight laugh of amazement, disbelief, and shock that escapes his lips makes me laugh. I bet neither of us had any idea how different our days would end versus how they started.
I guess that’s life, constantly throwing you curveballs. If you decide to swing or not is up to you.
A knock on the door startles us both, and Travis turns toward it as it slowly opens.
“Dr. Rivers, sorry to bother you, but your next appointment just threw up all over the floor, and I need to get the bucket that’s in here,” another nurse says.
“Oh, yes. Here.” He opens a cupboard and hands her the bucket.
I take that opportunity to end this conversation until later. “I should grab Leighton and get going. I’m sure you have other patients to see.”
He steps in front of me. “Tonight?”
I tilt my head toward the chart sitting on the counter. “My number is in there. Give me a call. I’ll be ready, say, around six?”
He smiles a genuine smile that eases my anxiety about the moment. “Six it is.”
I walk out of the room with my heart pounding and my breath taken away. For the past years, I wondered if I’d made him up in my head to be this great guy that he really wasn’t. I thought maybe he was more handsome in the bar light than in real life.
I was wrong.
He’s exactly what I remembered, but I’m not sure if my heart can take losing him now that I know what I thought was real.
Chapter Eight
I didn’t tell my parents why I needed them to watch Leighton tonight. I need to process what is going on before I let anyone else know. They’ve been a great help with raising him, but sometimes, their opinions are a little much, and I need to remind them that I’m Leighton’s parent, not them.
I dropped him off an hour ago, and now, I’m pacing my place, wondering if I’m going to be sick as I wait for Travis’s arrival.
When there’s a knock at the door, my chest tightens, and I feel like I’m in quicksand, sinking to the unknown. Once I hear him knock for the second time, I shake myself out of whatever fear is going on inside my head and open the door.
He’s dressed casually in a pair of shorts and a black polo. When my eyes meet his, I can’t help but smile. Every emotion from that night comes rushing back, just by seeing his face.
He has a welcoming spirit that’s contagious, and I just want to curl up in his arms like I did all those years ago and feel that level of comfort again.
“Hi,” he says, snapping me out of my trip down memory lane.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath in before smiling sweetly and opening the door wide for him. “Hi. Please, come in.”
He enters, and I close the door behind him, falling against it as I try to gain my composure because, really, what do you say to the man who impregnated you years ago and you haven’t seen since?
That’s when I notice he’s carrying a bag. “What do you have there?” I ask.
He holds it up for me to see. “I thought we’d eat here, if that’s okay.” He shakes his head from side to side in a wishy-washy way. “I figure we have some pretty personal things to discuss, and doing so in a public place just feels weird, I guess.”
“Oh, yes. Okay, that makes sense. Here.” I walk toward the kitchen and grab some plates. “What did you bring?”
“Italian. I’m hoping you’re good with ravioli and salad. Sorry I didn’t call ahead to ask what you wanted. My staff places my dinner order when I have late patients and having them call you to ask didn’t feel right. I told them to double my order saying I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow as well.”
“Yes, thank you for not having them call me.” I laugh as I place the plates down on the table. “That might have been a little awkward, seeing as how I just met you today.” Our eyes meet, and I add, “I mean, again.”
His lips tilt up slightly at my mishap and how funny it is. This is only my second time seeing him today, yet I carried a part of him with me for nine months and have stared at his mini me every day since.
We dish our plates and sit down. The silence quickly sets in, and I hop up when it gets to be too much.
“Would you like some wine?” I ask, almost knocking over my chair.
I turn my back, so I don’t see his reaction and grab a bottle I have sitting on the rack in my kitchen. When I spin around to hold it up for him to see, he’s standing right there.
“I don’t want you to be nervous,” he says with so much sincerity that I want to melt right here.
I grin as I stop what I’m doing and give in. “I’m sorry. Why does this feel so weird?”
“Well, let’s see. We met one night. Had an amazing time together, even more incredible sex, and then I woke up to an empty apartment with not even a note saying good-bye.”
I sigh, staring up at him through my lashes, ashamed. “Yeah. That. I’m sorry I left.”
He places his hands on my hips. “And I’m sorry you’ve been a single parent ever since then. I feel horrible that I wasn’t there for you. I want to change that. I hope you don’t mind, but I really want to be a part of Leighton’s life. Does he know anything about who his dad is?”
A sharp laugh escapes my lips, but I recover it quickly when I realize this isn’t really a laughing matter. “He knows his middle name is your name. Thankfully, he’s too young still to ask serious questions, so I haven’t had to say more.”
“You haven’t told him anything about me?”
I try to hide my giggles. “I don’t know anything about you. I didn’t even know your last name until today.”
His shoulders sag, and I can tell I hit a sore subject with him.
“Hey.” I nudge his arm. “Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who left, remember?”
“Yeah, but it’s still not okay. You shouldn’t have had to raise a child on your own. I should have made it easier for you to find me.”
“Come on.” I move his large frame to face him back to the table. “There’s no way you could have known.”
He sits down, and I can tell something is weighing very heavily on his mind.
“But I wondered if you could have gotten pregnant,” he says under his breath before looking up to me as I pour our wine.
“Now, why would you have thought that?”
He places his hand over mine, stopping me to make sure I’m paying attention. “When I was cleaning up the next morning, I picked up the condom wrapper. That was when I noticed I’d grabbed the wrong one from my wallet. I’d had that one in there since I was fifteen. It was expired by a few years. I kept it in there as kind of a joke. I thought I had grabbed the newer one I had as my just-in-case backup. So, really, this is all my fault.”
It’s my turn to put him at ease. “Leighton is no one’s fault. He’s been a true blessing in my life. I should be thanking you for giving him to me.”