He froze. “Did you just find out?”
She nodded, a tiny little jerk of her head, and his heart cracked open. She’d taken a test and he was the first person she told. Because her mom wasn’t home, and if she had been, Becca would have done it there. But still, he’d been the first one…and he’d reacted like it was the end of the world.
It wasn’t.
The end of his Great Bachelor Plans, maybe. But not the end of the world. And it was the earliest of days. She had time to think and make decisions, and he couldn’t get ahead of himself guessing what would happen.
“Ah, shit. I’m sorry. Itisokay. It’s going to be okay.” He squeezed her again, wanting to make it all better, but this was monumental. And she needed Rachel. “One thing at a time. Do you want to call your mom now? She can come here if you want some privacy with her.”
Rachel had three younger children and a loud husband, Hudson, who was a decent guy, but he treated Becca like a kid still. That wasn’t going to help in the next while.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to tell her on the phone.” Becca’s voice was tiny now.
“Do you want me to call her? I can ask her to come over.”
“Maybe.”
Owen didn’t know where his phone was. He’d find it in a minute. Had he left it in the kitchen? He’d been fiddling with that damn bachelor life wish list. Shit that didn’t matter nearly as much as his daughter.
Becca was quiet for a long stretch. Then she gave him a tight squeeze before moving back. “Thanks.”
“I love you.” It came out raw, but at least that was honest.
“This doesn’t have to change anything. I can still move out next summer.” But her voice was small and unsure. She knew he’d been counting down the months until she graduated.
And now he was the world’s biggest asshole. Fuck. “Don’t worry about that.”
“Dad—”
“One thing at a time, kiddo.”
Her face crumpled. No, she wasn’t a kid anymore, was she?
“Look.” He waited. “Look at me.”
She paused, then lifted her head, her eyes watery but fierce. “What?”
“Whatever you need, I’ll be right by your side.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“That’s okay. You’ve got some time to think about it.” He swallowed hard. He had an overnight shift to get ready for. “I have to go to work. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“If you want your mom to come over…”
She nodded. “Maybe.”
But by the time he was in his EMT uniform and getting ready to head to the Pine Harbour Emergency Services Building, Becca hadn’t called Rachel, and to Owen’s surprise, she’d decided she didn’t want him to do that just yet, either. “I need more time. I don’t want to tell anyone else.”
He dragged in a rough, ragged breath. “Okay. This is our secret for now. Deal?”
She nodded solemnly. “Deal.”
Owen hoped that promise wouldn’t come back to kick him in the ass later. But Becca was a grownup now, at least officially.
Her teen years had sped by in a wild kaleidoscope of parties and growth spurts and the occasional scholastic achievement, but mostly it had been a period they had barely survived. He’d been looking forward to some breathing room next. To her moving out and finding her passion in life. And in the quiet that would follow, he’d had big plans for himself. Hobbies. Dating, and not just the furtive hook-ups of his past. A real social life that wasn’t dictated by making sure his teenager was safely tucked into bed by her curfew.
