“It’s okay, Kayla.” My mom tries to comfort me.
I nod to myself. “You’re right. It was only for a night.”
“Actually, that’s why I’m calling. The snowfall isn’t letting up, they may keep us here if it doesn’t lighten up by the afternoon since it won’t be cleared by nightfall.”
I hurry to the window looking out over the backyard, pulling the curtain open. My mouth drops at the blankets of white everywhere. “Oh my god.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you’re not alone though. At least Beau made it safely up beforehand.”
My fingers tighten around my phone. “Mom, I have to tell you something.”
I take in her silence to continue, so I swallow and give the window my back to glance toward the living room. “Beau is Theo’s dad. He’s the random man I met on my Costa Rica trip.”
She gasps. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, even he recognized me.”
“That’s just—that’s, wow. I don’t know what to say.”
My shoulders slump. “I told him about Theo. I really couldn’t keep him a secret.”
“No, no. That’s good, honey. It gives you two time to talk about what the future will hold. That is if he wants to be involved in his life.”
I bite down on my tongue to refrain from saying more. Beau wants to be more than involved; he’s practically jumping at the chance to be a daddy. “I don’t think Kendall will take it well.”
My mother is silent before she clears her throat. “You’re right. She won’t. I just—there’s no way around it. If we lie, it could be worse.”
“I don’t want to ruin Christmas.” My throat aches, and my heart is heavy.
No matter what way this goes, someone is going to get hurt. Even if we wait to tell Kendall when she gets here, knowing my sister, she’s going to make it a whole thing. But if we wait,and Beau acts like a happy, dutiful husband, I may actually stab myself.
We shouldn’t have slept together, and we shouldn’t continue sleeping together, because now I’ve been reminded how much I loved every moment we spent together that weekend in Costa Rica.
“Oh, honey. It takes a lot more than your sister throwing a tantrum to ruin Christmas.”
It still brings tears to my eyes. “It’s our first time back to the cabin, as a family. I wanted it to be perfect for Theo.”
“And look what happened…it brought him his dad. Does Beau seem interested in getting to know him?”
Clearing my throat to ease the ache, I nod, even if she can’t see me. “Yeah, he really does.”
My mom clicks her tongue. “That’s amazing, honey. Theo will be thrilled. He wasn’t upset with you, right? I mean we tried to find him. Even the PI came up empty.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I mean no. He’s not upset. I mean, we gave each other fake names, so we really weren’t helping each other.”
“But now you found your way back to each other, so it worked out.”
A snort escapes me. “Did it? Because he’s married to my sister. Let that sink in. My sister is now my child’s stepmommy.”
“Kayla!” she chides, but I can hear the amusement in her voice.
I roll my eyes, grabbing my cup of coffee before bundling up to go watch the morning sunrise on the back porch. “Keep meupdated if you guys are able to make it back up today. And please have Theo call me when he wakes up.”
She agrees, and I leave my phone inside, pulling a large fluffy blanket from the bin by the door before heading out.
Chapter 7
Beau
