“Thank you.” I vaguely remember him as the sole male member of the single parent group. “Where have you been?”
“In New Jersey, then in Illinois. I had two back-to-back training seminars on new equipment,” he says.
Now I remember what it is about him. Quinn had explained that he has trouble making eye contact and he’s awkward around people. I think his shyness is endearing.
Quinn steps forward to play hostess again. “Mac, this is Zack and his wife, Jessica.”
Mac shakes his hand, but he looks puzzled, as if he’s trying to place him.
“Zack saved my life when I had a heart attack,” I say.
“Oh, yes.” He pumps Zack’s hand harder. “You’re Lily’s dad—and the father of Quinn’s baby!”
Silence falls over the room.
Lily’s sweet voice cuts through the sudden, unsettling quiet.“Did that man jus’ say Mr. Zack’s my daddy?” She peers up hopefully at Quinn.
Quinn’s face is the shade of a bleached sheet. Her eyes, frightened as a startled bunny, cut toward me. “Uh...”
There was something else the man said, something that pulls on my thoughts, but right now, Lily’s question is at the forefront of my mind. Why keep such a wonderful thing a secret? “Yes, Lily, he is,” I say.
The child’s face—well, it reminds me of the way my daughter looked when she was three, and Henry turned on the Christmas tree lights for the first time. It was as if her face were wired to the electrical cord and it, too, suddenly lit up. “Really?” Lily whips toward Zack and bounces on her toes. “You’re my donor daddy?” You can practically hear her hold her breath.
“Yes, honey, I am.”
“Oh! Oh, I’m so glad!” Lily throws herself at him. He bends down and hugs her back. Everyone chuckles and murmurs. A couple of people clap.
I put my hand on my heart, which overflows with joy. “You got a gift on my birthday,” I tell Lily.
“The bestest gift ever!” Lily says. “I got my daddy!”
Zack picks her up and holds her, beaming. It’s one of those rare, shining moments in life, where everything seems bathed in light.
“Wait,” Jessica says. She touches the older man’s arm. “What did you say about Quinn’s baby?”
She’s ruining the moment, and it irritates me. “Quinn doesn’t have a baby,” I say.
“She’s going to,” Mac says. “She used the same donor as Brooke.”
All of the hubbub in the room hushes in a heartbeat.
Jessica looks as if she witnessed a shooting. Zack seems stunned. Everyone else is frozen into place or guiltily exchanging glances, as if they’d conspired to keep a cat in the bag, and it’s just sprung out.
“Uh-oh.” Mac’s brows pull together. “Did I say something I wasn’t supposed to?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Quinn
OH MY GOD—Iwant to melt into the floor. There’s no point in denying it—my baby’s heartbeat is recorded on my phone, so there’s solid proof this is really happening—but I don’t know what to say.
Zack is still holding Lily, but he’s turned into a statue.
“You’re pregnant?” Jessica sounds horrified. “With Zack’s baby?” She turns stunned eyes to Zack, then back to me. “How the hell did this happen?”
Zack’s face is ashen. His eyes are astonished and locked on me. I see his Adam’s apple bob.
I turn back to Margaret. Her mouth is agape, her eyes wide.
