Jenna glanced at Leo, who was absorbed in adding details to his fire truck, then back at me. “David left six months ago,” she said quietly. “My husband,ex-husband. I found out about his affair with his secretary, and when I confronted him…” She paused, her voice breaking slightly. “I was so angry, I told him the truth about Leo. That he wasn’t his biological father. I said I was glad I never had his child.”
I felt my stomach drop. “Jesus, Jenna.”
“He filed for divorce the next week. Took most of our assets, claiming fraud because he’d been supporting a child that wasn’t his. The twenty-year-old replacement was just salt in the wound.” She wiped her eyes. “I destroyed everything in one moment of rage.”
“I’m sorry.” I was, despite everything. Whatever our history, I’d never wanted Jenna to suffer.
“We’ve been staying in motels mostly, moving around, trying to stretch what little money I have. But it’s running out, and Ican’t…” She glanced at Leo, who was making soft engine noises as he colored. “I can’t let him keep living like this. He deserves stability, a real home, his real father.”
The words hung in the air between us, loaded with implications I wasn’t ready to face. “Jenna,” I started, but she held up a hand.
“I know what you’re going to ask. Yes, he’s yours. Yes, I’m sure. The timing matches perfectly, and honestly, Sam, look at him. He’s got your eyes, your smile, even that stupid cowlick.”
I did look at him, this little boy who appeared to be my son, and felt something shift in my chest. A protective instinct I’d never experienced before, fierce and immediate.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The question came out harsher than I’d intended. “Four years, Jenna. He’s four, and you never said a word.”
“Because you were just a fling. You left.” Her composure finally cracked, tears spilling over despite her obvious efforts to stay strong. “You went back to your small town and your simple life, and I was supposed to follow you? I saw what happened to my mother when she followed a man to nowhere - broke, dependent, trapped. I swore I’d never be that woman.”
“So you decided to give up my choice instead?”
“I found out I was pregnant a month after you left. I was scared, alone, working two dead-end jobs just to pay rent on a studio apartment with roaches.” Her voice broke. “I was throwing up every morning and couldn’t afford prenatal care. Then I met David at an event. He was successful, established, we clicked immediately, and when he assumed Leo was his… God, Sam, you should have seen his face. Pure joy. No one had ever been that happy about anything I’d brought to their life.” She wiped her eyes. “I let him believe it because for the first time in my life, someone wanted to take care of me instead of the other way around. I thought I was giving my baby a real chance.”
“By lying to everyone?”
“By giving my son a stable home with a father who wanted him!” Her voice rose, then she caught herself, glancing at Leo. “I thought I was protecting him. Protecting all of us.”
“A father who wanted him?” The words came out sharper than I’d intended. “You never gave me the chance to want him, Jenna. You made that decision for me.”
She scoffed, wiping her eyes. “Like you wanted to be a dad. You were barely ready for a relationship, let alone a child.”
“We may have just been a fling, but if you’d told me you were pregnant…” I struggled to find the right words. “I would have supported you. Both of you. I would have figured it out.”
“A bartender?” She shook her head. “I grew up with a father who was always going to get his act together ‘next month.’ I wasn’t going to let Leo live that life.”
“I own the bar, Jenna.”
She blinked, processing that. “I… I didn’t know that. When I googled you last month — when David kicked us out, and I was desperate — I found Sam Mitchell in Willowbrook, Oregon. Bartender at The Copper Fox. I saw your picture on social media, recognized you, and…” She trailed off. “I thought you were still just bartending.”
“Iownthe bar, Jenna. Iownmy house outright. I could have provided for him.” I watched her face pale slightly as the reality of what she’d given up hit her. “Maybe not the fancy lifestyle David offered, but Leo would have had a father who actually was his father. A father who chose him, not one who was tricked into it.”
She was quiet for a moment, absorbing this. When she spoke again, her voice was smaller, more defensive. “I was terrified, living paycheck to paycheck in a city where I had no family, no support system. I made the choice that seemed like it would giveLeo the most stable life.” Her voice turned bitter. “Turns out stability built on lies doesn’t last long.”
“You made the choice that was easiest for you,” I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice for Leo’s sake. “You saw an opportunity, and you took it, regardless of what it cost me or what it might cost Leo down the line.”
“I was protecting him–”
“You were protecting yourself.” The words hung between us, brutal but true.
“I was doing the right thing.”
The right thing.How many times had I told myself I was doing the right thing last night, lying awake next to Chloe while I tried to figure out what the hell to do? At least my deception was less than twenty-four hours old. Jenna had been lying since the day David found out she was pregnant.
“But David’s gone now,” I said.
“David’s gone, and Leo’s been asking questions. About why daddy doesn’t visit, when can he see him?” Jenna wiped her eyes, trying to pull herself together. “I can’t answer those questions anymore, Sam. And I can’t keep pretending I can raise him alone when I can’t even afford a decent place for us to sleep.”
Leo had gone quiet, his attention focused entirely on his truck, but I could see the way his shoulders tensed when his mother’s voice got emotional.
