That old ache of remembered hurt and disappointment pressed against my chest, but I’d never regretted the decisions I’d made, so I looked Callum dead in the eye and told the truth. “I got pregnant and that was that. I had to leave.”
The silence between us stretched for a moment, his stare heavy but not unkind. “Where did you go, though? You said your parents used to help you with Brody and that they’re back in Michigan, so you went home?”
“Yep. Until I got offered a job out here last year,” I explained. “Brody loves his school, but I have no support with him otherwise. No safety net. No backup. So yeah, that’s why I answered your ad.”
Mind racing, I took a breath before I added, “Entering into some kind of arranged marriage with a total stranger is probably the dumbest, riskiest thing I could do as a mother, but I can’t see another way forward. He needs more than I can give and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”
“That’s fair.” He nodded again, but it was slower this time. Then, like a typical man, he got straight down to business. “What about money?”
I scoffed. “I don’t need your money. I have a steady job and I earn enough to cover the bills, the mortgage, and everything else Brody needs.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Mortgage? That means you bought a house.”
“Yes.” I lifted my chin. “It’s in a nice neighborhood.”
“Good, that means you’ll be able to rent it out quickly after you move in with me,” he said as if it was a done deal. “You should be able to get?—”
I shook my head. “There’s no way we’re moving in with you.IfI agree to this, and that’s a big if, we’ll be staying at my house.”
His mouth pulled into a hard line. For a long moment, he just looked at me like he was reassessing every assumption he’d made so far. His dark hair fell across his forehead, that sharp gaze scanning my features like he was looking for any sign of weakness. When he didn’t find one, he let out a soft sigh.
“We’re at an impasse, then.”
“It seems like it,” I admitted. “Brody and I willnotbe moving again, though. Our house is close to his school and my job. He’s made friends with the neighbors and he’s only just started settling in properly. There’s no way I’m uprooting him again.”
Callum and I just sat there, staring at each other across the battered table, both of us clearly seeing how this could work, but both having our reservations. He wanted control. That much was obvious. There was no other reason he could possibly have for his insistence that we move in with him instead of the other way around.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t about to let anyone bulldoze me. Not when it came to Brody’s well-being and forcing him not only to move again, but to move in with a man he didn’t even really know. That just wasn’t happening.
Even so, underneath all the nerves and tension, I could feel a sense of infinite, endless possibility. This was a huge risk, sure, but there was also the faintest chance that if I was brave enough to take said risk, everything could change. For me but most importantly for Brody.
Callum drummed his fingers against the table. “How is Brody going to handle this? His mom suddenly getting married?”
The question landed in my chest with a painful jolt, but I didn’t flinch. “The pros outweigh the cons. One day, I hope he’ll understand that.”
He nodded, like he accepted the answer without needing me to explain. I expected a few more questions, but instead, in that no-nonsense way of his, he skipped right ahead to the conclusion as if the negotiations didn’t even matter. “We could do this on Monday. Go down to the courthouse, sign the papers, and make it official.”
My stomach bottomed out.Just like that?
I must’ve looked as dumbstruck as I felt because the corners of his mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile. At least it humanized him, reminding me that Callum might be direct, but regardless of what he thought, this wasn’t a done deal yet.
“We should think about it,” I said once I’d found my voice again.
He gave me a single nod. “Alright.”
For just a second, something between us softened, becoming almost too comfortable, which was ridiculous. There was nothing comfortable about any of this and I needed to get my head checked if I let him fool me into believing it could be easy.
Shoving back my chair, I nodded at him and grabbed my bag. “I’ll be in touch. Check your emails.”
With that, I spun around and walked out much more calmly than I had last night, but with only one thought looping around in my head.Why would he even still agree to this now that he knows I’m a mother?
Most men would’ve run the second they found out, but Callum hadn’t even blinked. Brody clearly wasn’t a deal-breaker for him. If anything, he’d seemed confident that this would count as a point in his favor with his family—which was a pretty unsettling thought.
By the time I got to my car, it had started raining, droplets spitting against the windshield like the world was echoing my nerves. I drove home with my wipers working furiously, my heart thudding in my chest.
All because the truth was suddenly sitting like a live wire under my skin, sparking and snapping, begging to be told even though I’d kept it buried it for years. Callum Westwood wasn’t just some man I’d hooked up with in college. He wasn’t just some stranger posting ridiculous marriage ads online.
He was Brody’s father.
