“I think so. You?”
“I think so.” Her sigh was loud in his ear. “I mean, I think we all knew it. But somehow it being official is just so…”
“Official?”
“Yeah. So what now?”
She asked the question he’d been asking himself since he read the results, but still didn’t have an answer for. “I don’t know. But I do know I’d like for us to get together. I need to see him again.”
“There’s no way I’m driving all the way back to the campground on a holiday weekend,” she said. “I don’t know if you want to make the drive this weekend, either.”
“I’m not at the campground. I came home today, so I’m a little over an hour north of you now. Maybe an hour and a half with traffic. I can come to you if you want.”
“We can drive that, and Oliver and Stella would probably have more fun at your house than in my apartment. And I should probably see where you live, I guess?”
Because of visitation, he thought, his stomach tightening. So much was going to change. “Any day that works for you.”
She was quiet for a moment, and he let her think. “I told Robin we’d go out with her on Sunday, and I have Monday off, but that’s a big traffic day. Is tomorrow too soon?”
“Tomorrow’s perfect.” One night. He probably wouldn’tsleep at all, but it was only one night until he saw them again. “I know he’s little, but did you tell him anything yet?”
“No, I didn’t. I think it will make more sense to him if you’re physically there to associate the word with.”
Daddy.Brian put his hand over his stomach and blew out a breath. “Yeah. That makes sense.”
“Just text me your address so I have it in my phone. And he usually likes nuggets as a long-drive treat, so if we get there around noon, he’ll have eaten and be in a good mood.”
“That sounds great. The GPS on my house is pretty accurate so your phone should bring you right here, but if you have any issues, just call me.”
“Okay. We’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Once they hung up, Brian sat on his back step and watched Stella run around the yard. She’d found the trail of something she didn’t think should have been in the yard, and she was sniffing the grass furiously.
It made him smile, but it wasn’t enough to quell the turmoil churning inside of him. He was somebody’s father. Oliver’s father.
Daddy.
Chapter Seventeen
Brian loved his house. It was small—a two bedroom cape built before his grandfather was even born. It only had one bathroom, and it was upstairs between the two bedrooms. The ceilings up there were sloped, following the roof line, which made the bedrooms feel even smaller. The kitchen was a decent size, but it was badly in need of updating, and other than refinishing the hardwood floors, he hadn’t done much decorating in the living room.
But the house had a deep front porch and it sat on forty acres of land. As far as he and Stella were concerned, a shady spot to sit and acres of their own woods to explore were all they needed.
Now he stood in the driveway, arms crossed, trying to see the property through Siobhan’s eyes. To him, it was rustic. Would it look shabby to her? She might think he was lucky to have been able to grab some great land because he took on the fixer-upper residence. Or she might think he was a loner type living in a shack in the woods.
“It’s not a shack,” he said out loud. Then he looked down at Stella, who was gazing up at him with her usual blend of curiosity and adoration. “It’s comfortable, right?”
Stella’s head whipping around was Brian’s first warning. Then he heard the distant sound of a car engine. Hisdriveway was off of a dirt road that was off of a back road, so they didn’t get much traffic. Siobhan and Oliver would turn the corner and come into view any second, so he took a few deep breaths to clear any residual worry from his face.
He ran his thumb over the rock in his pocket, trying to soothe himself, but that was a lost cause. His skin was hot and prickly, andit was hard to take a full breath. Anxiety wasn’t something that he’d dealt with a lot, but since Oliver had come into his life, he felt so out of his depth, he couldn’t remember what standing on solid ground felt like.
And Siobhan. Everything was different now and there was too much at stake for them to risk messing it up, but he missed her so much he couldn’t really wrap his head around it.
He was thankful he was still on his feet and hadn’t passed out when her car came into view. She smiled when she saw him, and he returned it as some of the anxiety melted away. He’d worked himself into quite a state, but it was as though he saw her face and his body relaxed.Oh, it’s her. We really like her and it’ll be okay.
“Did you have any trouble finding the place?” he asked when she’d turned off the engine and climbed out.
“No, even though you’re really out here in the middle of nowhere. It must be fun in the winter.”
