I tried to block him. I tried logic. "If it were possible, Mother would've told us. Plus, I only slept with her once. How?"
He growled.Only takes once. You remember her. You still dream about her.
I spun and knocked over anotherbag of flour. A plume shot up and settled all over my arms, my shirt, and the counter. The sound must've carried, because Maeve's head popped around the corner, eyebrows climbing for her hairline.
She stopped dead, holding a tray of thumbprint cookies. "What the hell, Chance? Why are you destroying the kitchen? What about the sample table?"
I didn't even try to pull it together. "I gotta talk to you, Maeve. It's—" I cut myself off, suddenly all shaky.
She looked me over, really looked. I probably looked psychotic, covered in sweat, and now dusted like a powdered donut. She set down her tray with a thunk and folded her arms across her apron.
"You scare off the health inspector? Did Damon call needing bail again?"
I shook my head. "Nobody's in jail."
Caden snarled.Get to the damn point.
Maeve stepped closer, taking inventory. She got this hard set to her jaw when things were about to go sideways.
"You're freaking me out, Chance. Just tell me."
I choked on the words. They sounded insane, even in my own head. "I saw her. Tash. And her daughters." Saying it out loud made it worse, somehow. She'd looked even better than I remembered. Stronger.Softer. Beautiful in a way I hadn't let myself think about for years.
Maeve stared, blinking slowly. "The lady who has been coming into the bakery lately? Yeah, I've met her twins. What about it?"
I scrubbed a hand over my face, but the memory of Tash's smile still tingled along my skin like static. This wasn't just shock. It was desire waking up after being dead too long. I swallowed hard. "They're mine. Caden says so, and I think he's right." My hands shook, so I jammed them in my pockets. "When I saw them?—"
Maeve's eyes bugged out so far out I thought she might faint. "Chance. You're not making sense. That's not possible. We can't…" She stopped, searching my face. "Caden's sure?"
"Yes." I pressed both hands to my temples and slumped against the freezer, the steel cold even through my shirt.
Maeve's face ran through a myriad of emotions. "You're telling me you got that girl pregnant seventeen years ago andjustfound out?"
I scowled at her. "Yes. I didn't know her last name, and then I went back to school, and then we all had to get out of town, remember?"
Maeve snorted, soft but sharp. "True. You didn't get her full name? How romantic."
That stung, but she wasn't wrong.
I pushed off the counter and started pacing again. "I need to find her. Do you know where she lives, Mae?"
She leaned back against the fridge, arms locked across her chest. "No, but Damon could help you find her, especially if there are kids. Even if the chance of that is, like, a billion to one."
"I should play the lottery," I muttered.
I couldn't even think about that. I had children. Children that she'd kept away from me. Had she even tried to find me?
Maeve shook her head, looking rattled. "She comes by pretty regularly, too. If nothing else, just stick around here. You'll see her again."
Caden leapt on the thought triumphantly. He slammed the memory around in my mind again. Tash's dark hair, her laugh, the press of her body under mine. The way she'd looked the next morning.
Maeve clicked her tongue, watching me unravel. "Let's say, for argument's sake, you're right. What the hell are you gonna do?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. Talk to her. Try not to pass out before I get an answer."
She cracked a smile. "You, lose your nerve? Not likely."
I opened my mouth, but the bell over the front door echoed into the kitchen.
