“My mouth is untasted,” Elana grumbled, her big, beautiful eyes blinking up at me.It was her way of saying she was hungry.I couldn’t get myself to correct her since it was something she’d said for so long, it was her thing.
“Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.You think your mouth can hold out for that long?”
She pursed her lips.“Only if it can taste a snack before then.”
I handed her a carrot.“Here you go.”
She glared at the vegetable, then turned, whipping her head to the side so her hair flew up, and disappeared back into her and Addy’s room.
I pulled the lasagna out of the oven, checking my phone for the millionth time today.I hadn’t heard from Vance since this morning.He hadn’t answered the text I’d sent him, asking if he liked lasagna for dinner.
A knock on the door stopped my thoughts.When I saw Vance on the other side, a smile spread over my face and I pulled the door open.“Hey.”
He didn’t come inside; instead, he stood in the doorway, his mouth set in a straight line, his full focus on me.“I received an interesting phone call this afternoon.Your ex wants full custody.But that wasn’t what was surprising.What caught me completely off guard was the information that Addy isn’t yours.”
I didn’t want people to think I wasn’t Addy’s mom.Because she was as much a part of me as Elana was, so I simply never told anyone, not even my friends.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.“Addy isn’t biologically mine.Hank got someone pregnant a couple of months before we met.She didn’t want a child and was happy for Hank to take the baby as soon as she’d given birth.I was already dating him at the time and agreed to raise Addy as well.His actions made it seem like he was a great guy, and that’s who I fell for.But it was probably the only decent thing he did during our time together.”
I’d loved Addy from the moment Hank had brought her back from the hospital, wrapped up in a pink blanket and screaming her little head off.There’d been no doubt in my mind that I would do anything for her.I’d been in my last year of college, and when Hank asked me to drop out so I could take care of her, I agreed immediately.I’d been so excited to get the family I’d been dreaming of since I was a little girl that I went full speed, without checking the blind spots.And now they’d made me crash and burn.
His eyes were nearly black.“You don’t think this would have been something you should have mentioned to me?”
I hadn’t seen his expressionless mask since those first few meetings.But it was firmly back in place now.
“She’s my daughter.That’s all that matters.”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw.“No wonder you didn’t fight your ex on anything.It all makes so much more sense now.I wish you’d trusted me enough to tell me.”
The distance he’d put between us was like a physical blow.“I’m sorry for not telling you.But it’s not like there’s anything you could have done.I should have adopted Addy right away, but Hank kept putting me off, and I stupidly thought there was no rush.”
Vance’s breath came out in a slow, controlled blow.“You can’t turn back time, but you could have still worked out more in the divorce while still keeping the kids.You’re living in a tiny, unsafe apartment with two kids while he’s living it up in his penthouse in Denver with the woman he cheated on you with.”
Well, when you put it that way…
“I get your point.I do.But what’s done is done, right?”
He gave me a jerky nod.“Is there anything else I should know?”
I ached to take his hand.To hug him.But the physical distance he’d created between us was only made worse by his emotional detachment.A touch wouldn’t be welcome.
You’ve really done it now, Mae.I should have called him as soon as Cockalorum left.
Studying the floor, I swallowed the pain, the disappointment, and the devastation.“That’s it.There’s nothing else.”
“I’m going back to the office to work out a strategy.Do not talk to him without me there.”He waited for me to nod.“I won’t let him take the girls away from you.”
He stood still for a moment, his eyes roaming my face.I didn’t like the hurt I saw and bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything else that would make this worse.He eventually turned and left, his steps slow, his hands fisted at his sides.
I didn’t move for a long time.
I might be about to lose everything.
Chapter twenty-two
“Addy,ladybug.Whyareyou wearing disposable gloves?”
Addy fumbled with her spoon, eventually picking it up.“I don’t want my hands to get dirty.”
