“For what?”
After taking a long sip of the hot liquid, Angie looked up. “I hated you so much for what I thought you did to Theo. Tore his heart out, stomped on it, then abandoned your child. I didn’t know.”
The lump in Chelsea’s throat grew bigger, so she only nodded. After taking a few bites of the delicious soup, she had calmed her heart enough to speak.
“How is Theo?”
“Now that you’re back or before you showed up?”
“Both.”
Sighing, Angie said, “He’s adjusted to being a single dad well enough. Of course, I help him and so do a bunch of the other rangers and some of the people from town.”
“I bet he’s an amazing dad.”
“He is.” Angie’s undiluted smile spoke volumes. “He loves that little girl intensely.” Angie tilted her head. “She looks exactly like you.”
“You think so?”
“Very much.”
Did she dare encourage Angie to continue? “And now?”
“How’s he doing?” Angie shrugged. “Confused. He told me what you said had happened.”
Biting her lip, she said, “I’m still not sure exactly what did happen. All I know is that the baby I had, the one they told me died, is alive and living here.” God, the tears were back, and she had no control over them. Story of her life.
Angie’s gaze went everywhere but at her, obviously embarrassed. Chelsea was ashamed of how quickly the emotions reared their ugly head, too. The blonde stood and placed her cup in the sink after rinsing it out. Maybe it was time for her to make her exit.
But she needed to know one more thing. Something she wasn’t sure she could ask Theo. The answer might break her heart, and she didn’t want him seeing her broken again.
“What has Theo told Jordan about me? Does she think I deserted her? She never even knew how much I wanted her.” The sobs could not be held back. They rushed forward, and she covered her face with her hands. Angie would know what she was doing, but Chelsea wouldn’t have to see the disgust on her face.
A soft touch on her shoulder pulled her from her anguish. Angie’s sympathetic expression wasn’t what she expected.
“Come here. I want to show you something.”
A tissue was thrust into her hand as she rose and slogged to the living room, following Angie toward the fireplace. Chelsea wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then watched as Theo’s cousin picked up a framed picture.
“Theo keeps this right here, so Jordan can see it always.”
What? It couldn’t be. Their wedding picture? Why on earth would he still have that on the mantle?
After handing Chelsea the picture, Angie picked up another one. It was a close-up of her sitting at the ocean near Otter Cliffs. It had been the day Theo had asked her to marry him. The rapturous look in her eyes showcased how much she loved him.
“Why does he keep these here? It doesn’t make sense.”
“You’ll have to ask him. But he’s never said anything bad about you to Jordan. Not that I’ve heard. Every single day, Jordan kisses these pictures and says hello to her mom and dad.”
She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. Theo could have said all sorts of rotten things about her if he’d truly thought she had dumped their baby with him and run. How could he have thought that of her? Hadn’t they talked about having kids? Yes, it had been in the future tense, and they’d wanted to get established in their marriage first, but she’d definitely wanted children.
For now, she had to concentrate on getting through seeing her child. Would he even let her?
A tone sounded. Angie retrieved her phone from her pocket and answered. Her vague responses of “okay” and “probably” didn’t tell her who the caller was, but the way Angie’s eyes centered on her as she spoke told her it must be Theo.
Lowering the phone, Angie asked, “Theo wants to know if you’re up for a meeting with Jordan.”
The room started to spin. That old feeling of panic set in, but she fought it off. Chelsea held on tight to every ounce of strength she could muster.
