Daniel snorted. "No way you're getting more than five skips with that rock."
"Make your bet." She nodded toward the rock in his hand.
She couldn't remember how old she was when they first started playing this game where they'd created a complicated scoring system for predicting how many skips they would get with each rock, including extra points for whoever got the most skips each round. The loser had to do a favor for the winner. One summer, she saved up her favors until she had enough to make Daniel her servant for a whole day.
He had to do everything she asked. He hated it. She loved it.
Daniel studied the rock in his hand. "Four."
Riley coughed into her hand. "Wimp."
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Overachiever."
She simply grinned and threw her rock from hip level. It hit the water with a soft plink, skipped once, then twice and promptly sank after the third skip. She let out a little groan.
He laughed. "I haven't done this in years, so I doubt I'll be any better." He angled his body away from the lake and pitched his rock.
It bounced six times before sinking.
"Show off." She selected another rock from her handful and handed it to Daniel. "Okay, you have two points, and I'm negative one."
Instead of taking the rock, he grabbed her hand, letting the small stone fall to the ground.
"Thank you for trying to distract me, but delaying what I need to say won't make it any easier to get out."
Riley dropped the rest of the rocks, dreading the words that might come from his mouth.
He released her hand then lifted his baseball cap and raked his fingers through his hair before replacing his hat. He turned toward the lake again. "I promise myself every day that I will never drink again, but I can't guarantee I won't fall off the wagon at some point."
She leaned against his good arm and laced her fingers with his. "I know staying sober will always be a challenge for you, but I promise I will be there to help you through your struggles. Every. Single. Day."
"Do you remember that day at the river when I said I turned my back on all the values I was raised with?" He pulled his hand from hers and stepped away.
"Yes." The single word came out through a tight throat.
She'd thought about the possible implications behind those words many times over the past two weeks and concluded that besides drinking and getting a tattoo, there were likely other things in Daniel's past that he felt were inappropriate, considering their Christian upbringing. Which gave her a pretty good idea of what those things were.
She'd be lying if she said they didn't bother her, mostly because the thought of Daniel with another woman pierced her heart. But she knew that the man who did those things while under the influence of alcohol was not the penitent man who stood before her now, refusing to forgive himself.
"I mean all of my values." He placed heavy emphasis on the word all.
Even though she didn't want to discuss this, she decided to makeit easier for him. "If you're trying to tell me that you've...been with other women..." The words were harder to spit out than she thought they would be. "I know, and it doesn't change the way I feel about you."
He turned and looked at her, his eyes wide. "You're saying it doesn't bother you at all that I've slept with… a lot of women?"
She tried not to flinch when he saida lot. "Of course, it bothers me, but I'm not going to hold something against you that's in the past." She sucked in a deep breath. "I know you feel horrible about the choices you've made. You've beat yourself up plenty over them. You don't need me to do it too."
"You're missing the point, Ri." He scrubbed a hand over his face and let out a small growl. "What happens if we get married, then ten years down the road, some teenager shows up on our doorstep claiming I'm his dad?"
A sharp pain shot through Riley's chest, causing her to fall back a step. An oppressive weight settled over her, making the early June day feel much hotter than it was.
When Daniel told her he'd turned his back on the values he'd been raised with, she'd considered all kinds of scenarios, even to the point of thinking he could have an STD, but she hadn't thought about him fathering children.
Why didn't I consider that?
Probably because she'd dreamed many times over the years of Daniel being the father of her children. She'd pictured their sons having his prominent brow and strong jawline and their daughters having his expressive brown eyes. She didn't want to consider that some other woman had carried his child.
"In my drunken state, I can't guarantee I always took measures to prevent that from happening." Daniel shook his head in disgust.
