“Ivy. After my ex, I didn’t want to start seeing someone again and upset her. Since you were only interested in one night, and I planned on leaving, there was no point in pursuing something. Then, Ivy and I agreed to stay here permanently. I thought about telling you on that first date, when you said you would never want to be with someone with a kid, but I didn’t. I kept trying to tell you, and every time I couldn’t. If I had told you aboutIvy,you would have run in the opposite direction, and we never would have gotten to know each other.”
“But what’s between us is based off of a lie.” He said solemnly. “How can I trust anything else you say? Jesus, I introduced you to my friends. I don’t do that with anyone.” His fingers raked through his hair again.
He couldn’t. There were still many other secrets she was keeping from him. “I broke your trust and that of your friends for my selfish reasons. I don’t have an excuse other than it wasn’t to hurt you.”
Heath shook his head sadly. “Trust is important to me, Liv, and you broke it.”
Olivia pushed off the car and stared him down. “Would you have given us a chance had I told you from the beginning?”
“No,” he said without remorse.
“That’s why I waited to tell you. I was hoping I could change your mind and help you see that children aren’t something to avoid a relationship over. How many of those other women you’ve slept with have kids that you don’t know about?”
“The difference between them and you, is that you were someone special to me, Liv. You weren’t anything like those other women. You started to make me feel again. To want to be different.”
Her heart began to flutter. She felt the same way about him. Olivia looked him in the eye and asked boldly. “So, where does that leave us now that you know?”
Olivia could scarcely breath, as she waited for his answer. She hoped with her explanation he understood why she kept Ivy a secret, as long as she did. At first, it looked like it worked, but then his features started to pinch, as Olivia felt her heart plummet. She knew what he was going to say, before he said it. She had always known, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
“There can’t be an us. I told you before I don’t want a relationship with someone with a kid. I’m sorry, Olivia, but I can’t. Kids are a deal breaker for me, and you’ve lost my trust.”
Olivia managed to keep her head up. She would wait, until she was inside to break down. She should have known trying to start something with him wouldn’t work. He was more guarded than she was. With nothing left to say, Olivia spun around, racing up the steps.
“Olivia, wait.”
She couldn’t. Olivia didn’t want him to see her like this. She closed and locked the door, wishing she could close off her heart as easily, but the bastard made her feel again.
Olivia fell against the door, needing its support to keep her up. She had known this was going to happen, since she first kept her mouth shut that night on the hill. It in no way prepared her for the devastating pain. Losing Chad hadn’t hurt this much.
I don’t want a relationship. Kids are a deal breaker.
She had taken a gamble that she could change a womanizer’s heart and lost. Olivia had no one to blame but herself. She should have told Heath from the beginning she had a daughter, and then she wouldn’t be where she was now. Keeping something like this never worked out in the movies, so why did she think it would work out in real life?
“You’re better off.” She told herself. If Heath couldn’t get over his issue about kids, it wasn’t her problem. There were plenty of other men in town who weren’t hung up on a woman with a kid. Who needed him.
“Mom,” Ivy called from the bedroom.
Olivia took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her face. “I’m here. I’m going to start dinner.” She smiled, trying to sound more chipper than she felt, breezing into the kitchen and looked around at what they could make. She hadn’t planned on being home, so the pickings were slim.
“I ate at Susan’s, but if your hungry, I’ll help you make something.” Ivy said, coming into the kitchen.
“Great.”
“Mom, have you been crying?” Ivy tried looking her in the eye, but Olivia wouldn’t meet it.
“No, honey. I’m fine. Everything’s going to be fine now.”
“You’re not going to see him anymore, are you?” Ivy said sadly.
“No, Ivy, I’m not.” Olivia busied herself around the kitchen, trying to forget about Heath, and instead, focusing on tomorrow and getting a better job.
Chapter 24
Heath stared at his still full beer, but he had no intention of drinking it. Since leaving Olivia’s house, he drove straight back to Marshall’s. He thought a few beers might help him get over today’s disappointment, and yet, he hadn’t even taken a sip of his first beer. He couldn’t get the image of Olivia’s face, after he told her it couldn’t work, out of his head. The crushed look on her face, and the barely contained tears.
He tried telling himself he had made the right decision in walking away and for sticking to his guns, but the thought of never seeing Olivia again depressed him. Funny, he had never cared about walking away before.
His friends were all still here, sitting at their table, and everyone had taken turns coming to talk to him, trying to get him to open up about what happened, but he didn’t want to talk about it. He honestly didn’t know what to say. The woman he was falling for had a kid, and he was falling for her he just realized. Despite all he had done to avoid a relationship, for feeling anything he did for Nadine again, it happened, and he didn’t even know it was happening, until it was too late.
