Sam’s mother stood firmly beside a very bewildered Paige, her lips in a line. “True. Who would have thought it would be Maya making Sam’s wedding cake?”
Sam curbed his instinct to reprimand his mother for her coldness. She had never been fond of his dating Maya, but he wasn’t dating her now. Once out of Sam’s father’s embrace, Maya’s body stiffened, and she put distance between her and Sam’s family.
Paige spoke up. “Umm, what’s going on here?” She glanced back at Maya, then looked from Sam’s father to his mother, before finally settling her bewildered gaze on Sam.
“Well, Paige.” Sam approached her, taking her hands in his. He absently fingered her engagement ring as he looked her in the eye. “This is what I was trying to tell you before we came in. Maya and I dated briefly when I was in law school.”
Maya flinched behind Paige. Sam avoided her eyes.
Paige freed herself from Sam’s hands and turned to face Maya. “This isthatMaya?”
Maya squared her shoulders and smiled widely. “Well, yeah, Sam and I dated—but it was a long time ago, and we were basically children.” Maya dismissed their entire relationship with a wave of her hand.Not the first time she’d done that. “That’s in the past and I really do have some wonderful ideas—”
“I’m sorry, but could you excuse me one moment?” Paige turned back to Sam. “Your mom and dad are clearly surprised. But you don’t seem to be. How did you know before we walked in that this shop was hers?”
Before Sam could speak, a young girl burst through the door from the kitchen, carrying a tray full of cake samples. “Here are the samples you asked for, Mom.”
Sam’s stomach hit the ground as Samantha took in Paige and his parents. Her gaze landed on Sam and she lit up. Any other time, Sam would have relished the joy on her face. “Hey, Dad. Oh my God! Is Mom making your wedding cake?”
“Dad?” Just when Sam didn’t think Paige’s eyes could get much bigger, they did.
“Sammy?” His father’s soft voice was riddled with confusion.
His mother said nothing. Her eyes were fixed on Maya. Maya, in turn, was completely focused on her daughter.
Paige narrowed her eyes in Samantha’s direction. “Wait, you’re that new intern...” She turned back to Sam, fire in her eyes. “You told me she was yourintern! What’s going on here?”
“First, I want you to know, that I didn’t know myself until two weeks ago.”
“Are you—are you saying she’s really yourdaughter?” Paige spit out the last word.
“Yes.” He knew he had hurt her by keeping the secret, but there was nothing he could say right now to fix that.
“Why did you lie to me when I met her?” Paige’s voice rose.
“I was still trying to figure all this out, trying to get answers. I didn’t know what to tell you.” Sam bored his gaze into her, silently imploring her to believe him. “My parents are finding out right now, too.”
Paige faced Sam’s father.
“He’s telling the truth. Hema and I are hearing this for the first time, just like you. Isn’t that right, Hema?” He looked at his wife. She allowed a stiff nod, and a small smile. “And if Sammy says he found out two weeks ago, then he found out two weeks ago. Though when he was going to share this with the rest of us is a mystery.”
Samantha’s angry glare burned into Sam, and he turned away from her, only to face the question and doubt on Paige’s face. Maya had taken more than a few steps back, and currently appeared to be trying to melt into a wall behind Paige. He tried to ignore her. “Paige, I haven’t seen Maya in over sixteen years. She approached me two weeks ago, out of the blue, for legal help with Samantha.”
“What gall!” His mother had finally found her voice.
“Mom!” Sam silenced her and returned to his fiancée. “When I found out Samantha was mine, I couldn’t refuse.”
“So you knew Maya was pregnant and you left her?”
“No, I never knew she was pregnant.” He shot a glare at Maya.
Paige glanced at Maya over her shoulder and then redirected her gaze back at Sam. “How do you know her daughter is yours?”
Sam furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? Of course she’s mine.”
“You did a paternity test?”
“No.” He caught Maya’s eye, and images of Samantha winning prizes, playing soccer and growing up flashed before him. “But maybe you’re right,” he said, still focused on Maya, his hands balled into fists. The possibility that she could have been with someone else while she was with him was nauseating, even after all this time. But the image of Samantha at her father-daughter dance with someone else broke his heart in a whole other way. “It might be wise to have some documentation on file for when this eventually goes public, when I run for Congress. Make sure she’s mine.” In the same instant it took Sam to regret the wound he created in Maya’s eyes, he heard the cake platter crash to the floor behind him, as Samantha stormed off.
