“Well, it’s kind of an old lady name,” he said.“But then, new babies look a little bit like old people.”
“Agreed.On both counts.But I think it’s a fine tribute.And one that she’ll appreciate.Someday.Melanie, I mean.”
She didn’t know if Melanie was ever going to have contact with her own daughter.She couldn’t really picture the future right now.Overnight their lives had changed.
She and Clark had only interacted during sibling emergencies.They saw each other in the worst, most stressful moments of their lives.
Now here she was, standing in his kitchen, holding a baby, wearing yesterday’s clothes, while he stood there shirtless and barefoot.
“Marjorie Porter.”
She frowned.“I don’t know about that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re not adopting her by yourself.”
“No.But I assume she’ll be given her daddy’s name.”
She one hundred percent knew what he meant.But it sounded as if he was calling himself Daddy, which made her think about …
She shook her head.She was in a little bit of a dry spell.Okay, a lot of a dry spell.Ever since she and Jason had called it quits, she’d just kind of given up.
She wasn’t a romantic.Not really.She didn’t feel she could afford to be.Her independence was important to her, but she definitely hadn’t imagined a future in which she was thirty-three and extremely single.
And just like that, you’re an instant mother.
Well, there was a gift to her biological clock.
“What time did CPS say they were coming by today?”he asked.
“I think around nine,” she said.
“I need to finish this coffee then.”
“Me too,” she agreed.
They caffeinated, then he whisked the baby away to change her diaper.Not long after that, Daisy showed up and interviewed them together, then took a tour of the home.
“I think this should be a very fast process,” she said.
“Good,” they replied in unison.
And just like that, their lives were on a completely different trajectory than what they’d imagined.
Once Daisy left, Ellie wasn’t quite sure what they were supposed to do.How they were going to work all this out.
“Ellie,” Clark said, “I think you’re going to have to move in with me.”
CHAPTER4
He hadn’t expected to make the offer.It had just sort of come out of his mouth over dinner.But there hadn’t been a good time at any point in the day for her to leave.It just never felt right.
And he’d felt something burning in his chest all day.Only when the words had come out of his mouth did he realize exactly what it was.
What was he thinking?Putting himself in close proximity to this woman who made him feel so much that it pushed him right to the edge.
“What?”
