When I told him I was pregnant, he called me a whore and said that he’d never believe me that the baby was his. I filed for divorce and he signed the papers without any dispute.
I still put him on the birth certificate and when I filed with a lawyer for child support, he ended up signing over his rights completely.
He didn’t even fight for her, for the possibility of her being his child. I told him he could get a paternity test and instead, he wanted to wash his hands of us completely.
He doesn’t deserve to have Chloe in his life now and I don’t want to make her feel bad if I tell her the truth about him.
I push the thoughts away from my mind. She’s almost three, so I have a few years before I really need to worry about her asking questions. I will deal with it when the issue comes to fruition.
Chloe walks beside me as we move to pass one of the aisles. I see the front of another cart, so I stop mine to let them go first. Chloe doesn’t realize what’s happening and keeps walking as she pushes her cart directly into the one that was moving in front of us. The metal clatters into one another and Chloe stumbles a bit, but catches herself before she topples over.
“Oh my goodness,” I say, crouching down to make sure that Chloe is steady. “I am so sorry.”
A deep chuckle rumbles from above and I lift my chin, looking up. My eyes collide with familiar blue irises that stare back at me. A look of amusement fills Cole’s gaze and the corners of his lips lifts. “It's quite alright. Is she okay?”
I bob my head while rising to my feet and lift Chloe into my arms. “She's fine, just wasn't paying attention.”
Cole smiles as he looks from Chloe to me. “She looks like you,” he says quietly.
I swallow roughly over the emotion lodged in my throat and force a smile onto my lips while ignoring the way my chest constricts. Her features favor mine more than her father’s. “This is my daughter, Chloe,” I say, my voice remaining calm, unlike my insides right now. “Chloe, this is Mr. Cole. Can you say hi to him?”
Chloe looks up at him, her blue eyes bright as her curls shift against the base of her neck. “Hi!” She grins as she waves at him.
“Look at all of this stuff you have in your cart,” he says as he crouches down to check out her cart. Chloe wriggles in my arms, fighting to get down as she kicks her feet. I set her down and she quickly shuffles over to him to peer at the groceries alongside him. “You must be the best helper ever.”
“I is,” Chloe giggles as she quickly nods. “The best.”
Cole laughs and the sound slides across my eardrums. My breath catches in my throat and the muscle in my jaw tightens as I watch the two of them. Chloe begins to riffle through the different boxes as she proudly holds each one up to show him. Something silver catches my eye at the bottom of the cart and my eyebrows pull together and I reach past her to pull it out.
It’s a small toy truck inside the plastic packaging. I look at Chloe and purse my lips. “Clo, I told you we were only here to get food, not toys.”
“I sorry, Momma,” she says sweetly with a frown. “It’s pink!”
“I know, baby, but we can’t get it.”
Cole’s gaze meets mine and his expression is unreadable as he watches me. I set the truck on top of some cans on the shelf beside us. Chloe pouts for a moment but Cole looks back at her and whispers to her.
“I used to sneak stuff into the cart when I was little too.”
Chloe giggles and gives him a toothy grin as he stands back upright.
“Well, we should probably keep movin’,” I say apologetically, guiding Chloe back to the side of her cart to push. “I’m sorry again for runnin’ into you like that.”
Cole shakes his head. “You don’t have to apologize, darlin’. You can run into me any day.”
My breath catches again in my throat and I quickly force myself to exhale. “Say bye to Mr. Cole, Chloe.”
“Bye-bye, Mist-uh Co,” she says with a wave.
“Just Cole,” he tells her with a chuckle. “Bye Chloe.”
I give him a small smile and a nod, but I keep my lips closed, not allowing another word to betray me. I start walking in the direction we were heading in, with Chloe in tow. We continue on with our shopping trip, hastily loading up the rest of the cart. Seeing Cole here caught me off guard, mainly because he’s been gone for so long, I got used to not seeing him around town.
But now he’s here… and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.
CHAPTER EIGHT
COLE
