Her face contorted before she burst into tears again. “You’re going to be Ruthie’s dad!”
I felt my stomach drop to my feet.
“Is that bad? I mean, I won’t try to replace her father.”
“No, it’s not bad! Jon—her sperm donor—won’t even acknowledge she’s his.”
That motherfucker.
I immediately wanted to find him and break every bone in his body, then I realized… “Good. His loss is my gain.”
My chest swelled when she murmured, “You’re going to be a much better dad than he could have ever been.”
Damn straight.
Then she started crying again. “And then we’re going to get divorced, and she won’t have a dad again!”
I grabbed her biceps and bent my knees, so I was eye-level with her. I wanted to make sure she was looking in my eyeswhen I told her, “No matter what happens between us, I’m not going to abandon Ruthie. Period.” I released her arms and stood up straighter. With a grin, I continued, “And who knows; maybe we’ll want to stay married.”
I’d bought myself a little bit of time last night when we agreed not to get divorced until she at least finished her degree.
If I couldn’t get her to fall in love with me in three years, I didn’t deserve to be her husband.
Chapter Forty
Jessica
Lainey squealed when she saw us walk into the bakery and stopped what she was doing—even though there was a line of people waiting for pastries—to run around the counter and grab my left hand.
“Wowzers!” She looked over at Alan, holding Ruthie’s car seat. “Nice job. Make sure you go with your brother if he ever goes ring shopping.”
The corner of Alan’s mouth lifted. “Who says I haven’t already?”
Lainey smiled like she already knew that before turning back to me. “You have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it, so if you need time off, just say so. I am here to help in any way I can, but I don’t want to step on your toes.”
Relief swept through my body.
“I have two weeks to plan a wedding—I need all the help I can get.”
Lainey clapped her hands in front of her and exclaimed, “Oh, I was hoping you’d say that!” She glanced at the line that was moving slowly since Paulina had to wait on people and then ring them up herself. “We’ll start planning once the morning rush dies down.”
~~~~
It seemed like Lainey had called in the cavalry because two hours later there was a flurry of activity in the kitchen. Jade, Lainey, and Lainey’s best friend Kristy—who was also her part-time evening baker, were helping me roll dough while we planned my wedding.
Before Alan left, he’d made it clear that cost wasn’t to be a factor in any decisions we made. Something Lainey seemed to take to heart.
By four o’clock, we’d scheduled a cake tasting for next week, along with florist, caterer, and photography appointments, and a meeting with a local DJ—even though I’d said that was unnecessary.
“You’re having a first dance,” Lainey said authoritatively, like it wasn’t open for discussion.
I liked the idea of slow dancing with Alan, so I didn’t argue.
We were going dress shopping tomorrow if Mama could make it. I wasn’t sure how involved she’d want to be with the overall planning, but I knew she’d want to be there when I picked out a dress.
When Alan came back to the bakery with his brother, the only thing he ended up overruling was the honeymoon. Since I was still nursing, anywhere we went, we’d have to take Ruthie.
Alan shook his head when Lainey told him her idea. “We’re not taking Ruthie to the Bahamas.” He turned to me and said, “Unless you have your heart set on that.”
