“Always the easiest way,” Leah said lowering Leo to the floor so he could go through the basket of toys his Nana kept for him in here.
Will my child play with those one day?
“I need you to keep this to yourselves for now, okay?”
They all nodded solemnly.
“So, I had a night with a woman when I was in New York a few months ago, and I just found out she’s pregnant.”
“Well, fuck me. I never thought those words would come out of your mouth,” Dan said. “You were always lecturing me on protection.”
“When did you find out?” Robyn asked, glaring at her youngest son for swearing.
“Yesterday.”
“She phoned you?” Brody asked.
Jay exhaled slowly. “No. She came to see me because she’s from here.”
He knew they were all trying to work out who.
“The woman you had a one-night stand with in New York is here in Lyntacky?” Dan asked.
Jay watched his cop brain working through the women in town. Only one was here who he could have met in New York. Someone he already knew.
“We’ve decided to come clean with people right off, as it will get out eventually, and I want to be in the child’s life,” Jay said. He needed to get this out—all of it.
“Who?” Brody demanded.
“Brody,” Robyn cautioned. “He’ll tell us when he’s ready. This is not just about him.”
“Blue Jay McAllister.”
He kept his eyes on Dan. His friend’s expression hadn’t changed since Jay started talking, and that was the cop training. But he was shocked—it was there in his eyes. Shocked that his friend had unprotected sex. That sensible, rule-following Jay had broken every rule and got a woman pregnant.
“I didn’t even know you guys spent time together away from here. As far as I knew, you were just two people who lived in Lyntacky. Not close, but you had that tie, which made you sorta friends,” Dan said.
“It’s a long story, but I saw her one night when I came back to the hotel after a meeting. We got talking, and then drank too much…” He waved his hand about after shooting Robyn a look.
“Well,” she said, reaching over Brody to hug Jay again. “We’ll get you two through this, love. You’re not alone.”
“Thanks, Robyn.” His throat felt thick with emotion because he’d known that would be her response.
Callum brought over a coffee and lowered it down in front of him. He then squeezed his shoulder before returning to the stove.
“You think you and Blue Jay could have a thing, bud?” Brody asked.
“By thing, I’m guessing you mean relationship?” Leah asked.
“That.” Brody pointed a finger at her. “And having been in this exact situation at a younger age, I can help you through some of this, Jay.”
“I don’t know—honestly, we don’t really know each other, even after what happened between us.”
But they had talked that night outside the Rollaway. Really talked, and it had felt right to be there with her.
“Is she staying in Lyntacky?” Dan asked.
Jay frowned. He hadn’t even asked her that.
