“We were not even together back then, Wyatt. He was here as a friend. The only one I had since you weren’t around.”
“So, I should feel guilty about the fact that you never told me? We wrote to each other, we called each other.”
“I waited for you, and when you didn’t come home like you promised, I figured you got cold feet, that you weren’t ready to commit, and I couldn’t have that again. Not with London in the equation.”
“I would have been there,” I say plainly.
She sighs. “I wanted to tell you in person. I just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
“The right thing to do would have been to tell me,” I hiss.
I despise her so much. What a stupid ass excuse. She chose to keep this from me. She didn’t think I was good enough to be in my daughter's life.
“Can I see her?”
“Yes, but I think we should discuss the way we tell her about all this, and you storming in here guns blazing is not the answer.”
I let out a breath. “Fine. We’ll do it your way, but you aren’t getting rid of me,” I growl.
Her eyes widen. “You dare speak to me like that?”
“Fuck, yes. You kept my kid from me. I’m fucking pissed off.”
“Leave,” she demands, and I almost laugh at her attempt to intimidate me. I walk past her and slam the door behind me. I’ll do whatever it takes to see my kid.
* * *
“I should slammy fucking fist into that asshole Logan’s face,” I say taking a swig from my beer.
“It wasn’t his story to tell, son.”
“Tom, how could she do this? We knew each other for years, we shared something, we created a baby, for fuck’s sake.”
“She should have told you, but women are a mystery, Wyatt. I’ve been married for thirty years, and I am still at a loss sometimes.”
I sigh. The cold breeze from the lake making the air chilly. It’ll be winter soon, and the lake will ice over. We won’t be able to sit out here anymore. I should take London out on the water, hire a boat and impress the crap outta her. She’d like that.
“I should head on home, Tom.”
“Wyatt, give it a few days and then talk to her again. Be civil this time. Common ground and all that. You want to be in that kid's life, you’ve gotta be friends with her mama.”
I knew he was right, but my heart froze over the moment I found out that the woman who once brought so much light into my world could just as easily keep me in the dark.
Lying in bed,I pick up my phone and the card from the flower shop. I call her cell, which is printed on it. After the third ring, she picks up.
“Hello.”
“Hayley?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“It’s Wyatt.”
Silence.
“I, I just wanted to apologize for the way I reacted before and—”
She sighs.
“Can we start over? Just talk. About her. London.”
“Wyatt, I don’t want to fight with you.”
“Me neither. Can I come over to the shop tomorrow?”
“Sure. See you then.”
“Bye,” I say.
The call ends. But it’s a start.
