“Tell me, Blake. What’s going on?”
She looked at him and pulled away from his touch. He tried not to let that hurt. “I…I’ll tell you inside.”
“You can tell me here,” he said slowly.
“Please?”
He nodded and got out of the car as she did. He didn’t speak as he opened the front door and let them both inside. What he really wanted right then was a beer, but he had a feeling he shouldn’t even stop to do that right then.
Graham folded his arms over his chest. “What is it, Blake?”
She rolled her shoulders back. “I’m going to tell you something, and it’s going to come as a surprise. But I want you to know, there are reasons, very, very important reasons why I did what I did.”
Unease crept up his spine. “What did you do?”
Blake met his eyes. “I have a daughter. Her name is Rowan, and she’s ten years old.”
Shock slammed into him, forcing him back a step. His mouth went dry, and he tried to think about what she’d said, tried to comprehend.
Words spiraled in his brain, a cascade of darkness and truths that threatened the very foundation he stood on.
Daughter.
Rowan.
Ten years old.
“What the fuck?” he gasped. “You didn’t tell me? Didn’t tell me you have a fucking daughter? We’ve been together for weeks now. We fucked, and you didn’t tell me?”
She shook her head, her eyes clear but frightened. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t tell people about her, and I have good reasons why I don’t. Reasons she’s a secret. But with you…it snowballed. I tried to tell you before, and then things got out of control. Yes, I should have told you before this, and that’s on me. But, Graham, there are reasons.”
“You think I give a damn about your reasons? All I’m hearing is that you think nothing of me, nothing of your child. She’s not good enough for you to share? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
This time, it was anger that leapt into her eyes. “No, that is so far off the mark. She’s my everything. I wanted to tell you, I did. But it was too early at first. It’s not safe if I just blurt her out like that. And then, when I thought it might be time, you told me about Cynthia.” This time, she blinked away tears. “And I didn’t want to mention Rowan so soon. I didn’t know the right time, Graham.”
At the sound of Cynthia’s name, he felt the blood drain from his face. His heart ached at the thought of his daughter, and yet there was this other little girl out there the same damn age as Cynthia would have been, and yet, Blake had hidden her like a dirty secret. It was like he didn’t even know the woman in front of him, and damned if he wanted to listen to her anymore.
“Get out,” he whispered, low, dangerous.
“I came here that morning to tell you…but things got out of control.”
He remembered her saying something about that, but if her daughter were that important to her, she should have tried harder. If he was that important to her, she should have tried harder.
“So it’s my fault?” he bellowed. “What the fuck? You didn’t tell me. You lied. Your daughter is the same age as my daughter would have been. Don’t you get that? Don’t you get that just the idea of Rowan hurts? It shouldn’t. I shouldn’t hate the idea that you have a child when I don’t. But that’s what you’ve done to me. I don’t even know what to say right now.”
“Of course, I know the ages,” she whispered. “That’s why I freaked out and made mistake after mistake.” She met his eyes. “But Rowan isn’t a mistake.”
“Get out.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t deal with you. I can’t even look at you. Just go.”
“Graham, we can talk about this.”
“No, we can’t. You didn’t want drama? Fine. Get the fuck out. We’re over.”
She looked at him again but nodded after a long moment. Without another word, she left him standing in his living room, alone and breaking all over again. She had a kid. A freaking kid, who could have been friends with his baby girl.
Blake had the opportunity to watch her daughter grow, to watch the world grow with her, and Graham didn’t have that. While Blake had hidden her daughter, Graham had tried to bring Cynthia out more.
The fact that he’d only told Blake about Cynthia because Candice had shown up crossed his mind but he pushed it away. He didn’t know what he’d have done if things were different, but either way, he’d never have purposely hidden his child’s memory.
His heart felt like someone had squeezed it until the blood vessels burst and there was nothing left but an ache and the memory of what could never be.
Graham went to his front door and locked it, knowing Blake wouldn’t be back. She had too much pride. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see her anyway. He might be working on her family’s home—a home that he still didn’t know the story about—and he might be connected to the place she worked through family, but that didn’t mean he had to see her again.