Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I nodded. “All good.”
Millie was still talking to Mrs. Campion, so I wandered out of the lobby toward the bar at the back of the inn. It was dark and intimate, and I wished more than anything Millie and I could spend the evening sitting at a corner table getting to know each other better . . . and then getting naked back in my hotel room.
But that was impossible.
She was Mason’s ex-girlfriend.
Grimacing at the thought, I ducked into the men’s room off the hallway. When I came out, I stopped short at the sight of Millie sitting at the bar by herself. That long wavy hair cascading down her back sent a pang of longing through me.
I glanced toward the front door, where I should’ve been heading, and back at her, where I wanted to be. In a split second, I made my decision and crossed the room in her direction.
I touched her shoulder. “Hey.”
She turned, surprised. “Oh! Zach, hi.” Glancing around me, she said, “I thought everyone left.”
“They did. I stayed back a minute. I was hoping to talk to you.” I looked down at the empty stool next to her. “Can I sit?”
“Of course.” She already had a martini in front of her, and she lifted it for a sip.
“Are you waiting for your dad?”
“Ah, that was a bit of a fib. I thought it best if I didn’t go to dinner, given the, um . . .” Her eyes dropped to my crotch for a half-second. “Circumstances.”
“You’re probably right.” The bartender approached, and I ordered an Old-Fashioned, figuring I had enough time for one quick drink.
“So this is a weird coincidence, huh?” She stirred her drink with the olives on the pick.
“To say the least.”
“I mean, I had no idea you were—” She shook her head and didn’t finish the sentence. “Not in a million years.”
I fought the urge to stand closer to her. “You know, I thought I saw you downtown last night, crossing a street. Then I was like, nah . . . couldn’t be.”
“Oh my God, same!” Her eyes went wide. “I thought I saw you this morning in a parking lot, going into a gym.”
“That was me,” I confirmed.
“It was probably me on the street too. I was downtown last night with my sisters.”
I nodded. “I had a feeling. But I told myself I was seeing things. What are the odds?”
“Speaking of numbers.” She looked at me curiously. “How is the math even possible? Not that it’s my business, but—”
“I was only eighteen. And I never knew about him,” I said, feeling like I owed her an explanation. The last thing I wanted her to think was that I’d abandoned a young pregnant girl. “Mason’s mom was only eighteen too, and we had a reckless thing that only lasted a few days. I had no idea she got pregnant, and she never told me about him. Or told him about me.”
“It’s such an odd choice to make—to keep a child from his father.” Millie’s expression was distressed. “I don’t understand it.”
“The circumstances were less than ideal,” I said. “Believe me, if I could go back knowing what I know now, I’d do things differently. But as it is, I can’t bring myself to judge Andi—Mason’s mom—for the decision she made. We were kids ourselves, barely out of high school. And I didn’t exactly leave her with the best impression of me.” I gave Millie the quick version of what had gone down in Frankenmuth that fall.
She nodded slowly. “So you think she kept your son from you as punishment?”
“I don’t want to make any assumptions, but I think it’s possible.”
“Wow.”
My drink arrived and I took a swallow. “Anyway, when Mason reached out a couple months ago, I was shocked. But even before the paternity test came back, I just had a gut feeling it was true. All the facts lined up.”
“Mason left me a voicemail telling me he’d found his real dad, and that he’d be at the wedding,” she said, shaking her head, “but he never said your name.”
“He’s mentioned you to me before too—just not by name.”
She looked surprised. “He has?”
“Yes. He spoke about a former girlfriend who helped him through a hard time, and he said she was planning his wedding.”
A quick laugh escaped her. “And I thought that would be the oddest thing about this weekend.”
“I’m sorry, Millie.”
“It’s not your fault.” She sat up a little taller. “But I definitely think it’s best if Mason never knows the truth.”
“I thought we covered well enough.” I ran a hand over my hair. “But he suspected something.”
Millie set her martini glass down with a clink and seemed to choke a little. “What?”
“As we walked over to the barn, he asked me if anything had happened between us.”
“He did? But—but what gave him that idea?”