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I gave Kallie a hard look overeyebrow at her as she stepped around me and reached for the door "My first appointment with her, when I showed up with e had babies without a partner in the picture She toldbut co I think she has a pep talk in reserve no ht be"

I followed her down the hallway silently and paused when she stopped at the checkout desk to schedule her next appointe of our baby When she handed me my own copy all I could do was stare at it numbly That was my baby I still couldn’t wrap ood-bye so I could find the closest bar and shoot back some whiskey and hide from my problems like the mature, rational adult I was Unfortunately, Kallie had other plans She put a hand on my arm as I started toward the Eldorado and pulled me to a stop

"Wheeler …" Her voice was strained and the look on her face was one that would have s are so tense between us, that other people can tell you don’t want to be aroundfat tears in her eyes "You have always been my favorite person in the whole world and it hurts that you’ve completely shut me out of your life"

I openedthe best that I could but the words wouldn’t co and we both knew it

"Listen, Kallie, you have a lot of people at your back to help you with all of this Your mom and dad, Dixie, and even Roni, if you come clean about what she means to you" I pointed at the center ofthis on ure out my new place in your life and in our baby’s life with no help at all, so you need to let me work this out whatever way is easiest for ht here, Wheeler If anyone kno hard this is, how complicated it is, that would be me" She crossed her aret that this isn’t the ideal situation for either of us but I wasn’t alone when this baby was made"

I shook her hand off and moved toward my car "I loved you then, Kallie" I saw the way ure out how I feel about you now"

She sniffed a little and stepped away from me "I love you, I alill It’s a different kind of love than we had before, but that doesn’t le tear slipped out of her eye before she could blink it away and it made me clenchto be the guy that never hurt her and here I wasto have a family with you, Wheeler I always dreamed about the babies ould have and how they would have your hair and those a dimples This isn’t the way either of us wanted it to happen but I refuse to be sorry that it’s happening Soht not be one of the a faht not look the way you wanted it to, but it’s going to be our faardless"

I stared at her, letting her words sink in She’d always been the spoiled one, the pampered one, in our relationship I never expected her to be anything else but that However, when circued, when she was suddenly responsible for another life, she had finally stopped being so self-indulgent and coddled She was growing up and behaving far , I stepped up the curb and wrappedthat ard and stiff I used to hug her and feel like I was home; now there was so much distance between us that it felt like I had er She tucked her head under my chin and wound her arms around my waist It should feel fae

"Give ether and be the guy you need ave me another squeeze and stepped back Her cheeks et and her face was flushed but she was no longer looking at uy I needed you to be, Wheeler I know you will be the man this baby is lucky to call daddy" She rubbed her face with the back of her hand "You were always so patient with ave ht not be driving this ti anywhere without you" A weak sood at ets lost" She nodded at the Eldorado "The Caddy is gonna look really cute with a car seat in the back"

I choked a little and looked at my car and back at the former love of ot used to the idea of having a nursery in my house I didn’t think about hed "I don’t think I’hed and rolled her eyes atas you can belt a safety seat in the back you’re fine, and if that doesn’t work you own a garage You can borrow a family-friendly car on the days you have the baby and keep the Caddy for the days you don’t"

I felt both of htfully "You’ve been giving this a lot of thought" I was surprised she was the oneshe-devil that hadhell was nowhere to be found In her place was the girl I fell in love with all those years ago, but this version was even better than that one Itthat could have been if Kallie and I were different people

"Well, Roni won’t talk to s squared aith Mom and Dad, Dixie is stupid in love and has her hands full settling into her new life in Mississippi, and up until todaylike I didn’t exist" The last was a jab at ht under o over and over the best way to e or expecting you to be anything other than the guy who I made this baby with is not the answer You spent our entire relationship trying to be the guy you thought I wanted you to be, but the reality is you couldn’t be who I wanted no matter how hard you tried That scared the crap out of h the wringer and h endless hoops I was terrible to you, Wheeler, and I’ll never be able to make up for all that wasted time"