weren't enough to turn a man into a father.
And Jake was proof of that.
He didn't deserve Jenny, and Megan was going to put an end to this charade before it went any further.
Jenny was waiting by the elevators near the nursery.
"Honey." Megan's voice was shaky, unnaturally high. She took a deep breath. "Come on, Jen. It's time to go."
"Good," said Jenny with a big smile. "I'm hungry."
Megan pushed the down button.
"Where's Jake?" Jenny asked. "Can't he come with us, mommy?"
"Not this time, honey. Jake has something else to do." "But he said."
"Sometimes grownups can't do everything they say they will."
"That's not fair."
She stroked Jenny's hair. "I know, honey."
Everything about this was unfair, Megan thought as they rode down to the lobby. Whatever happened to happy endings? If this was a movie instead of real life she and Jenny would never have made it to the elevator before Jake came running after them, pledging his love and devotion.
"I want Jake to come with us," Jenny said.
"He has other things to do, Jen."
"Doesn't he like you?"
"I don't know, honey."
"He has to like you. He's our friend." That stubborn little lower lip jutted forward. "You said so."
"You didn't seem to like him very much yesterday," Megan pointed out. "You weren't very nice."
"He didn't like me," Jenny said, "but now he does."
That awful lump was back in Megan's throat. "How do you know?"
"I just do, that's all."
They rode down the rest of the way in silence.
#
Jake watched them step into the elevator as a feeling of emptiness settled inside his chest. Everything had gone wrong so quickly that he had the sense of standing in the aftermath of a tornado. He didn't notice the beautiful woman in a crimson silk dressing gown as she walked slowly toward him.
"You have to be Jake," she said, offering her hand. "Stace described you perfectly."
He looked down at her, bringing himself back to reality. "And you have to be Ingrid."
She nodded. "Where's Megan?" she asked, looking around.
"She left."
Ingrid's lips pursed. "She likes to do that."
"I've noticed."
"We had a loud...disagreement."
Jake met her eyes. "So did we."
"Stubborn, isn't she?"
"She has reason."
Ingrid took a good, long look at him. "You're gorgeous but you're not too bright, are you? The girl is still in love with you, Jake. She's never stopped being in love with you."
"She hates my guts." A woman in love didn't look at a man as if he were a failure at the things that counted.
"I don't like my husband all the time, but that doesn't mean I don't love him."
"Nobody's talking about love. We're talking about Jenny. She deserves a stable family and a real home." All the things that he'd never known, the things he'd said didn't matter.
Ingrid sighed. "I've never seen two people so willing to walk away from happiness in my life. Who said it had to be easy, Jake? Who said you wouldn't have to work hard to make it last?"
"You don't experiment with a child's life." He glared at Ingrid. "You have two kids. You should understand."
"You know," said Ingrid after a moment, "maybe the two of you are right. It takes guts to build a family. Maybe you and Megan just don't have what it takes after all."
Her words followed him into the elevator. They taunted him all the way down to the lobby. She thought he was a coward. A quitter. She never used the words but her meaning had been clear.
He'd never been a coward or a quitter in his life and yet he'd approached his own daughter with an uncertainty and caution that ran counter to everything he was. Everything he'd believed himself to be.
So what if his own father had been a failure at the game? That didn't mean Jake was cursed to follow suit.
And who gave a damn if Darrin McLean had cared more for himself than for his daughter? That was ancient history. She deserved better than that and Jake was the one who could give it to her, even if she went to the altar kicking and screaming.
Damn it, he thought, as he headed for the hospital exit. Ingrid was right. They'd been given a second chance and they were about to toss it aside like yesterday's newspaper. He and Megan and Jenny were a family and it was time they started acting like one.
He headed toward the parking lot. It's not over yet, Meggie. We're going to make this work...for us and for Jenny. It was time he took matters into his own hands.
#
"We