you. Just because I don’t have a kid of my own doesn’t mean I’m an idiot about them.”
Of course he wasn’t. He was great with Macy. Better than she could ever have hoped. Which made pushing him out of their lives that much harder.
“It’s not just about that moment, Jake. The four days afterward, I barely talked to you, or texted you back. I was so wrapped up in what was happening with Macy, I never even told you how amazing it was to be with you that night.”
“I didn’t need you to tell me. I was there too, remember?” He winked, then released her hand and leaned back against the couch. “How about we lose the bullshit and you tell me what’s really going on.”
“And if I do, you’ll accept my decision to—” God, she hated this. “Break up?”
“Probably not, but try me. You’ve got nothing to lose except us, and that’s allegedly what you want, so let’s hear it. Do your best to scare me off.”
“Okay.” Sighing, she slumped onto the couch. “My parents have never been particularly loving or demonstrative. They’re pretentious, judgmental, and cold enough to give Jack Frost a chill. We’ve never been close, and we grew further apart when I got pregnant during university and chose to drop out and keep my baby, instead of finishing my degree and ‘making something of myself.’” But, they’re the only grandparents Macy has, and they do love her, in their emotionally remote, non-gushy way.”
“I don’t know how you turned out so amazing, but I’m glad you did.”
She didn’t deserve his compassionate tone. Or his appreciation. Not when she was trying to eject him from her life. Something she needed to forge ahead and get over with, before she succumbed to his Jake-ness.
“Despite their disappointment in me, they do love Macy. They’re the best versions of themselves with her, thank goodness. They visit a couple times a year and talk to her every Sunday. I tried dodging them last Sunday, but after their third message, I called them back.”
“From the hospital.”
“Yes. In hindsight, I should have lied to them.”
“But you’re not a liar.”
“Character flaw.”
He chuckled at her self-mockery. “The opposite,” he said, smiling affectionately.
“Based on what happened next, I have to disagree. To make a long, miserable story short, they did something that could change the future for me and Macy, and for me and you.”
“If they’re barely a part of your life, how could anything they do have much effect?”
“They called Macy’s dad,” she whispered, shifting her gaze to the stairwell. “They told him she was very sick and that he needed to come see her.”
Jake stiffened, his jaw ticking briefly before his neutral expression—his cop face—slid into place. “I know he skipped out on you guys when she was a baby, and I understand why you resent him, I really do, but wouldn’t it be a good thing if he wanted to be part of her life now?”
“If that’s what he actually wanted, maybe I’d feel that way. Maybe. Eventually. Since I haven’t heard a peep from him in almost six years, it’s not what he wants.”
“I take it he didn’t show up at the hospital.”
“No. Thank God.”
Jake nodded. “Is he planning to see her now that she’s home?”
“I honestly don’t know. I didn’t contact him and I haven’t heard from him. But if he decides to darken my doorstep, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Only that it’ll be a nightmare, for so many reasons. And, if my parents twisted the story to make Macy’s situation seem dire, which it sounds as if they did, anything is possible.”
His lips formed a straight line. “I don’t get it. Why would they push to have the guy who abandoned their only grandchild, and their daughter, re-enter their lives?”
“Because, ‘a child deserves two parents, Candace,’” she said, mimicking her mother’s righteous tone. “All of a sudden, apparently.”
“Then let’s give them what they want. Let’s show them Macy already has two parent figures she can count on.”
She stared at Jake’s calm, collected face while processing what he’d said. Trying to, anyway. Even if he’d meant the words the way she’d interpreted them, she couldn’t accept.
“Your offer is the sweetest, most generous thing in the world, but the answer is no. If Ken comes back into our lives, things could get unpleasant or downright horrible.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’ve never had to deal with anything unpleasant or horrible before.” His teasing squashed her stress as if it were