that he had seen him and was offering her something she’d never thought she’d get. “I asked you a question.” And she wasn’t budging until she got some answers.
He ran a rough hand through his perfect dark hair but wouldn’t look up.
She fought the ridiculous urge to bend down to make eye contact.
He saved her from embarrassing herself by finally looking up and piercing her with the eyes so like her son’s. “I should never have left the way I did or gotten angry at you for what I saw as you getting yourself pregnant and trying to ruin everything for me just when I was about to get started with my life.” His words came out haltingly and unsure. It was not reassuring.
“I didn’t do it on my own.” Why was she pursuing this conversation at all? She needed to move out of the kitchen, finish collecting trash, and take her son home where they could resume their own life.
“I know that. Your mom pulled me aside earlier and asked me not to interfere in your lives since you’ve been doing fine on your own. She said he may look like me, but he’s nothing like me as a person. That he already has more honor at ten than I ever did.”
Oh, that probably had gone over like a fly in the cake batter. “And?” She couldn’t help it. There had to be more, and she needed to hear it.
“And I didn’t really say anything to her. I didn’t know what to say. I can’t believe how much he looks like me.”
“He does look a lot like you.” She tried to make a joke and take back control of the conversation. “How is it that I did all the work, and he looks nothing like me? Shouldn’t I have at least gotten a nose or a chin for all my efforts?”
He put his hand on her arm again, and her weak laughter stopped in mid-ha.
“You shouldn’t have had to do it all by yourself. I know that now. And I want to make it up to you.”
She took a step back, breaking the contact, but coming up against the wall. If he came any closer, she’d have nowhere to escape. “There’s nothing to make up, Peter. He’s a great kid and my pride and joy.” She couldn’t help it if she’d put more emphasis on the word “my.” But she did feel a slight pang in her chest when he winced.
“Yeah, your kid.” His fingers speared through his hair again, and it stood up on end before he smoothed it. “Anyway, I would like to make it up to you. I didn’t even pay you child support, and you never asked for anything.”
She didn’t need anything from him. It was on the tip of her tongue to say so, but he was still talking.
“I was a horrible person. I should have stayed. I should have done a lot of things I didn’t do.” Backing up, he rested his rear end on the butcher block but didn’t break eye contact. “Isn’t this where you berate me and tell me how horrible things have been and what an unmitigated jerk I am?”
“No, actually, this is where I tell you that I adore Justin with everything I have and if I had it all to do over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I love him. He’s my whole world. He’s a joy when he’s not being a typical boy, and he’s smart. Your money or your guilt won’t change any of that.”
The kitchen door creaked open and Zoe peeked her head in.
“Go away,” Claudia said when her sister opened her mouth. “I’ve got this.”
The door creaked back closed after Zoe shot Peter one last evil eye.
“Your sister doesn’t like me very much.”
“She has nothing to do with this conversation. You wanted to talk about Justin. Let’s talk about Justin.”
He pulled at the collar at his throat. “I don’t know if I want to talk about Justin. I only wanted to tell you I realize I made a mistake, and I’m sorry for not being there for you and him.”
Here was a moment she could back down from or take as an opportunity. She took the opportunity because she didn’t know if she’d ever get another like it. He seemed so open right now, and he was never a very open kind of guy. Witness ten years of silence. “It’s not the money or not being here that was the problem. I