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As he headed toward her, Charli turned to lead him around the corner and through an open door. The area wasn’t super big, but there was room for a small kitchenette, a table big enough to seat eight people, and a corner with two loveseats and a coffee table.
It was decorated in warm tones with the walls being a light sand color. The couches were a dark blue, while the tables were made of a lighter wood. There weren’t any windows in the room, but several large landscapes hung on the walls, which kept it from feeling too boxed in.
The space was probably a relaxing place for the employees. Unfortunately, it did nothing to help Blake relax.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Charli asked as she gestured to the counter where a couple of coffee machines sat.
Would he be there long enough to drink a whole cup of coffee? “Are you going to have one?”
She turned to stare at the coffee makers. “Yeah. I think I will.”
“Then I will as well.”
Blake hesitated a moment before joining her at the counter. “Do you want cream or sugar?”
“Just cream, please.” She opened a drawer that had a large selection of single serve coffee pods. “Decaf?”
“Yes, please.” Blake went to the fridge at the opposite end of the counter and pulled out the container of cream and took it to where Charli was watching the dark liquid stream into a large mug.
When it finished, she pulled the mug out and set it in front of Blake, then prepped a second cup. Blake lifted the mug and took a long inhale, relishing the familiar aroma.
“We can sit on the couches,” she said after she’d doctored her coffee and returned the cream to the fridge.
Silence stretched between them as they took their first sips of the coffee, but it didn’t last.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Layla sooner,” Charli said as she stared down at the mug cupped in her hands.
“Why didn’t you?”
Her gaze flitted to his briefly before dropping to her mug once again. “I did try when I first found out I was pregnant. That’s why I wanted to talk. But once I realized how easy it had been for you to walk away from me, I knew I’d be raising our child by myself. And so I have. Yes, my family has helped me. However, at the end of the day, the decisions for her care fell to me.”
Blake didn’t like to be reminded of that, but he nodded, because he understood it was his own fault that had happened.
“When you came back…” She lifted her mug and took a sip, still not looking at him. “When you came back, I didn’t know what kind of man you were. I didn’t know if I could share parenting responsibilities with you. I needed to protect Layla.”
“And once you agreed to date me?” he asked, trying to keep his tone gentle and not confrontational. “Once you realized you could trust me? Or at least I assume you trusted me, since you agreed to us dating and allowing me into Layla’s life.”
Charli’s head bobbed. “I did trust you. But by then, I wasn’t sure how to tell you. It felt like it was just easier not to say anything.”
“Did you not think I would be a good father?” he asked.
She was quiet for a moment, then she finally looked up at him. “I didn’t know. When we talked about having kids one day, you told me that you wanted to be a good dad, but you weren’t sure if you’d know how. You said you didn’t think your dad had been a good example of a father.”
Blake had forgotten that conversation. As he recalled it, he said, “And you told me that you’d help me be the father our children would need.”
She blinked rapidly, her lips tightening as she stared at him. When she spoke, her voice was soft and choked with emotion. “Yes. I did. But it seems that you didn’t need me because you’re a great father to Amelia.”
“I wasn’t for the first few years of her life,” he admitted. “I let Lauren dictate everything, which meant that I only saw Amelia for short periods of time. After Lauren died and Amelia came to live with me, I had no idea how to be a full-time dad. The adjustment was a struggle for us both, but I try to always let my love for her dictate our interactions.”
She gave him a small smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. The sadness he saw there touched a corresponding emotion within his own heart. The last bit of the anger he’d felt when he’d learned about his relationship to Layla slipped away.
Finding out he had a daughter should have been a happy time. And it still could be, if they could work out how to move past this.
“Where do you want to go from here?” Blake asked, hoping that this had just been a blip in their relationship and not the end of it.
Charli took another sip of her coffee, keeping both hands wrapped around the mug. “Where do you want to go from here?”
Fair enough. If she needed to know where his heart and mind were before she answered, that was fine. He would take the risk and lay it all on the line.
