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“At Stan Wilson’s garage. I’m a mechanic.”
“Oh nice,” Will said. “That’s where I take my and Janessa’s cars whenever we need work done on them.”
It was where Charli took hers as well. Would she continue to in the future, knowing she might have to deal with him if she did? Probably.
He’d always been passionate about cars. In the time they’d spent together—when they’d meet up at a nearby lake—he’d talk about his hope to be able to open his own garage in the future and how he dreamed of restoring an old car one day.
Looking back, Charli couldn’t help but remember how they’d connected. It was a connection she hadn’t experienced before Blake. Or since. She had no idea why that was. It made her think that perhaps what they’d shared might have gone the distance. If they’d had the chance.
Back then, she’d thought that after the months of long distance they’d had to endure, it would be strong enough. But then things had ended the way they had, and Charli had been left to wonder about everything.
Like if the times he’d been unavailable to chat during their period of long distance had been because he’d been with someone else. She wondered if she’d only imagined how much they’d connected.
But then, thoughts of how they’d been together during the next summer would take over, reminding her of how devoted Blake had been to her. Unfortunately, that just left her confused and hurting because she’d loved him so much.
Of all the decisions she’d made twelve years ago, Charli thought that keeping things quiet was the best one. Especially since Blake was connected to her family through Jackson.
It was bad enough that Jackson was aware of who exactly Blake was to her and Layla. There was no way she wanted the rest of her family to know.
What was a bit… perplexing was that Blake seemed to not even suspect that Layla might be his. Maybe that was because they’d only slept together once, and she’d assured him that they were safe because she was on the pill.
Of course, since she’d been taking it to help with her cycles and not as birth control, she hadn’t been the best at taking the pill regularly like she was supposed to. Given that she had been raised in such a medically oriented family, she absolutely should have known better. She’d just never imagined that she’d be one of those people who got pregnant after only one time—while she was on birth control.
But she’d wanted to be with Blake, so she’d thrown all caution—as well as her morals—to the wind. Regret had only shown up when Blake had stopped communicating, and it had only gotten worse when she’d found out she was pregnant.
She assumed that Blake had dismissed the possibility of Layla being his for the same reason she had been in disbelief when the pregnancy test first showed she was pregnant. And Charli was fine with Blake not even considering that Layla might be his. She really was, as it meant she didn’t have to deal with whatever would have resulted if he realized the truth.
As she put some potato salad on her plate, Charli glanced over to where the kids sat, her gaze lingering on the girls as it often did when they were together. It was a constant search for the similarities between them, which, thankfully, she had, as yet, not seen.
Leaving Blake and Will to continue their conversation, Charli walked over to the lawn chairs and sat down. Jay had set them up next to the blanket, which meant the kids were in front of her. It also meant that when Blake sat down next to Amelia, he was in her view.
“Can I have another pickle, Daddy?” Amelia asked, scooting over to settle next to him.
Blake gestured to his plate. “I figured you might want more, so I took extra.”
Reaching out, she plucked a pickle from his plate, then smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Beautiful Berry.” He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
Charli’s breath caught in her chest at the exchange. Forcing herself to look down at her plate, she scooped up a forkful of potato salad and put it in her mouth.
She didn’t taste it as she chewed. All she could focus on was the fact that she was depriving Layla of a relationship like that.
“Are you done, Lia?” Layla asked.
Charli glanced at Blake to see if he minded Layla shortening his daughter’s name. There was a small smile on his face as he watched Amelia scramble to her feet, popping the last of her pickle into her mouth.
Would he be the same way with Layla? Or had whatever he and Amelia been through given them a bond that he wouldn’t be able to form with another child?
Charli wasn’t sure that she could take that chance with Layla’s feelings. At her age, she was old enough to understand if she was being treated differently. It was hard to be tempted to expose her to that possibility because Charli had always tried her best to protect Layla. She’d never willingly place her in a position where she’d be hurt in any way.
For the time being—and possibly forever—things would have to stay as they were.
“Look at me, Mom!” Layla called.
Charli watched as she held the hoop around her waist, and then started it spinning, wiggling her hips in an attempt to keep it going. She got about two revolutions in before it dropped to the ground.
“Good job, sweetheart. Keep practicing.”
