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“Did he?” Anger flashes through me, but I reign it in, because the reporter is still lingering around being nosy. I mean, that’s his job, but now’s not the time.
“Rory, the girls are calling for you.” They aren’t, but I need her somewhere else when I give her father the talking to he has coming. What happened to one step at a time?
Once Rory has joined her team, I stomp over to Nathan, who is chatting with his own teammates. “Nathan? Can I have a word with you in private?”
“Sure.” He waves to the guys and follows me to the tunnel that leads to the locker room, where I wheel around to face him.
“What the hell is this I'm hearing about a birthday party?” I fix my hands on my hips and try to look intimidating. Hard to do considering he's two heads taller than me.
His eyebrows shoot up. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb… the birthday party. Nathan, you can’t just make promises like that.”
His jaw clenches, and he peers down his nose at me. “Why not? She mentioned her birthday is coming up and she said she wanted a pool party. I told her I have a heated pool and plenty of room for a giant party. What’s the problem?”
“The problem is you’re getting her hopes up.”
“I’m not getting her hopes up. She’s my daughter, Izzy. I’ve missed seven birthdays already. I’m not going to miss one more. I want to be a part of her life and it isn’t up to you to decide anymore. You owe me time with my kid.” Somehow, he’s wound up in my space again, pressed right against me, like a magnet that can’t quite help it.
“Mom?” The small voice that I hear at the end of the tunnel is the last sound on earth I want to hear right now. The sound pierces through me, through the tension between Nathan and me. I don’t even have to look to know she’s been standing there too long.
This isn’t like the other night in the kitchen. This time it’s real.
God damn it.
This isn’t how I wanted this to happen.
We both turn, and there she is, her dark eyes, Nathan’s eyes, wide as they go and bouncing between us, her parents, like tennis balls.
I take a step away from Nathan and suck in a deep breath. “Hi, honey. Listen, we need to talk, okay?”
Rory about faces and takes off. “Shit.” I exchange a quick glance with Nathan, and it’s clear, we both agree that this fight doesn’t matter. Rory is what matters and we are both behaving like children.
We run after her. I’m too distracted to care, but I do notice that I pass right by Courtney Warner as I exit the tunnel to run after my daughter. Of course, she’s here right now.
Nathan is on my heels, both of us calling her name. She blazes past Nathan’s teammates, and Lila, all of whom stop their conversations to watch the scene unfolding.
“Rory, wait!” I shout, not caring who’s watching.
“Rory!” Nathan echoes.
She stops at the entrance to the stands and turns to face us. “No. You lied to me. Both of you. He’s my dad and you knew all these years. I want Uncle Evan to come get me.”
“I can drive you there, Honey.” I glance around, looking for Jules, who is thankfully already headed toward us. My best friend shoots me a pained look. “I’m going to take her to Evan’s. Can you handle things here?”
“I’ve got this. You focus on… this.” She motions between me and Nathan.
I look at him, and then slowly take in all of the staring faces. Nathan’s team, Lila, the soccer team, the parents, Coach Peters.
The only thing I can think is, what have I done?
CHAPTER 16
Nathan
Izzy, Rory, and I walk to the car in silence. No one said a word as we left. We climb in, but she makes no move to start the car. I flick my eyes to her and find her watching me.
Well that didn’t go well. I know she’s thinking it, too. I can read it in her eyes. I glance in the rearview mirror, but Rory is looking out the window.
