Page 72 of Miss Trust

I hadn’t meant to unload any of this on him. In an effort to continue our walk in the hopes I could put the awkward moment behind us, I stepped away, but he grabbed my hand and tugged me into his arms. Oddly enough, I didn’t mind being there.

“You have to believe you’re an incredible mother. Anyone who sees you with Penny would never doubt it.”

Tears nearly sprang to my eyes. Nope. This wouldn’t do. I pulled away in order to regain my composure.

As if sensing the impending awkwardness, he smirked. “As for you acting like a raging bitch, well, it turns out it’s kind of my thing.”

I burst out laughing. “You have issues.”

He shrugged. “This we know. I owe you an apology, Tory. I’ve thought about it a lot this past week. You’re spot on about me justifying my interference, and how I didn’t think about how it would make you feel. I should’ve told you my plan and empowered you to make decisions instead of taking over. I didn’t mean to steal your control over the situation. I only sought to make it better for you.”

I swallowed hard, recognizing an apology like this wasn’t easy for a man like Chance. “Thank you for your apology. Over this last week, I’ve come to appreciate the intent behind what you did, but I would’ve felt better if you hadn’t kept me in the dark. I’ve come to the decision I would like to file for the termination of parental rights, but I can’t accept money from you. You must know, given my history, how that would make me feel.”

“I wanted to help.”

“I know, but my debt is my own to pay off. You’ve been generous enough with the medical coverage and housing. Both are allowing me to pay off my old bills.”

He appeared as if he was about to argue but stopped himself. “Okay. We’ll take the money off the table. And I’ll put you in direct contact with the attorney to talk about your options to move forward. Is there hope for me to be forgiven?”

“Yes. For as easily as you can piss me off, you’re not half bad with apologies.”

He chuckled. “Room for improvement, but I’ll take it.”

When he put his hand back in mine in a weird display of affection, I found myself not minding. We continued strolling towards the lemonade stand.

“I almost didn’t recognize you today with your hair down and wearing a dress.”

“Among her many talents, Daisy is a makeup artist, and I didn’t want to be her shabby sidekick.” There was never a time Daisy didn’t look completely put together. She once said her care in grooming was an homage to her grandmother, but I frankly didn’t know how she managed it every single day.

“I snapped a picture of you.”

I stopped and stared at him, thinking I must not have heard correctly. “You did what?”

He appeared as though his stalker tendencies were completely normal. “The minute I saw you, I took your picture on my phone.”

No explanation. No apology. Just a blunt confession he didn’t look entirely comfortable in making.

“Did you think it would be less creepy if you admitted it to me?”

He shrugged, a playboy smirk on his lips. “Perhaps. Like we established, I have issues.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel. Flattered. Weird. Weirdly flattered? But most of all confused. I wasn’t sure which was stranger. Him taking a picture of me or me not minding it.

“I don’t know what to make of your impromptu photo op.”

“That makes two of us. You want a lemonade?”

“Sure. The strawberry lemonade, please.”

He ordered mine and a pink lemonade for himself. We moved off to the side and under a tree for shade.

“How is yours?” I asked by way of conversation.

“You tell me.” Much to my surprise, he leaned down and captured my lips. I was so stunned I could only stand there, frozen. But when his tongue found mine, my free hand gripped the front of his shirt to pull him closer.

When he broke away, we both stood there, staring at each other.

He finally broke the silence. “How’s the lemonade?”