Page 78 of Slapshot Baby

Before the phone has rung twice, Kai answers.

"Ava."

His voice is warm, steady. The sound of it makes my heart beat faster.

"Hey.” My voice comes out thin. “Are you busy?"

"Just finished rehab at the facility. What's going on?"

"Nothing major. It’s been a rough afternoon. Distract me."

He pauses. “What do you want?”

"Tell me something good.”

"How's your ocean lady?" he asks.

"Teal, Kai. She added teal to the mood board with fourteen new photos."

"Teal isn't ocean."

"That is exactly what I said. She's calling it 'coastal energy.'"

"What happened to the other forty-seven Pinterest photos?"

The fact that he remembers makes my stomach flutter.

I sigh. "The woman is prolific. I'm considering a restraining order against her Pinterest account."

"I trust you'll sort it out. You always do."

The easy certainty in his voice almost undoes me. He says it like he's observed enough evidence and reached a conclusion.

"What happened this afternoon?" he asks.

My fingers clutch the phone tighter. Biscuit shifts in my lap, resting her chin on my thigh like she's settling in to hold me down.

I'm pregnant. It's yours. My body is producing weapons against our child and I can't stop it.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me."

The gentleness in his voice nearly breaks me open. I open my mouth.

I need your blood type because you’re the father of our child. I need you.

The words are right there sitting on my tongue. All I have to do is let them fall.

But something older and meaner surfaces, pushing them back down.

I was a kid then. I don't even remember how old.

Lucy and I were already dressed for the county fair. I wore my favorite yellow sundress with the white shoes Mom had polished that morning. Lucy had on the denim jacket she'd saved months of allowance to buy.

Dad had been gone for months.

Then he showed up that morning carrying shopping bags and wearing the smile that could charm anyone. "Best day ever, girls. I promise."

His phone rang.