Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Maren can still go…” Eric started to protest, then exhaled, shoulders slumping. “She’s already decided, hasn’t she?”
Fuck. I couldn’t seem to stop stepping in it where Eric was concerned. “You’ll have to talk to her, but do you really want her alone and pregnant at college? And then alone with a newborn a couple of hours from home?”
“No. Of course not.” Eric gave a decisive nod. “You’re right.”
“I am.” I took a moment to bask in my rightness by smiling at him, but Eric continued to frown deeper than the Columbia Gorge.
“At least here, she’ll have people to support her.”
“Them.” I corrected him gently before he and that huge friendship circle of his could close ranks around Maren. I had to stand up for my kid as well. “Diesel’s involved too.”
“I know.” Eric winced like he’d pounded another shot. “Maren said he’s excited.”
Excited was probably pushing it in terms of Diesel’s reaction, but if Maren was reading him that way, maybe he was doing something right.
“He’s in love with her. Trust me that he’s as scared as she is.” I kept my tone as pragmatic as my personal feelings on the subject. “He’s trying to be as supportive as possible.”
“Is he pressuring her to move forward with the pregnancy?” Eric’s voice went cocktail-skewer sharp.
“Enough’s enough.” I leaned forward over the part, getting up close and personal with his face, and not for the sexy reasons I’d spent months hoping for. “I get it. You’re shocked your kid is pregnant. And you’ve been in grief mode for what, fifteen months now? I’m willing to overlook your grumpiness most of the time, but you don’t get to talk shit about my son.”
“I’m sorry.” Appropriately repentant, Eric hunkered down, chin almost touching his empty shot glass.
“And the answer is no. The first question Diesel asked me was how to support Maren’s decision. I told him to simply keep loving her, whatever choice she made. But she’s been pretty adamant from the start that she’s keeping the baby no matter what.”
“I’ve gathered that.” Eric’s voice was burned-toast crisp, but his pained eyes kept me sympathetic.
“Since that’s what she wants, Diesel wants to be involved as much as possible.” My pride at how he was stepping up laced my words. Like Eric, I wasn’t exactly happy, but I was proud of my kid. And lord knew the situation didn’t need Eric and me trying to out miserable each other. “Diesel loves Maren, and I think that’s a big part of his excitement. He wants a life with her.”
“They’re kids.” Groaning, Eric rested his head on his hands.
“I wasn’t much older than him when Diesel’s mom sprung the news on me.”
Eyes widening, Eric opened his mouth. From anyone else, I might expect a crack about the strength of my bloodline’s swimmers, but here, I braced for a parenting-related judgment.
I held up a hand. “Think before your next comment, please.”
“Sorry. Continue.”
“It was a far different situation in that Flo was never the most stable person to begin with, nor were we particularly serious.” Those were massive understatements, but Eric didn’t need my life story that minute. “But when the paternity test said my name, I stepped up, and I expect Diesel to do the same. And I’m going to give him the one thing Flo and I never had.”
“What’s that?”
“Support.” I bent so he had no choice but to meet my gaze. I could be easygoing and charming all day long, but when I meant business, people knew it.
“Oh.” Eric’s mouth made a pained circle. He briefly closed his eyes, then opened them, voice becoming more resolute. “I want to be supportive. I do. I’m just not sure where to start.”
“You start the same place we all do: you love your kid.”
“Of course.” Eric looked two seconds away from one of Maren’s classic eye rolls. He and Maren weren’t biologically related, but they shared almost as many mannerisms as Diesel and I did. “But it’s still hard.”
“I wasn’t done.” I let my voice be stern because maybe Eric needed a little sternness right then. “And then you respect that your kids get to make their own choices. Their own missteps. Live their own lives. I wouldn’t have chosen this path for either of them.”
“I know.” Eric groaned again, so I kept right on being the firmness he and the situation seemed to need. There’d be time enough for soft words and touches later.
“But this is what’s happening.” I brought him a basket of house-made chips and another shot of tequila. “And you and I are going to be—”
“Don’t say it.” He slugged back the shot, grimacing so hard I had to chuckle.
“Grandpas. And I speak from experience here that if you keep acting like Maren’s making the biggest mistake of her life, you will only drive her away faster.”