Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
But I canceled my appointments for the rest of the day and headed to Queens.
The train ride over felt like one big blur. As I walked down the residential street, following the directions on my phone, I became more nervous with each step. I passed a café filled with people, for a moment considering whether I should just go inside, have a cup of coffee and a croissant, and forget the reason I came here. It was a bit crazy to be stalking an innocent toddler, wasn’t it? Or was I just trying to convince myself of that because I was scared?
When I arrived, there were only a few children at the playground. Two of them were older, more like ten. Then I saw one little boy running around while a woman watched.
I couldn’t be sure it was Christian until I moved a bit closer. Atticus had shown me a photo of him back in L.A. My heart clenched at the sight of the little boy with beautiful, big eyes, full lips, and thick, caramel-brown curls. His cheeks were rosy from the cold air. I’d seen photos of Atticus when he was around the same age. He’d had the same hair. This little boy was Atticus. There was no mistaking that this was his son.
After several minutes of watching him, I turned to find the woman watching me. She had obviously noticed my staring, which made me nervous. I didn’t want her to think I was a weirdo. While my original plan had been to not say anything at all, I opted to try to explain what I imagined seemed like very odd behavior.
I took a few steps toward her and fumbled with my words. “Hi. I’m—”
“I know who you are,” she interrupted.
My eyes widened. “You do?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve seen photos of you.”
“You have?” My heart raced.
“Yes.”
It took a minute for me to realize this was not the babysitter.
This was Christian’s mother.
Giselle.
The woman Atticus had slept with.
And while he’d been with several other women since, this was the one responsible for the permanent demise of our relationship.
“You’re Giselle…” I finally said.
She nodded.
Giselle was pretty, much to my dismay. Her red hair framed her heart-shaped face. She had bright blue eyes that were full of expression. She wore a black Patagonia jacket and seemed like a ghost who’d come to life. It had been my goal never to cross paths with this woman. But here she was in broad daylight. I’d never be able to go back now.
My throat felt ready to close. “I’m sorry. I thought you were the sitter.”
“She had the day off today.” Giselle smiled as she looked over at her son in the sandbox. “Did Atticus tell you to come here because he figured I wasn’t with Christian at this time?” She shook her head. “You know, I’ve told him multiple times that you’re welcome to come to the house anytime to meet my son…”
“Yes. He did mention that, but I was hesitant and thought this might be more convenient. I’m sorry if it’s awkward. I was just trying to take baby steps.” I exhaled. “And I’m sorry I didn’t know who you were. I’ve never seen photos of you.”
“What do you think?” She chuckled.
I narrowed my eyes. “You could stand to be a whole lot less attractive…”
“Well, thank you. Not bad for someone hardly getting any sleep, right?” She sighed. “I can see why he’s so obsessed with you, though. You’re drop-dead gorgeous.”
Before I could respond to that, Christian came running over, interrupting our conversation. He handed Giselle a stem of some sort that he’d picked up off the ground. In his other hand was a red lollipop.
I knelt down to be closer to Christian’s eye level, but looked up at her. “Can I?”
“Of course.” She nodded encouragingly.
“Hi,” I said, awkwardly.
The little boy waved at me then promptly ran away.
“He’s beautiful,” I told her, still kneeling.
We watched as Christian began to climb up a little blue slide.
I stood slowly. “I should’ve had the balls to come to your house or to call first for a formal introduction. I’m sorry for showing up like this.”
“Look…” she said, her expression turning serious. “I get it. You have your reasons for being apprehensive.” She kept her gaze on Christian. “The night I met Atticus, I had no idea how complicated his personal life was. I didn’t know much about him, except that he was the drummer for Delirious Jones—certainly not that he’d been married and the ink wasn’t even dry on his divorce papers. If it makes you feel any better, I barely remember that night myself. Although I remember more than he does, which is apparently nothing.” She turned to look me in the eye. “Anyway, I never thought I’d see him again. I didn’t want a child any more than he did, Nicole. I’d just come out of a breakup myself. But there’s nothing now that I would change, because Christian is the single most important thing that’s ever happened to me.”