Tame the Beast : Small Beach Town, Single Mom Romance

That should have also been a warning sign to me. The fact that I didn’t want to introduce Justin to him should have made me realize my instincts were telling me something. It was as if my brain was left on an island, lighting up SOS signs with fire and all that stuff and I kept flying over it without notice.

“I was seeing someone for a while, Dad, I just never told you about him since he was my boss. Well, my boss’s boss and I didn’t know how to explain that.”

“I think you did it fine just now,” he grumbles, clearly not happy I kept it from him. “So, is he or is he not going to be a father?”

“No. He is not.”

“Does he know?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And he asked if I needed him to pay for the abortion.”

Silence echoes through the phone with only dad’s harsh breathing on the other end. After a few beats, he says, “He doesn’t deserve to be in your life then.”

“No. He doesn’t.”

“But maybe keep the door open if one day he realizes his mistake?”

And I wonder where I got my hopeless heart from. Dad and I might not share any blood, but I certainly do take after him.

“Dad, you know how you wish my mom never happened in my life?” I ask but keep going without his answer. “Well, I wish for this baby to never know that lying piece of garbage. The only good thing he did was show us all his true colors.” I’m fuming now, but I’ll take anger over tears any day.

“That’s not the only good thing,” Dad says. “He also contributed his particles to my grandchild.”

“Daaaad,” I groan because leave it up to him to snap me out of my rant just like that. “You are well over the blushing age. You can use the word sperm.”

“I prefer particles because I don’t like to think about some bastard with my little girl like that, okay? Let me be happily oblivious.” Little girl being a twenty-nine-year-old woman. Sure.

“Sorry to disappoint but that’s called delusional.” Right at that moment, a loud voice speaks, announcing that my flight is about to be boarding.

“Where are you?”

About that…I ended up calling Joy before my dad which was a good thing, seeing as she curbed my panic from seeing that damn paperwork Justin sent me. She could sense something was off and told me to come to her. Not asked. Joy doesn’t waste time like that. Nope, it was an order that I gladly took.

I didn’t tell her about my pregnancy when she asked what was wrong, but I could hear her loud and clear without having her tell me that we would be discussing whatever this was as soon as I landed.

“In an airport.”

“Why?”

“I am going to see my boss. She’s in California now.”

“Okay, and when are you coming back?”

“In a week.”

“Great, then I’ll see you in a week.”

“What? You’re coming for a visit?” I ask, now excited to be coming back to Chicago because I don’t see my father enough. He is up in our hometown in Oregon, and unfortunately, it is not as easy for us to make it over to one another with my crazy work schedule.

“No, honey, I’m moving to Chicago.”

“What?” I screech.

“I can’t be the best grandpa across the whole country now, can I?”