Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82163 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“We can spend the night in New York if it’s too late and you’re tired,” I tell her, “or we leave tomorrow morning and get back for dinner.”
“What about Penelope?” she asks, and I just look at her, falling more and more into her.
“I can call the sitter,” I respond, and she just nods. “After we tell your parents, I would like to tell her.”
She gasps, “Of course.” She makes me sound like I’m crazy. “She is a part of this just as much as we are.” Yup, if I didn’t love her before, I definitely love her now.
“Okay, so you tell me what you want to do, and I’ll get the plane,” I tell her as I walk out of the front door, locking it. I want to reach for her hand while we walk to the car, but I don’t. Instead, I open the passenger door for her and wait for her to get in.
When I make my way around to the driver’s side, she looks at me. “I think we should go tonight so you can rest tomorrow for your trip.” She grabs the seat belt. “It’ll be a quick trip, but we can be back. If we get there by five their time, we can head out at ten. It won’t be that bad, and we can use tomorrow to recoup.”
“Then today it is,” I declare, starting the car to go to drop her off at her car we left at the doctor’s office yesterday. “So how about I text you if I get out early, and we can head down?”
“That sounds good to me.” She opens the passenger door. “I’ll wait for your text.” She lingers in the car for a couple of seconds, her hand on the handle of the door. “I’ll wait until we are in the air to text my parents that I’m stopping by.”
“Whatever you think is best,” I say, wanting to lean over and kiss her goodbye, but she just smiles at me and gets out of the car. I wait for her to get into her own car and drive away before I pull out of the parking lot, calling the sitter and organizing for her to pick up Penelope and bring her home.
When I get to the arena, I look around, seeing not many cars are here. It is an optional day, but I told Xavier I would come and work out with him. I pull open the door and step onto the blue carpet, walking toward the locker room. There are some new pictures of Xavier and me from the Stanley Cup game on the wall as I walk down the hall.
Xavier is sitting at his spot on the bench, drinking a pre-workout drink as I walk in. “Hey.” I walk beside him to my spot, putting my keys and phone on the shelf.
“Talk about getting here on time.” He laughs at me when I take off my shirt.
“Sorry I’m late,” I apologize to him. “Also, I have to be out of here at ten fifty-five.”
He looks at me for a second, and I avoid his eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Not really,” I admit to him, sitting down. The pressure of not telling him weighs heavy on me. In the last year, he’s been like a brother to me and vice versa.
He looks at me with concern on his face. “Is everything okay?” he repeats, his voice low. Then he gets up and walks over to the shower area to see who is in there and then over to the door, sticking his head out before closing the door behind him. “Is it Penelope?”
I shake my head. “No.” My heart speeds up in my chest so fast and hard it feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. I rub my hands on my legs, trying to wipe the sweat off them. “This has nothing to do with her.” My heart lurches up and then down like a wave in the ocean.
“What is it?” He cocks his head to the side.
“You have to promise me that you won’t tell a soul.” He nods his head. “Not even Vivienne.” I take a second. “Or Beatrice.” Beatrice is his support dog, who is also kind of his therapist.
“I would never betray your trust like that,” he assures me, and I one-thousand-percent believe him.
“Okay.” I take a deep exhale. “I don’t know how to say this, so I think I’m just going to come right out and say it.” He just waits for me. “I’m the father of Abigail’s baby,” I say the words out loud and watch his face. It goes from worry to confusion and then to shock, followed by a loud gasp.
His hand flies to the top of his head before he jumps up. “Why would you tell me this?” he shrieks. “Oh my God, how could you tell me this?”