“There’s something I have to say.” Avery sat up straight, Tucker’s eyes following the movement. The secret she’d been keeping for all those years burst onto the tip of her tongue, and finally, finally, she could let it out. “Shanna—she’s yours.” No, that was wrong, wrong in a way she couldn’t articulate. It wasn’t accurate enough. “You’re her father.”
Tucker stared at her, face blank. The silence expanded until it felt like it would push the walls of the house down.
“What?” he whispered.
“I found out I was pregnant right before you left.” The relief in Avery’s veins was chased down by a new turmoil. This was the hard part—she’d always known it would be, if she ever told Tucker the truth. It wasn’t just getting the facts out. It was dealing with the fallout, too.
His face went red, and Tucker stood slowly from his seat, then paced to the front window. He covered his mouth with one hand. Avery thought she might be sick. He turned around and met her eyes, searching her face like he was looking for the real truth.
“You knew, and you didn’t tell me?” A tight undercurrent of anger sharpened his voice.
“You didn’t want a family.” Avery’s heart thundered against her rib cage, regret rising and fighting with her own irritation. “You said you didn’t want a wife and kids. You made it clear. And I was young. I didn’t think you’d ever change.”
“Never mind ten years ago.” Tucker shoved his hands in his pockets and pressed his lips together, eyes burning into hers. “You’ve been back in town, what, six months? Long enough to take over Doc’s business and settle in for the long haul. You knew you were going to stay. And I’ve been here for days. You can’t tell me you never had a chance to break the news.”
Avery felt glued to her seat. “I expected you to be…uninterested. After that happened—”
“I wouldn’t have been.” Tucker set his jaw, his muscles trembling. He took a deep breath and let it out, face still beet red. “I would have been interested before, too. The last thing I would have done—god, Avery. I would never have walked away if I knew.”
“But you did walk away. Staying here wasn’t what you wanted.”
“You never gave me a chance,” spat Tucker. “Not once in the last ten years. You never gave me a chance.” He looked like he had a lot more to say. Avery braced herself.
But Tucker turned and walked out. His footsteps went lightly up the stairs. Even in his anger, he hadn’t wanted to wake Shanna up.
Avery slumped in her seat and covered her face with her hands, sadness and anger and a thousand other emotions besides making her skin hot and clammy. So what if Tucker claimed he wanted to be involved? It was too late to go back and fix that now. Guilt tightened her throat. It was far too late. And Avery couldn’t undo things.
And there was another possibility. It came to Avery slowly as she sat in her seat, watching the night deepen out beyond the front window. Snow swirled against the glass. It was a heck of a storm.
The other possibility was that Tucker had told the truth.
Maybe he did want to be part of Shanna’s life.
What was she supposed to do then?
7
The next morning, Tucker was already downstairs with a blazing hot cup of coffee when Avery padded down the stairs, freshly showered with her hair pulled back. She had a no-nonsense set to her expression that he could see even in the murky light of the morning. Snow still blocked out the sun, but it was early yet—he hadn’t been able to sleep. He’d given up on it around five and had been drinking coffee for an hour, which maybe didn’t help the situation. His nerves jangled.
Avery pulled out a chair across from him and sat. She looked him full in the eyes, and Tucker’s stomach dropped. This was it, then. She’d tell him to get out, and then he’d have to battle to see his daughter. He couldn’t live with himself if he gave up on them now.
“Did you mean what you said last night?” Avery lifted her chin.
“You’ll have to be a little more specific.” Most of what he could remember was a hot swell of anger, followed by shock.
“That you’d have been interested in being a dad, if not in being married. Did you mean that?”
Tucker nodded. “That was the truth, Avery. I never would have walked away from the two of you.”
She must’ve believed him, because she nodded, letting her eyes drop down to her hands. Her shoulders dipped like she was giving up on the fight, or at least accepting the outcome. “Then…we can work out some visitation.” What? “We can try to ease you into Shanna’s life. If you’re sincere.”
Tucker’s heart cracked open, letting out a flood of relief and hope. He put down his coffee mug with a trembling hand. “Yeah, Avery, I am.” She looked back up at him, blue eyes luminous even in the dim light. “I’m very sincere. I want to be in her life. You have no idea how much.”
They made breakfast together, skirting the conversation and keeping their voices low. It seemed to Tucker they were in silent agreement. Until Shanna heard the news herself, they couldn’t go about making any plans. But the tension between them wasn’t so cutting. By the time the three of them had finished putting away an enormous stack of French toast, he was ready. Ready to tell Shanna. Ready to move on.
Shanna took one last bite of her French toast and cocked her head to the side. “Do you think they’ll have school tomorrow, Mom?”
“My guess is no. But don’t get your hopes up.” Avery put a hand
