Page 25 of Whisper Sweet Nothings
“No.” She shook her head and sighed. “I married my high school boyfriend. We’d been together for years. I went to college, and he didn’t. He had an issue with us doing the long-distance thing. So he showed up and proposed my junior year of college, and we eloped when I was twenty-one years old. Not my best choice.”
“That’s pretty young. Did you just outgrow one another?”
“Yes. We were already so different, but I think I felt almost obligated to get married when he asked, you know? Like we’d dated so long, and he was so lost after I went away to school, and he was sort of floundering, and I felt bad about that.”
“So you married the dude because you had your shit together and he didn’t?” I gaped at her.
“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds crazy.” She chuckled. “But in a way, it’s the truth. Jaden has this great family, and I really loved them, and I think I wanted it to be this fairy tale—and it just wasn’t.”
“What happened?”
“We truly just grew in different directions. Or maybe I continued growing and he stayed still. He was the same guy he’d been when we were in high school. But back then, me being a type A overachiever and him being a hipster, pot-smoking mellow guy was appealing to me. But when you have bills and dreams and things you want to achieve, and your partner doesn’t want any of those things, or at least he doesn’t want to work for those things—it gets old quickly. Probably a good reason to hold off on getting married until you’re older.” She let out a soft laugh. “Anyway, the deal-breaker was when I got my first book published. He didn’t handle it well, and I just knew that I had to walk away if I wanted to chase my dreams.”
“What did he do when your first book was published?”
“I think maybe he felt threatened by my achievements? I’m not really sure. But he told me it was a fluke that a publisherhad taken a chance on me, and that I shouldn’t get my hopes up, because no one would ever read my books. He thought it was a ridiculous dream, even after I’d written the book and signed with a publisher. Interestingly enough, he didn’t mind spending the money that I received for the advance, all while telling me daily that I was going to fail.”
“What a weak man,” I said before wiping my mouth with my napkin.
“Yeah, I can’t argue that. But I came to Rosewood River for a fresh start, and so far, it’s been a really good change.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I reached for my water and took a sip.
“How about you?” she asked, her honey-brown gaze meeting mine. “I haven’t heard anything about Melody’s mom. Is she in the picture at all?”
“No.” I blew out a breath. I didn’t talk about Scarlet much. There wasn’t much to say. I would eventually tell the whole story to Melody, but for now she knew that she had a daddy who loved her more than anything in the world. “She came to town for a year to work remotely, and we started dating. We were both very career-focused and spent all our free time together. Seemed like a fairly normal love story up until then. Until it wasn’t.”
She studied me as if this was riveting information. “And then what? She robbed a bank? Went on the lam?”
“‘Went on the lam’?” I laughed, then glanced over to see that Melody was still sleeping on the couch.
“Yeah. You know, she traded small-town living for a life of crime.” The corners of her lips turned up, and it was hard not to stare at her pretty face.
She’s your nanny.
She’s far too young for you.
She’s newly divorced.
“You’re definitely an author. And by the way—the girls are all big fans of your work, apparently. We’ve been hearing about these books for months.”
She wagged her finger at me. “Nope. You don’t get to deflect with compliments. I gave you my sordid details—let me hear it, Archie.”
Archie.
It was the first time she’d called me that.
“She found out she was pregnant when she was pretty far along, and when she told me, I was thrilled. It wasn’t planned, but it was a child conceived from love, and I’d always known that I wanted to be a dad at some point.” I cleared my throat. I could still remember the conversation. The panic in her eyes. The realization that we were on completely different pages. “She told me she did not want to be a mother. She’d had a tough childhood, and she was very career driven, which I respected, but we’d never had the conversation that probably should have been had before getting to that point.”
“So what happened?” she asked, eyes wide and filled with empathy.
“She told me that we had two options. She would have the baby, and together we could give the baby up for adoption, or I could keep the baby, but she would not be involved.”
“She knew what she wanted, and it’s good that she gave you the option, but I’m sure it was very painful.”
“It was. And there was zero hesitation on my end, because I also knew that Melody was mine, long before she’d even entered the world. The day she shared her pregnancy news was the day I became a father.”
“You just knew it was your path, huh?”
