Page 9 of The Maverick's Homecoming

“Please. I’m pregnant, not ill.” She dared a step closer and lowered her voice even more. “This isn’t then. I’m fine, Finn. I really am.” She rested her hand on her belly. “I’ve had two ultrasounds. It’s a girl and she’s doing great.”

His eyes teared up. Must be the wind. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. And I’m happy,” she whispered. “I want a family. And now, I’m going to have one.”

“Well, then. That’s good. Real good…” He tried to think of something thoughtful and understanding to say. Finally, he offered, “If you need anything, if there’s anything I can do, you give me a call.”

She looked at him levelly. “I meant what I just said. I am okay, honestly. But thank you for offering.”

“Your husband…?”

“Ex-husband,” she corrected him. “And nothing’s changed on that front.”

He should keep his damn mouth shut. But he asked, anyway. “Does he know?”

She nodded. “I called him. He said the same thing he said when he asked for a divorce. He doesn’t want marriage and he definitely doesn’t want children.” She swiped a windblown lock of hair away from her soft lips. “Tate is totally out of the picture.”

“Good, then. Great…” He almost groaned at his own words.Great?Her ex-husband had decided to walk away from her and their baby. And he called itgreat?

Tipping her head toward the field, where Barrett had the team doing arm circles, she suggested, “They’re waiting on you.”

“I have to ask…”

She sighed. “Of course, you do. What?”

“Did you know you were pregnant when I finally called you last spring?”

“I did, yes.”

“And is the baby the real reason you turned me down that day?”

She made a thoughtful little sound. “Yeah—but it didn’t help that you took so long to call.”

He winced. “Got it.” He shook his head. “I had no idea you would be helping out on the field.”

“I love football.” She actually smiled.

“I remember.” He said the words quietly. They stared at each other, the past a living thing between them. Their junior and senior years, she’d been head cheerleader and she’d never missed a game.

“I try to pitch in where I’m needed,” she added.

“Well, and that’s great. That you’re here to help out. Thank you, I mean that. And I’m really glad that things are going well for you…” He kind of ran out of words. “Well.” He coughed to clear the sudden lump in his throat. “I’d better get back to the team.” At her slow nod, he turned and jogged away.

Through the rest of that first practice, Finn’s thoughts strayed more than once to the bleachers where Kenzie sat with her medical bag at her feet. He kept wondering, how was she, really? She said she was happy to be having a child. And he believed her.

But still, it couldn’t be easy being on her own. Having a baby should be a team effort, shouldn’t it? Helping a child go from diapers to adulthood was a big job. A woman needed a real partner for that.

But then he thought of his own mom and dad, who, along with his younger brothers, Eric and Dan, had relocated to Florida years ago. His mother was a good woman. She was always there anytime her boys needed her.

His dad, though? Finn Monahan Sr. saw the world as purely transactional. He “loved” the people who made his life better, the people who served him, the people he could use to get ahead…and the people who made him look good.

When Finn had been an up-and-coming football star, Finn Sr. was always checking in. But when Finn left the game behind and started selling real estate, his father had stopped calling.

Finn’s mom kept in touch, though. And when she did, she inevitably made excuses for his dad.

But Finn knew the score. Finn Sr. was an important man with a busy schedule. He’d never been the kind of father who had a lot of time for his sons. Essentially, his mom had raised her boys alone, same as Kenzie said she planned to do.

Again, he found himself hoping that she really was okay with being a single parent. True, women raised their kids on their own all the time. But it really did seem like a lot for a woman with a full-time job to take on.