Page 9 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love
Now it felt like a worse betrayal than Huck’s.
“So who did you tell?” he asked. “Only my mama?”
“And my family. And I didn’t tell your mama. She figured it out the first time she saw him.”
Even in the dim lighting, she could see his face lose all color. He looked away and ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the wayward piece of hair in the back and making it stand up even more. When he looked back at her, her fingers twitched with the need to smooth it down like she had done so many times before. Like she did with Camden who had the same cowlick.
“Then why didn’t anyone else in town figure it out?” he asked.
She shrugged. “You know the townsfolk. They only see what they want to see.”
He snorted. “And they never could see a Stockton getting with a Hennessy. So who do they think the father is?”
“Someone I dated my freshman year of college. That’s what I told Camden as well.”
His gaze was intense. “And was there someone in college?”
A part of her wanted to lie. But she had never been good at lying. Especially to Huck.
“I didn’t have time for dating. I was too busy working a part-time job, going to classes, and throwing up.” While she was sure he’d spent his time charming his way into every bed in Texas. She couldn’t help the jealousy that sprang up inside her every time she thought of him and other women, but she’d become an expert at ignoring it.
“So you were all alone?” The question had her glancing at Huck . . . who looked like he wanted to throw up. She should have let him believe she’d been alone, but again she told the truth.
“No. I went to Arkansas State in Jonesboro where my aunt and uncle live. I lived with them and my cousins. Plus, Mama came every month for moral support and to help with Camden once he was born. She dotes on him.”
“And does the rest of your family?”
“Cooper and Callum think the sun sets on him.” She set down her Coke. “Why did you want to meet, Huck?”
He pushed away from the back counter and stepped closer. So close she could see the green fleck in his right iris. None of the other Hennessys had one. Just Huck. “Did you really think I could just walk away after finding out?”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what you did?”
“Because I freaked out. It’s not every day you find out you have a kid. I needed time to absorb everything.”
“Two weeks?”
He took a deep breath and released it. “Yeah, well, you know I’ve always been a slow learner.”
It wasn’t the truth. Huck had always been smart. He’d just never believed it. Beneath the charming smile and cocky attitude was an insecure boy who had always thought he was less than. She tried so hard to make him realize his worth . . . until he’d broken her heart.
Now she didn’t care if he berated himself.
“And now that you’ve absorbed it, what do you want from me?” she asked.
He hesitated for only a moment before he spoke. “I want to meet my son.”
If the steeple had crashed through the ceiling, she wouldn’t have felt more stunned. She wasn’t blindsided by the fact that he wanted to meet Camden. She was completely blindsided by his wording. She was the only one who had ever referred to Camden as my son. Because she was the only one who had earned the right.
“Your son?” Her voice shook with suppressed anger. “Excuse me, but I don’t remember you changing one diaper, bandaging one scraped knee, or spending one sleepless night when Camden was a colicky baby or a fevered toddler or a puking grade schooler. You weren’t there when he choked on a piece of carrot and couldn’t breathe or when he took a tumble off the porch steps and got a concussion.”
He slammed his fist on the bar, causing the bottles of Coke to jump. “Because I didn’t know!”
She slammed her fist down even harder. “Because you ran off and didn’t care!”
“Because my best friend fucked me over!”
All the anger drained out of her to be replaced with disbelief. “I fucked you over? Just how did I fuck you over? We both made the choice to have unprotected sex, Huck. But I was the only one who had to deal with the repercussions of that bad decision.”
