Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(46)

“It’s the right thing to do,” he muttered, and called Heather while he had the willpower.

She answered on the first ring. “Hey.”

Hearing the hope in her voice made him feel even guiltier for how self-indulgent he’d been last night. “How’ve you been?”

“Pretty good. You?”

Thanks to Savanna, he’d been great, at least for the hours he’d spent in her bed. But he knew Heather wouldn’t be excited about that. “Fine. My mom said you stopped by today.”

“Yeah. I took a sick day, couldn’t face teaching, and wanted to see if you were ready to talk. I’ve been trying not to push you, but my parents keep asking me what I’m going to do.”

“You’ve already told your parents?”

“Of course. I needed their support.”

Knowing Sid and Vickie, he wasn’t sure that was the kind of support he would’ve been looking for. He found them to be overbearing in the extreme. But who was he to criticize how she’d handled the situation? There was no rule book for this type of thing. “Right. Of course they’d be concerned.” He curved his hand into a fist. “Go ahead and tell them they don’t have anything to worry about.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means your child will have a father. I’m willing to try again.” There. He’d said it. The words were out. The decision had been made.

“You are?”

He winced. Even her excitement and relief bugged him. He supposed it was because he felt cornered, and no one liked to be cornered, but that wasn’t her fault. He was lucky she wanted him instead of Scott. At least that put him in the position of choosing. “Yes.”

“So...would you like me to come over tonight? I could make you dinner. You like my beet and goat cheese salad. And I’ve found a new recipe for pesto chicken I’m positive you’ll love.”

“Sounds great. Just...not tonight, okay? I’m still at the school, but I’m exhausted. I’m going straight to bed as soon as I get home.”

“Should we get together tomorrow, then?”

“Sure. But...let’s take it slow. I’d like to start over from the beginning.”

“In what way?” She sounded confused.

“We’ll date at first—nothing exclusive—to give us both time to acclimate to the recent changes. We have seven months. There’s no rush.”

“Oh. Right. Of course.”

“That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Sure it is.” She didn’t sound excited by the idea, but she sounded...tolerant. “I want you to be happy, too.”

“Perfect. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, and hung up.

After another fifteen minutes spent staring off into space, Gavin finally rose to his feet. He should feel good, he told himself. He was making a worthy sacrifice. In a sense, it was the sacrifice his father had refused to make for him. He’d put his child first.

But if he didn’t even want Heather to come over and make him dinner, how was he going to marry her?





13

A ding indicated Gavin had received a text. After parking in his drive, he checked his phone.

You son of a bitch!

Nice... There was no name attached to the number. That meant the sender wasn’t in his address book. But he could guess the person’s identity. Who is this? he wrote, just to be sure.

The response, when it came, didn’t answer the question directly. It did, however, provide a strong clue. You’re getting back with her? Really?

Scott.

If the baby’s mine, I want to raise it, Gavin wrote.

We won’t know that for seven months!

But he knew he’d take better care of Scott’s baby than Scott would of his. After living with Aiyana and working at the ranch, he felt like a trained warrior when it came to defending the powerless. Anyway, even if he was wrong about Scott’s parenting ability, he couldn’t trust Scott well enough to take the chance. He had to stay involved in order to make sure his child had everything he or she needed. That was the reason he’d chosen to take Heather back—it would provide him with the most control over the child’s life, even though it wasn’t necessarily the path he wanted to take.

I’m sorry you’re disappointed.

Bullshit! If you were sorry, you wouldn’t do what you’re doing. I saw the way you were looking at Heather when we were at the bar the other night. You wanted to make sure she still wanted you but only as some sort of ego trip. You don’t love her, not when it comes down to it. You were just messing with her head, trying to screw things up for me.

That was such a load of crap. Gavin had been glad to see them out having fun. He’d thought Heather had finally gotten over him, that he no longer had to feel he was disappointing someone he cared about as a friend.

He didn’t bother to respond, but Scott didn’t wait for a reply. He added: You’d better watch out. If I get the chance, I’m going to kick your ass!

You’ve got my address. Gavin knew better than to provoke the dude, but he couldn’t help it. He was spoiling for a fight right now himself. Just turning down the road that led to his house reminded him of his new neighbor and brought back, in exquisite detail, what it’d felt like to make love to her last night. He wanted to go back over there. That he couldn’t made him angry. But he knew what would likely happen if he did, and it wouldn’t be fair to sleep with someone else after he’d told Heather he was willing to start over with her.