Page 42 of Nothing to This

Perfect first rule.Ensuring the kids had a safe haven was most important.

“Agreed,” she said.

The server came back with two blank boxes.

JD handed over a credit card without saying a word.“Babe, you seem distracted.”

The last thing she wanted to do was share her muddled thoughts.“I’m tired.”

“Want next week off?”

Her boss had the authority to grant that wish.Damn, complications.Her boss.Father to her children.Her roommate.Former lover.Tormentor.Friend?

Brenna was her best friend and didn’t exactly offer an impartial ear, understandably.Did JD have someone to lean on?Greg was his friend, but she had no clue whether their colleague knew about their history or that they’d shared a night together.Either way, she’d have to look Greg in the eye at work.Maybe it was best to be in the dark.Gossip didn’t interest her.

“I want to go home and hug my babies,” she said.“Will you take me home, JD?”

He nodded once and stood up to come around and help her from her chair.The server rushed back and, from the corner of her eye, she noted JD handing over a significant cash tip.

JD put his card away and then laced his fingers between hers.“Let’s go hug our babies,” he said, picking up the desserts in his other hand.

It was nice to have support, to have someone take care of things.Life was going to get more complicated as people absorbed the truth of her children’s parentage.As long as their babies were okay, and had the support of both parents, they’d work everything else out.JD would do his part; she had full confidence in that.

He was a good father.Though that wasn’t exactly something she could be proud of herself given it was luck of the draw.Serendipitous.Still, she had done a good job of picking a counterpart.Primitive biology at work, she presumed.He loved their children, and she couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

FIFTEEN

The high of her day with JD and the kids carried her through to meeting Baxter for dinner.

It didn’t last long beyond that.

They’d met at a gastropub, nothing fancy, just a great place to eat.She loved their cocktails and the friendly staff; she’d been there a bunch of times.

In fact, they’d eaten there so regularly that she’d decided on her dinner order before arriving.While giving their drinks requests, they ordered food too.

“So…” Baxter said, his attention moving from the darkened window next to their faux-leather booth to the bright lights hanging above each table.“Do you want to tell me now why you canceled on me last night?”

Still smiling, optimistic about the conversation, revealing the truth should be freeing.

“I didn’t cancel, I postponed.”

“Usually when it’s his weekend, I have you the whole time.”

“I know,” she said.“And this is sort of his fault.”Though Baxter frowned, she flashed a smile.“Well, not his fault, but… we had a meeting with our lawyers yesterday afternoon and signed new contracts.”

“New contracts?You mean…”

“Yes,” she said, flattening her hands on the table, pushing her arms straight and shoulders back.“The gag is officially gone; I can say anything I like.Everything.Anything is allowed.”

“Rylee…”

His stunned expression enhanced her glee.Had he believed it would ever happen?Had she?

“We had to talk to the kids last night, hence the postponement.It was only right to talk to them first.”

“But…” he said, squinting.“They knew who he was, right?They knew he was their father… didn’t they?”

She nodded.“Yeah, there were other things they weren’t aware of though.We had to loop them in.”