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Sam

S he loved the car, even though she tried to be unaffected by it. When we took delivery, I had a car seat installed and ready to go. The salesman had offered her a chance to test drive it before I signed the papers, assuming the car was for her. Spoiler: it was for her; she didn’t know it yet.

“I know you don’t want to drive the car, but I’m wiped. I’ll need you to do some driving on the way home.”

“Sure, no problem. Why did we have to get this in New Jersey? Aren’t there BMW dealerships in Boston?”

“They didn’t have the model I wanted and only had it in black.

” She nodded as she settled Crew into his new car seat.

He got nervous and started to cry when she walked away and slid into the passenger seat.

I called his name from the driver’s seat, and his crying stopped as he cranked his neck, looking for us.

Kelsey paired our phones to the car’s system as I set off for the drive home. She had completed the process on my phone mere minutes before my phone rang with a Massachusetts number .

“Hey, that’s the private detective. Do you mind if I take the call?”

She sighed, “Go ahead. Might as well get the ball rolling.”

“Hello, this is Sam.”

“Hey, Sam. Matthew Conway. Returning a message left by Monica. You’re looking for a private detective?”

“Yeah. I’m driving now and in the car with my girlfriend and her infant son. You’re on speaker.”

“Ah, do you need me to call back another time?”

“No. I’m calling with a job related to my girlfriend. How good are you at finding a needle in a haystack?”

“I don’t usually miss. Tell me about what or who you’re looking for.”

“The father to my girlfriend’s baby.”

“Ahh. Does he want to be found? Is this related to child support?”

“He has no clue he has a child.”

“Ok, let’s start with his name.”

“Tom,” Kelsey answered.

“Tom, what?” Matthew attempted to clarify.

“You see, that’s the problem. I don’t know. We met in Cancun on vacation. In July last year, he mentioned living in California and attending either UCLA or USC. He would have graduated this past year.”

“Anything else you remember? Did he play sports? Or mention a major?”

“I think he played hockey,” Kelsey answered. “He had very light brown, almost blond hair and blue eyes if that helps.”

“Not sure. Let me take this information and start doing some digging. If I find anything, I can bring it by tonight. Hopefully, I will find you some photos to look through.”

When we disconnected the phone call, I took Kelsey’s hand and stroked her palm with my thumb. “It’s going to be okay,” I promised her.

“Do you really think he might find him by tonight?” I could feel the anxiety radiating off of her.

“He came highly recommended. If Tom exists, he’ll find him.”

Kelsey got quiet and started playing with the radio, trying to find a playlist that matched her mood.

Which was anxious as fuck. Did we need to find Tom?

Yeah. Even if we didn’t do it now, there would always be the fear that he could come in and disrupt our lives.

And knowing Crew, I didn’t think it was right if we prevented his father from being in his life.

At least Kelsey would still be in control of the final decision.

“Where should we stop for lunch?” I asked.

“Sam, I’m good with McDonald’s. But I don’t see you eating fast food for some reason.”

“I have no idea how you can eat what you do,” I said. Kelsey maintained the body of an athlete while eating whatever the fuck she wanted.

“Well, breastfeeding plus running regularly helps. And maybe you need to be careful now that you are so close to thirty, but I’m going to get fries with my meal…and maybe even a shake.”

“What are you, a junk food connoisseur?”

“You could say that.”

I shook my head and smiled at her. “I can order a grilled chicken salad if you want McDonald's. The fridge at home has been fully stocked for dinner so that we can eat healthy tonight.”

“You want us to stay tonight?” She asked hesitantly, her eyes darted from me to the road and back again.

“Yeah, of course I do.”

“We’ll have an entire week together starting Tuesday for Texas…”

“And?”

“Are you going to get sick of us?”

“Not a chance.” Was it wrong to admit to her that I wanted to have them move in with me?

Would it scare her away to know that I’d remodeled the nursery and bought Crew an actual crib?

I hoped not. I warned her, I planned to spoil her, and was all in.

Eventually, I might even get her to relent and drive the BMW; maybe someday, she’d even call it her car.