Page 62 of The Coach

Drew looks at both of us curiously.

Lauren winks.

And me?

I barely remember how to breathe.

Because I just dropped the biggest bomb of my life.

And Jackson Knox Is officially on the clock.

Chapter Thirteen

JACKSON

I get to Everest early.

Not because I want to. Because I have to. Because Ineedto.

There’s no way in hell I can sit in my apartment, pacing like a lunatic, waiting for this conversation to happen.

Ivy is pregnant?!

And somehow, I missed every single sign that this was coming.

I order a whiskey, then immediately regret it.

Shit. I can’t show up drunk to this.

This is real life shit.

I push the glass away, dragging a hand over my face.

I sit there, staring at the pristine white tablecloth, my mind racing.

Did she lie to me? Why now?

Why the hell didn’t I fight harder to find her?

Why the hell didn’t I at least ask for her last name?

I let out a breath.

It’s not like I didn’t try to find her. I went back to Riverbend. Twice, for good measure. The hell was I supposed to do? Put an ad in the damn personals in the local newspaper like an insane man?

No one knew who the hell she was. No one had heard of an Ivy.

Even the bartender at the Tipsy Cactus—a man who looked like he had been planted there in 1976 and hadn’t left since—swore up and down he didn’t know her.

Eventually, I had to accept it.

She didn’t want to be found. The Universe wasn’t on our side.

I told myself to let it go. To move on. I wasn’t going to be the guy fawning over some imaginary woman who hadn’t given him another thought.Hell, maybe Ivy was a fake name.

And then tonight happened.

The server clears her throat.

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