Page 46 of Don't Regret Me
It mirrored the panic he’d felt since Sherrie walked away. He’d expected her to come right back, to at least pretend to be the mother she portrayed to the media. Doting. Caring. Willing.
She was none of those things, and now Nick held the baby in his arms in a way he’d never expected to. An instant protectiveness had come over him. He hadn’t fathered the child, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t keep her safe. Even if that was from her own mother.
His eyes drifted to Stephanie. “I don’t know what to do.” The words were quiet, but Liz heard every one. He knew because her entire demeanor changed. She stepped toward him before pausing.
“Come inside.” She shoved the key into the lock. “But be quiet. I don’t want to wake anyone.”
He watched Stephanie blink up at him sleepily, hoping she remained content before following Liz inside.
Liz set her keys and purse down on the table next to the door and kicked off her shoes. The house was dark, silent, and he suddenly didn’t know if he’d made the right decision coming to her. Nothing had changed. He still didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to tarnish the goodness in her. But this wasn’t only about him.
She moved into the living room, turning on a single light. Its soft white glow was like a beacon, forcing him to walk closer.
“I’m guessing that’s Stephanie.” She spoke without looking at him as she arranged pillows and blankets on one end of the couch. “Unless you stole some random baby.”
“It’s her.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, short of asking her what to do. He didn’t know the first thing about babies. All his preparations when he thought he was going to be a father were in vain because the knowledge fled from his mind the moment he needed it.
Finally, Liz turned to them and held out her arms.
Nick handed her Stephanie, prepared to take her back if she started to cry.
He didn’t need to worry about that, it seemed. Liz smiled down at her, and there was trust in the kid’s eyes, like she knew this was a woman worth loving. “Hi there,” Liz whispered. “You must be tired.”
There was something so natural in the way Liz held Stephanie, like she knew exactly how to move, exactly what to do. Liz bent to lay Stephanie down in the nest she’d made on the couch, keeping one hand on her stomach. “We’ll need to keep a close eye on her. I don’t have a crib here, so this will have to do, but we don’t want her moving around too much with these blankets.” She sat on the couch, talking softly to Stephanie until her tiny eyelids slid shut.
Nick couldn’t take his eyes off the two of them. “You’re good with her.”
She smiled at him, a gesture he didn’t deserve. “I’ve had two of my own. It was a learning process, but after what those two put me through, I’m an old pro.”
Some people weren’t meant to have kids, others had an inherent connection to them. Nick always thought he was the former, but he knew Liz was the latter.
Her smile fell, and she drew her hands into her lap.
Nick lowered himself to the other end of the couch, the silence suffocating him. How did he begin? How did he explain things he didn’t understand himself? “You knew this was Stephanie. How?”
Her gaze drifted to her hands. “I met Sherrie.”
His breath stuttered. “How?”
A sigh parted her perfect lips. “At the Beach Club. I… After you left here, I went after you to talk.” Her eyes lifted to his. “But that’s not what’s important right now. Why do you have Sherrie’s baby? And what are you doing here? You ended things between us, remember? That was your choice.”
A choice he regretted, but one he wouldn’t take back. If it hadn’t been for Stephanie, he wouldn’t have come here. It only hurt them both. “I didn’t know what to do.” He buried his face in his hands, exhaustion tugging at him.
When he felt a hand on his back, he dragged his eyes up to Liz’s. “You’re the only person I could come to in this town.” That wasn’t true. Bentley would have helped him with no questions asked. So, why was he here?
Sympathy entered her gaze. “For what, Nick? I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Sherrie… she left Stephanie.” He still didn’t know if she was coming back.
“What do you mean left her?” Her angry voice rose, and she looked toward the hall to make sure everyone was still asleep.
“I don’t know. She just walked away.”
Tears flooded her gaze as it shifted to the sleeping Stephanie. “I… I can’t… How could she do that?”
“I don’t know.” He held back his own tears as he thought of the woman he’d married, the one who stripped him of fatherhood yet still demanded it of him. “She’s a baby, Liz. What do I do with a baby?”
A surprised laugh burst out of her, and she slapped a hand over her mouth while drying her eyes with the other. “I’m sorry, it’s not funny. I think I’m just in shock. What do you do with her? Feed her. Make sure she stays in clean diapers. Love her. Babies are simple once you learn the basics. What they really need most is someone willing to fight the whole world to keep them safe.”
