Page 12 of The Unbound Bookshop
Piper angled her body toward Logan, as if she wanted to pretend Abby didn’t exist. “He said he planned to propose to his girlfriend, but he was having second thoughts.”
Abby flinched as if she’d been slapped. “That’s not true.” Panic fluttered in her chest like a moth trapped in a glass jar heating in the sun. They’d dated for three years before Donnie proposed. Three incredible years, when she’d fallen for him more wholly and deeply every day. When he finally proposed, she hadn’t felt a single twinge of doubt. She thought he’d shared her certainty. Was it possible he’d had a fling with this woman before promising to be faithful until death do us part?
“Of course it isn’t.” Logan narrowed his gaze on Piper, his blue eyes darkening. “I’ve known Donnie since basic training. He was crazy about Abby. To the point he earned the call sign Romeo, because he couldn’t stop gushing about his girlfriend. I’ve never seen a guy more in love. So, whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying.”
“Believe me or not, it’s the truth. Donnie came to town because his aunt died and left him a house in her will.Thishouse. He said the second he saw it, he knew his girlfriend would jump at the chance to live here, but that he’d hate being stuck in a small town. That led him down a rabbit hole, and he realized they wanted different things in life.” She glanced over her shoulder at her son before adding softly, “Like kids. He knew his girlfriend wanted a whole football team, and he wasn’t sure he wanted any.”
As Abby listened, a wave of nausea crashed into her, again and again, making it difficult to stand. How did this woman know all this? Was it possible—?No.It couldn’t be. Hot tears pooled in her eyes, and she blinked up at the ceiling, willing them away.
“I’d recently been dumped by someone for the same reason,” Piper admitted, still speaking to Logan as if Abby wasn’t there. “So, when my shift ended, I stayed. We drank. We commiserated. And drank some more. Too much.” She glanced at her son again, her features a tangled, tortured mix of love and regret. “It was just one time, but…” She let her voice trail away, and bile rose in Abby’s throat.
Stop. Please, stop. She wanted to scream. To plug her ears. To run away. She couldn’t bear another word. But she couldn’t move. Her heart ached with the same soul-crushing intensity as the day Donnie died, pinning her in place.
“That’s enough,” Logan growled. He took her hand in a tight, protective grasp.
Abby resisted the urge to bury her face in his shoulder, to block out the ugliness of Piper’s words.
“You’ve clearly done your research,” Logan told Piper with poorly disguised disdain. “But not well enough. Your whole scam is bogus and blown to smithereens by one crucial detail. Donnie was physically incapable of having kids.”
Abby stole a glance at Piper, expecting her to waver at the news, but the cold statue didn’t even blink.
“My thirty-six hours of labor say otherwise.”
Abby’s gaze fell on the little boy absentmindedly kicking his heels against the couch, engrossed in some silly cartoon, oblivious to the world around him.
He looked so sweet. So innocent. So much like Donnie.
But his existence required two improbabilities.
One, that Donnie betrayed her trust and did the unthinkable. And two, that even though the doctors told them conception would be a one in a million miracle, a single night with this woman resulted in a child. A perfect, beautiful child.
The thought roused another wave of nausea.
“If you don’t believe me,” Piper challenged, “order a paternity test.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Logan countered. “Donnie died over a year ago.”
“The Air Force will have his DNA records. A laboratory can match them to Tyler in a matter of days if you pay to have the test expedited. We’ll wait here until you get the results.”
“Here?” Logan repeated, incredulous. “As in,this inn?”
At the mere suggestion, Abby’s stomach clenched with dread. She gripped Logan’s hand tighter.
“Why not? Half of this place belongs to Tyler.”
“You’re joking.” Logan scowled.
“Look.” Piper straightened, a few inches shy of standing eye to eye with Logan. “I’m not going anywhere until my son gets the inheritance he deserves. Yes, I should have come forward sooner. But there’s no statute of limitations on paternity. And there’s nowhere else to stay in Blessings Bay. What do you expect us to do?”
“Look,” Logan echoed, struggling to keep his cool. “That’s not my problem. My first priority is Abby, and I’m not going to let the woman who—”
“They can stay.” Abby heard the words escape before her brain had time to process them. Her pulse quickened and sweat slicked her palms, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the boy. The boy who looked like Donnie.
“Abby,” Logan murmured, his gaze clouded with concern, “you don’t have to do this. They can—”
“It’s okay.” Her voice sounded strange to her own ears—hollow and unfeeling. Resigned. As if she were witnessing a life-ending asteroid, barreling toward Earth, unable to stop it. “We’ll expedite the test results, and get it over with as quickly as possible.”
“Are you sure?” Logan pressed.
