Page 67 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

“Maybe you should think of the real reason you’re making the decision. And it isn’t because of Caleb,” I told her.

“We can’t just uproot ourselves and leave our support system behind. Then we would be relying only on you. And I can’t just do that.”

Because she didn’t trust me. The thought stung.

I took a step toward her, and she must have seen the anger in my eyes because she flinched.

She flinched from me.

Fuck. She really was scared of me.

Throat tight, I nodded. Then I turned around and left.

TWENTY-FIVE

ALLIE

The door closed with a quiet click behind Marcus. The ensuing silence brought an almost instant regret.

I sat on the couch behind me, running my hands over my face.Why did I just do that?

I saw the way his face closed off the minute I flinched from him and saw the hurt flash through his eyes when I implied that I couldn’t go with him to New York because then we wouldn’t have anything to fall back on in case things didn’t work out with him.

Like I didn’t trust him.

I knew I had hurt him with my reaction, and it wasn’t that I meant to flinch away from him. I wasn’t scared of him. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.

It was just everything else that had me on edge.

As much as I brushed it off, the threat that was painted on his truck rattled me. I wasn’t used to it and didn’t know anyone in town who would do something like that to someone. Of course, I didn’t think we were all saints either, but to spray paint a deliberate threat on someone’s vehicle?

That was beyond me.

However, that wasn’t the only thing that made me nervous. I was also confused and uncertain about Marcus and his friend, or maybe boss, who sent expensive cars to pick him up in under thirty minutes. People who had that much power and influence made me nervous. And it reminded me of the fact that I still didn’t know much about Marcus’ life in New York. He was so evasive about it.

It all had me on high alert, and I’d taken it out on him.

I sighed and went upstairs to check on Caleb, who was still sleeping peacefully.

Luckily, he didn’t seem as affected by what happened today, likely because he didn’t fully understand. Or perhaps he was just feeling a lot more relaxed than usual. Normally, he would have caught the tension in the home and started reacting to it. But here he was, sleeping.

Marcus did that.

Of course, I didn’t doubt that some of the improvements were because of Dr. Hammond, but I also knew Caleb likely felt a lot safer with his father around. Marcus had that effect on people.

“Maybe you should think of the real reason you’re making the decision. And it isn’t because of Caleb.”

Unbidden, Marcus’ words drifted back to me. Was he right? Was I the one being selfish here and putting Caleb in the position to be harmed all because I was too scared to trust him?

No. As his mother, I had the right to be cautious to protect my son. I was supposed to keep him out of harm’s way no matter what.

But was my caution putting him in danger instead?

I swallowed, thoughts flying through my endless choices and fears intermingling until it was hard to form a coherent thought. The indecision was torture.Gosh, what to do? Should I trust Marcus and leave behind everything and everyone I knew? Or stay in town where some maniac was threatening our lives?

Could it all have been a bad joke?

It was hard to believe that someone in town meant those nasty things on Marcus’ car. I’d grown up in this town and only received love from the people here. I knew most of them by face.

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