Chapter Eleven
Ella
Tanner holds the door open for me and Maisie as we exit Darcie’s with our coffee and pastries. Once he steps through, Maisie grabs his hand for our walk to the park. He holds his elbow out so I can hook my hand through it.
My belly flutters at the gesture. He’s always keeping us close. The last few weeks have been amazing. If he’s not working, he’s with us. Spoiling us beyond anything I ever dreamed possible.
He’s made us dinner. Read millions of stories to Maisie and played games with her. He’s helped me do repairs around the house. And every chance he gets, he does his best to put me into an orgasm coma.
I’ve never been so happy. Neither has Maisie. How he came into our lives at the time we needed him most, I’ll never know, but I’m thanking our lucky stars he did. He has certainly helped ease the sting of rejection from her father.
He’s who called the first night Tanner came to dinner. I told him that Mike had called to say he was terminating his parental rights. His girlfriend is pregnant and apparently Maisie is baggage that is no longer welcome.
My girl was understandably confused by the news, but not as upset as she would’ve been if Tanner hadn’t been around. In the few weeks we’ve known him, he’s showered her with more love and attention than her father did in the first four years of her life.
Right now they’re discussing the obstacle course race they’re going to run at the park. That is until Tanner stops short, bringing us to a halt. His muscles go tense under my hand.
“Well, look at you Tanner. I see you landed on your feet.” A petite woman with a stylish dark bob dressed in trendy chocolate athleisure wear purses her lips as she surveys us. She’s holding hands with a dark-haired little girl in a pink dress who seems to be about Maisie’s age.
“Aundrea, what are you doing here?” he all but growls.
“We’re staying at the Bar S Resort. What are you doing here?” she counters.
“I live here.”
“Huh, well that tracks. We better be going. Nice to see you’ve replaced us.” She smirks and waves her fingertips before flouncing down the sidewalk.
We continue to the park, but the joy has been sucked out of the outing. Acid swirls in my belly and my heart races at the implication that woman left hanging in the air. I had given up on Tanner having any red flags, but I was right, a guy like him would be too good to be true.
The tension doesn’t leave Tanner, and he’s no longer engaging Maisie. Fortunately, she doesn’t notice the strain now hanging around us. She chatters as we walk along, filling the silence between Tanner and me.
When we get to the park, she races toward the play structure and the other children. Instead of following her, Tanner turns to me.
“Who is she? Is it true? Are we just a replacement?” I cross my arms over my waist, trying to hold myself together.
His brows furrow and he shakes his head.
“Please, it’s not how she made it sound.
That was my ex-fiancée. I was enlisted when we met.
I was so happy when I found out she was pregnant.
We got engaged, and I didn’t re-up when the time came.
When Angie was born, it was, up to that point, the best day of my life.
The next day was the worst when Aundrea told me I wasn’t her father.
Apparently, she couldn’t handle my deployments and had cheated on me.
She left me to marry Angie’s father. I was devastated by her betrayal and losing what I thought was my child.
“Yes, when I first learned Maisie was the same age as Angie it was a punch to the gut, but in no way are either of you a replacement. I certainly wasn’t on a quest to find a stand-in family.
I had given up on the idea of even having one.
Meeting and getting to know the two of you reawakened me.
It made me realize I’ve only been going through the motions each day, not actually living.
I love you both for the people you are and not because you serve as a stand-in for someone else. ”
My heart aches for him and what he went through. I can’t imagine thinking you have a child only to have her ripped away from you so cruelly. I rub my lips together as I consider his explanation.
“I’m so sorry she did that to you. It must’ve been horrible. It’s just that this is a lot to take in. Maybe if you’d told me about them before, but now it feels like you were hiding it. If you were hiding it, then maybe deep down there’s some truth to what Aundrea said.”
He shakes his head. “Not even a little bit. I just hadn’t gotten around to telling you about it.
It’s not something I ever talk about, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
I’m sorry now I haven’t. But I’m actually thankful for how things turned out with Aundrea, because what I felt for her doesn’t even come close to what I feel for you.
Had I married her, I would’ve missed out on having you and Maisie.
You two complete my world. Please don’t let her ruin what we have. ”
My gaze goes to Maisie playing with a boy and a girl about her age. She’s been flourishing even more with Tanner in our lives, and there’s no doubt she’s in love with him. I don’t want to think about what not having him in our lives would do to her.
His reasoning makes sense, and he’s done absolutely nothing to make me doubt him since we’ve been together.
It’s just my own history that’s making it hard to trust. Tanner’s already proven over and over what a good man he is.
I shouldn’t hold his past against him. He certainly doesn’t hold mine against me.
I’m already in love with him. My heart’s going to take a beating no matter when this ends between us, whether it’s now or something happens down the road. I owe it to all of us to not let either of our pasts stand in the way of what could be an amazing future.
I look away from Maisie and meet Tanner’s gaze. “I’m going to trust you, because you’ve done nothing to make me think I shouldn’t.”
His eyes fall closed briefly as his body slumps, the tension draining out of him. When they open he reaches for me and mumbles, “Thank fuck.”
His hands cup my cheeks. “I promise I’ll make sure you never regret it. Thank you for choosing to trust me. Not only about my past, but with your and Maisie’s hearts. They’re safe with me and I promise they always wil be.”
He presses his lips to mine with a kiss filled with promise. I get lost in the moment as I do every time his kisses me. I lean into his heat and my heart settles as my pulse races. Peace washes over me at being in his arms.
The automatic calming of my nervous system tells me everything I need to know. I’ve found my safe space in this man.