Read Online His Surprise Son by WENDY WARREN - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: WENDY WARREN
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still at her desk, apparently postponing her lunch hour. Her customary provocative smile was in place as she looked at Izzy, but it dropped the second she noted her friend’s expression.
“Do you want to talk?” she offered, half rising from her chair.
Izzy had always been a private person—more so, she had been told, than most. For once, though, she knew she needed her best friends.
“Derek’s bringing pizza tonight,” she managed to choke out as tears clogged her throat.
“I’ll bring a salad and drinks and see you around six thirty.”
The tears reached her eyes. “Thanks.” Quickly scrounging in her purse, she found her sunglasses, slipped them on and gave one wave to Holliday before leaving the library.
The sun was directly above her, the clouds picture-perfect in the late-June sky as Izzy stepped onto the street. After two slogging steps toward the deli, she changed her mind and headed for home. She’d been at work since five that morning; no one would complain if she took a break, and she didn’t want to see anyone now, not even Henry or Sam. For the first time in memory, she was actually glad Eli wouldn’t be home when she got there.
She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt more confused. If Nate thought she’d had a miscarriage, then he wasn’t the total bad guy she had believed him to be all these years. On the other hand, he’d wanted her to put their child up for adoption and left her in the dubious care of his parents while he pursued a solo life in Chicago. So, he wasn’t the man she’d once hoped he was, either. Did she owe him the truth today?
Arms swinging, feet pounding the hot pavement, she wished she could outrun her thoughts.
What she needed tonight was a little pizza, a little wine, a whole lot of ice cream and her friends to remind her of who she was: a woman tasked with the job of protecting her son from heartache and confusion. A single mother by circumstance and by choice, committed to raising a secure, confident human being who knew he was the pride and joy of the people who loved him. The biggest threat to her success would be falling, once again, for a man who didn’t want to be a husband to her or a father to their son.
Her heart couldn’t handle making that mistake twice.
Chapter Five
“W ow.”
Izzy smiled weakly at Derek’s stunned expression. She’d felt far too nervous to take more than an obligatory bite of the pizza he had brought over, but he and Holliday had done justice to the extra-large “kitchen sink” pie while Izzy pieced together the story of her high school romance. When she got to the part where she’d told Nate she was pregnant and his parents had convinced them that having the baby would ruin their lives and their child’s, Derek stopped chewing, leaned his elbows on his knees and listened intently. His brows lowered more with each word, and Holliday traded her dinner plate for a wineglass, her green eyes filling with concern.
“Were his parents pissed off?” she asked.
“They didn’t show it. Not in the beginning,” Izzy answered honestly. “They were certainly disappointed. I think they’d started Nate’s college fund the day he was born. He was voted Most Likely to Succeed and prom king in his senior year of high school. All set to take the world by storm.”
“Were they compassionate?”
“At first.” As her mind traveled back to the memories, Izzy felt the surge of emotions she usually resisted. “The Thayers made their points kindly. That was the problem. If they’d been furious right off the bat, maybe I would have kept my perspective. And before Nate left for school, he was...”
She closed her eyes against stinging tears.
“Before he left for school, Nate was what?” Holliday urged.
“Protective. He seemed to care...about me and the baby. He told his parents he was worried about how I would manage if there were problems with the pregnancy and he wasn’t here. He knew my mother wasn’t going to be
“Do you want to talk?” she offered, half rising from her chair.
Izzy had always been a private person—more so, she had been told, than most. For once, though, she knew she needed her best friends.
“Derek’s bringing pizza tonight,” she managed to choke out as tears clogged her throat.
“I’ll bring a salad and drinks and see you around six thirty.”
The tears reached her eyes. “Thanks.” Quickly scrounging in her purse, she found her sunglasses, slipped them on and gave one wave to Holliday before leaving the library.
The sun was directly above her, the clouds picture-perfect in the late-June sky as Izzy stepped onto the street. After two slogging steps toward the deli, she changed her mind and headed for home. She’d been at work since five that morning; no one would complain if she took a break, and she didn’t want to see anyone now, not even Henry or Sam. For the first time in memory, she was actually glad Eli wouldn’t be home when she got there.
She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt more confused. If Nate thought she’d had a miscarriage, then he wasn’t the total bad guy she had believed him to be all these years. On the other hand, he’d wanted her to put their child up for adoption and left her in the dubious care of his parents while he pursued a solo life in Chicago. So, he wasn’t the man she’d once hoped he was, either. Did she owe him the truth today?
Arms swinging, feet pounding the hot pavement, she wished she could outrun her thoughts.
What she needed tonight was a little pizza, a little wine, a whole lot of ice cream and her friends to remind her of who she was: a woman tasked with the job of protecting her son from heartache and confusion. A single mother by circumstance and by choice, committed to raising a secure, confident human being who knew he was the pride and joy of the people who loved him. The biggest threat to her success would be falling, once again, for a man who didn’t want to be a husband to her or a father to their son.
Her heart couldn’t handle making that mistake twice.
Chapter Five
“W ow.”
Izzy smiled weakly at Derek’s stunned expression. She’d felt far too nervous to take more than an obligatory bite of the pizza he had brought over, but he and Holliday had done justice to the extra-large “kitchen sink” pie while Izzy pieced together the story of her high school romance. When she got to the part where she’d told Nate she was pregnant and his parents had convinced them that having the baby would ruin their lives and their child’s, Derek stopped chewing, leaned his elbows on his knees and listened intently. His brows lowered more with each word, and Holliday traded her dinner plate for a wineglass, her green eyes filling with concern.
“Were his parents pissed off?” she asked.
“They didn’t show it. Not in the beginning,” Izzy answered honestly. “They were certainly disappointed. I think they’d started Nate’s college fund the day he was born. He was voted Most Likely to Succeed and prom king in his senior year of high school. All set to take the world by storm.”
“Were they compassionate?”
“At first.” As her mind traveled back to the memories, Izzy felt the surge of emotions she usually resisted. “The Thayers made their points kindly. That was the problem. If they’d been furious right off the bat, maybe I would have kept my perspective. And before Nate left for school, he was...”
She closed her eyes against stinging tears.
“Before he left for school, Nate was what?” Holliday urged.
“Protective. He seemed to care...about me and the baby. He told his parents he was worried about how I would manage if there were problems with the pregnancy and he wasn’t here. He knew my mother wasn’t going to be
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