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Chapter 25

Chapter 25

A steaming cup of chamomile tea was pressed into Delaney's shaking hand before her mother sat opposite her on the couch. Rose pulled her legs under her body and lifted a toss pillow to cover her lap. She fluffed the fringe surrounding the perimeter of the pillow, her gaze not lifting toward her daughter. Delaney watched her with cautious eyes and desperately tried to think of a way to proceed—to confess the situation where she'd found herself. Her mom had handled it, predictably, in just the manner that Delaney had counted on. No questions had been asked, no prying had forced her into baring her soul on the long ride home from the airport.

However, now they were home—and this is why Delaney came back after all, to confess. After a slow sip of the tea, she took a steadying breath and finally spoke. "I'm pregnant."

She watched her mom's reaction carefully, waiting for disappointment to spread across her carefully composed mask. Rose's eyes widened noticeably, but she continued pulling at the fringe, straightening each and every thread.

After a couple moments of agonizing silence, she finally spoke without lifting her gaze. "Who's the father?" she asked simply. Her voice gave nothing away.

Laney laughed hollowly under her breath. Of course, she couldn't just assume it was the longtime boyfriend's baby, she had to assume the worst—that her daughter was a tramp—even if it was the truth. She braced herself. "I'm not one hundred percent sure," she answered hesitantly. She no longer tried to meet her mother's gaze.

"I guess I should assume Fin found you in Michigan, then."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said. A pool of adrenaline worked its way through her body. She could actually feel the rush as if someone was injecting it intravenously.

"Oh, Delaney." She moved closer and rested her hand on her daughter's knee. "How do you think he found you? I'm the one who sent him after you."

Nausea welled up in her. She nervously cleared her throat. "What do you mean, you sent him?" Thoughts of Fin being forced to come see her filled her with dread.

"He was so worried about you, poor boy. We had a long talk when he called, you know how fond I've always been of Fin," she added as if she were trying to justify something. "And I've always thought maybe you haven't fully explored your feelings for him—because of Shane. So I gave him a little nudge, that's all."

"You knew Shane was already with me. Why would you do that?"

"Because you wanted Fin there. You needed him there." she trailed off.

"Mom."

"No, let me finish. I thought maybe with your emotionally charged state you'd stop being so logical—stop micro-managing every decision you make. Sometimes you need to follow your heart no matter how bumpy the road is."

"Yeah, like you did," she said derisively.

Her mom stared back at her levelly. "No. Not like I did. I've failed you in so many ways, Delaney. I thought the one way I could steer you right would be not ending up like me. Surely you wouldn't want to follow my example and end up in a lackluster relationship. I was never happy with your father, you know that, you saw what that did first hand—to all of us."

"What are you implying, mom? That you made dad a drug addict because you didn't love him enough?" she asked, her face incredulous.

"I don't know," she focused on the fringe again as she spoke in a quiet, defeated voice. "I knew he wasn't 'the one'." She made air quotations around the word. "But when you grow up and look around and see divorce and sorrow in relationships surrounding you...well, you begin to lose faith in there being a perfect ending. Well, you know, a soul mate." She laughed without humor. "Soul mate, right? It sounds so ridiculous, so unreal, impossible to have a person who completes you, who makes you a better person, who you could spend everyday with and even love more after twenty years." She paused and took a deep breath, blowing it out hard between her pursed lips.