I Had a Baby without You novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Pancakes

"Four years," Roark said into his hands. "I missed four years."

"You missed it because you didn't know."

"I should have known." He lifted his head. "I should have torn this city apart."

"You looked for a voice. You told me so."

"I looked for the wrong one."

I put my hand on his bare arm.

His skin was hot and the muscle under it was knotted tight.

"I'm not here to forgive you in a day,"

I said.

"I'm here because she's yours, and she asked about her dad in the car last week."

He flinched.

"What did you tell her?"

"That he was far away and didn't know where to find us."

"Can I meet her?"

"Tomorrow.

Early.

She wakes at six."

I stood and pulled my skirt straight.

"You come as a customer.

You don't say the word father until I say."

"Understood."

"And you eat what she gives you."

He almost smiled.

"Morwen."

"What?"

"Thank you for coming back."

I did not trust my voice, so I left.

At six the next morning, Roark Draycott walked into Cafferty's Diner alone.

He wore jeans and a gray sweater and no coat.

He had walked from the tower in the cold, forty blocks, because he did not want a driver watching.

Poppy was on her stool at the counter with a plate in front of her.

"You're the tall man," she said, around a mouthful.

"I'm the tall man."

"Do you like pancakes?"

"I love pancakes."

"Mine have faces."

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