“She didn’t change her number,” I replied with the confidence I knew my dad needed. “Her voicemail still works.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Leah to lose her phone in a ditch and never come back for it,” he muttered. My heart squeezed. He didn’t speak about my mother much, and because of it, I occasionally misremembered how deeply my dad missed his wife.
And now I was leaving him.
Fuck.
But I put on my mask anyway. “Try not to worry about her too much while I’m gone. You’ve got Luis here to help you and plenty of horses to keep you company. Leah isn’t necessary to be happy.”
That earned a somber smile from my father. He clinked his glass bottle to mine.
“You’re the best thing I’ve got, son. Try not to get yourself hurt out there in the wild West.”
I grinned. “You called the States the wild West before we moved here.”
“How would you know?” my dad let out a chuckle. “You were two years old when we moved from Germany.”
“Mom told me,” I answered as I shoved more beer down my throat. Shit, she gave me a sick feeling. For disappearing on my dad and our family.
“She did love the adventure,” he sighed. “She was the only reason I agreed to move here, you know.”
I raised my eyebrows in reply.
“Surprised we’ve never spoken about this, but no, I never wanted to leave Germany. I was happy in our quiet little village. I had my family, my polo community, my life. It wasn’t until your mother became pregnant and spoke of moving to the U.S. to raise our child that I even thought about it.”
My stomach flipped at the parallels between our situations. I was leaving my whole life here, in Pennsylvania, and moving to Wyoming with the woman carrying our baby to start a new life together. At least, for a little while.
“Anyway, I wanted you to be born in Germany, so we were surrounded by family for the first few years. Since Leah’s mother was born in America, her dual citizenship allowed us to come to America and build a new life here. Things with Leah didn’t turn out the way I imagined, but I’m damn glad we came.” He looked at me with a hopeful smile, one that held more hurt than I chose to feel. “Don’t underestimate the choices life gives you, Jack. You never know what you’ll get from choosing the road you never thought you would.”
***
In most pregnancy cases, I’d always heard the nesting stage didn’t start until right before the baby was born. In Maggie’s case, she was three days into it.
“You’re sure you have everything?” she asked for the fourth time that hour. We were loading the last of her suitcases and a few boxes into the backseat of my truck. I was pretty sure we had everything. Her knack for preparedness and organization, however, more than made up for the military-grade stress she was putting on us.
“Yes, this is everything,” I answered patiently. I wanted to stay on her good side on this road trip. I didn’t know when the pregnancy hormones were going to kick in, but I was planning on walking on eggshells and catering to anything she needed.
Maggie and I mapped out our stopping points, at which farms we would stay every night. The twenty-seven-hour drive meant we had to stop for two nights and let the horses out to eat, drink, and rest. Plus, we needed our sleep too.
“Okay, I’m just making sure.” Maggie slammed the back door shut and headed towards the passenger door, her small bag in hand. I followed by closing the back door on my side and hopping into the driver’s seat to start the truck.
When she opened the door, her pillow, blanket, Bugles corn chips, and red Gatorade—the only things I could remember she liked when we were younger—sat in the passenger seat. Her mouth opened and closed, and her eyes softened as she glanced up at me. I tried my damn hardest not to pay too much attention to or care about her reaction, but my gaze caught with hers. We didn’t say anything. She didn’t thank me, and I didn’t dismiss her.
But those emerald eyes told me all I needed to know.
Maggie lifted herself into the cab, pulling up the blanket and adjusting the pillow, and set the Bugles in the cup holder between us.
A surge of pride rushed through me that I did it right. My first right thing. And I could only hope to do the next dozen right, too.
Maggie yawned and tried to cover her mouth. I reached for her hand and held it in mine to center us before we started this insane journey. The past few days had felt like a lifetime. With her finding out about the baby and the sudden decision to come with me to Wyoming, she had a lot on her mind and her plate. And me? I was pretty sure I hadn’t slept since I found out I was going to be a father. Sleep meant nightmares about how terrible a parent I would turn out to be. Fears that I would end up like my mother. But this wasn’t about me. Maggie was carrying the baby. She needed reassurance more than anything I needed.
“You doing okay?” I asked with concern.
She nodded, but her expression betrayed her.
“Mags, I need to know how you’re really feeling before I pull out of this driveway.”
“I’m feeling…” she sighed and glanced out the window. Her house was almost visible up the hill. “Scared out of my mind that we’re actually doing this.”
