“Yep!” Paige answered. “I'll come back to Nashville in a week or so, so I can tie up some loose ends. We'll have a more proper goodbye then, okay? And I can explain everything.”
“What?”her Mom gasped again.“But what about your job?”
“Yeah—I quit the Burger Stand last night.”
“Oh … wow … it's all so sudden. So you two are dating now?”
“Er, yeah, we sure are,” Paige bleated anxiously. She gave Lance a timid glance. “Anyway, we're on our way to the airport. I should hang up since I ought to be focusing on the road. I just wanted to let you guys know what was up before we took off.”
“Well, thank youverymuch for the notice, sweetheart,”her Mom said, her southern drawl suddenly quite thick.
All four people yelled into the speaker at once, “Byeeee!”
The call ended.
“Yikes.” Paige's cheeks blushed red with shame. “That didnotgo so well.”
“No? It seemed to go okay to me.”
“Are you kidding? Mom was ready to explode at the end there. Don't let her politeness fool you. She's doing that southern kill-'em-with-kindness thing. In reality, she's furious with me. I can't blame her, either.”
Lance frowned. “Damn. Sorry.”
“Oh well! It's done. And you were right. I feel a lot better now that I told them … although I'll have to tell them the whole story later.” She winked at Lance. “Hopefully by then, she'll have cooled down. Or she will assume the worst. But once I tell her the truth, that you're Irie's father, and anamazingone at that, she'll understand.”
Lance's shoulder sank. Every compliment she paid him felt like another shovelful of dirt thrown over his body.
The car veered gently to exit the highway. The airport was just ahead and jets, hanging low in the sky, thundered overhead.
***
Lance, Paige and Irie lounged at the departure gate. Their plane was almost ready for boarding, and the airport workers began to buzz like bees in a hive. They were that much closer to their new lives.
Lance knew he'd been quiet all morning. He could see a suspicion lurking in Paige's eyes, and he tried his best to avoid it. It was easier to focus his attention on Irie instead. He bounced the laughing, babbling cutie in his arms.
He felt a tugging on the sleeve of his coat. “Hey. Lance.”
“Yeah?”
“Look. I cantellsomething's bothering you, you know. We might not know everything about each other just yet, but I'm not stupid.”
Lance went silent.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I shouldn't say.”
Her jaw fell open, as if she were both stunned and livid that her gut instinct was actually right. “So thereissomething bothering you.”
Acid roiled in his stomach. “Ugh.”
“Tell me what it isnow,Lance. Before the three of us get on that plane.”
All this time he'd been wondering the best way to bring it up, and yet he still had no ideas. He did the only thing he could—he took a deep breath and blurted it out.
“Do you know, forsure,that Irie's my daughter?”
Paige's mouth cinched shut. “Whoa, wait. This again?Now?After what I just told my parents?”
