“Why didn’t you just call me?” she asked.

 “Because Maddie didn’t have your number. And I wasn’t going to ask Adam or Riley.” He snorted with laughter. “Oh, that would be interesting, like either one of them need another reason to be pissed off at me.” He blew on his hands. “Hey, could we just sit in the car for a few minutes? I won’t take too much of your time.”

 “Why didn’t you just tell Lyle you wanted to talk to me?”

 “Because he might not have given you the message and even if he had, you might not have wanted to talk to me. Come on, Emma—it took me forever to get up my nerve. And I’m freezing!”

 “Have you been waiting outside all this time?”

 “I didn’t think you’d be in there so long. And I didn’t want to miss you. Look, I only want to apologize. Explain and apologize.”

 She shifted her weight to the right foot. “I don’t know if that’s wise, getting into the car with you, late at night, isolated like—”

 He laughed. “Seriously? You think I’d hurt you? When did I ever hurt anyone, huh, Emma? My little girl told me where you’d be tonight. You think I’d do that to my little girl? For the love of—”

 “All right, all right... But hurry up. I’m so tired I could lie down in the street right here and fall asleep!”

 He put his hand on her elbow to steer her toward his SUV. “I know I’m a fuck-up, but I thought this was the right thing,” he said, handing her into the car. He went around to the driver’s side and got in. He started the car for heat and rubbed his hands together. “So, Emma, this isn’t going to come as news to you—I cheated on you.”

 Emma couldn’t help herself, a short burst of laughter escaped her. Then another laugh and another, until she had to put a hand over her mouth.

 “I didn’t think it was that funny,” Jock said.

 “I might be feeling a little emotional,” she said, wiping tears of laughter off her cheeks. “I know, Jock. You were slightly unfaithful. Your daughter is now fifteen.”

 “Well, I pretty much screwed up everything. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

 “What about Riley?”

 “I’m sorry I hurt her, too. But what I’m really sorry about is that I didn’t get my shit together in time to be a real father to Maddie. I mean, I’m a real father, don’t get me wrong. I’m crazy proud of that girl. She really did get the best of me and Riley—she’s beautiful and smart as her mother, she’s fun and athletic. She’s going to set the world on fire. I don’t know what she’s going to do—I bet a doctor or scientist or something. If I’d done the right thing fast enough, we’d be together, but hell, I was a stupid kid. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know how I felt. Plus, even if I did know, I couldn’t put it into words. Or actions.”

 “No, Jock,” Emma said, shaking her head. “We wouldn’t be together. It didn’t take me very long to come to that conclusion. We were falling apart right away. We were too young to hold together a long distance—”

 “Not you and me, Emma. Me and Riley and Maddie. It’s my fault, I get that. I didn’t step up like I should have. To tell the truth, it scared me to death. I had a part-time job at a gym, for God’s sake. I mostly picked up towels, wiped down equipment, showed people how to use the weights, checked IDs and got to work out for free. And that was right before I got a part-time job at the store—in shipping. I was in school, showing everyone how stupid I was, mostly. When Riley said we should tell you, I couldn’t face it, couldn’t face you. Couldn’t face her family—you know how tight they are. Sheesh. So I was too late. When I did go back to her and suggest we get married, she told me to go to hell.” He shrugged. “Can’t say I blame her, but I never got another chance.”

 Emma was a little stunned. “You cared about her?”

 “Of course I did, what do you think? Okay, I was an idiot and I thought maybe me and Riley would be friends with benefits for a while till I was ready, you know. But I was eighteen. And let me tell you about those Kerrigans...” He whistled. “You don’t have five minutes to think with them, know what I’m saying? Riley’s grandpa went straight to my dad and threatened to lock me up, for what, I don’t know—we were over eighteen. Adam coldcocked me and told me to never set foot near his sister again or he’d kill me. Riley—Riley said I’d ruined her life, caused her to lose her best friend and I’d be lucky if she ever even let me see my child. And you never came back. I was so screwed. I couldn’t win.”

 Emma was frowning. “You really cared about her?”

 “I was a little slow, okay? I admit it—I didn’t speak up fast enough.”

 “And Maddie told you where to find me tonight? What does Maddie know about it?”

 “Everything,” Jock said. His expression was composed and confident.

 She tilted her head to look at him. He hadn’t changed too much, actually. His hair was still a little shaggy but he had that handsome square jaw, pretty blue eyes and brows a little thick and bushy. And the lashes. Whew, girls would sell their mothers for some of those lashes.

 “Everything?” Emma asked.

 “I’m real close with Maddie. ’Course Maddie’s real close with everyone. She’s got a kind of gift. She knows how to make people feel okay about themselves. I told Maddie the truth a long time ago. I told her her mama was embarrassed about it all, maybe still upset about it. And I told her it was my fault because it was. But I wanted her to know—I really cared about her mom.”

 “But, Jock—you didn’t even go to the hospital when she was born!”