The door opened behind them and she stepped back with Sean’s arm staying around her shoulders.
“Sorry to interrupt, kids,” Candace said. “But folks are getting ready to leave. You want to come say goodbye while they collect their coats?”
“Of course. We were just—” Paisley began.
“I’m old but I still haven’t forgotten what it’s like to be with my man,” the elderly woman said with a wink.
Sean shook his head, laughing as they followed her out of the anteroom and into the main room, where kids and parents were waiting to collect their coats. He signed a few more autographs and Paisley used that moment as a chance to step away. She was losing her resolve. She wanted to just curl into his arms and pretend she could forget about her pregnancy and her past. But she couldn’t.
She needed a distraction and turned, as she always did, to her work. She used the high-quality camera on her phone to film Sean talking to the kids. He really had a way of being whatever was needed in a situation.
That niggled. But did it niggle enough to justify keeping the baby a secret? He said he wanted to start over.
No secrets.
She was reaching, trying to justify her silence. Then she remembered something her mother had said when they’d been going through her father’s public trial. That they didn’t owe anyone explanations. She said each of them had to figure out how to live in the shadow of what he’d done.
Paisley sighed. She had to figure out how to live with this baby and if she wanted to tell Sean. He was still thinking he wanted to get to know the woman he’d deceived...but was she being too hard on him? She wasn’t sure if she wasn’t trying to reach for anger to make herself feel better about her silence.
Sean glanced over at her and must have sensed the trepidation on her face because he quirked an eyebrow at her. She forced a smile and shook her head, pointing to her phone.
God. What was she doing?
It seemed like she was compulsively deceiving him. She turned away and walked into the public restroom off the lobby, and went into one of the stalls. She just stood there for a minute. One way or another, she had to stop this.
No secrets was what he’d asked for from her. She had to either fess up that she was still keeping one, or tell him she needed time before she could share. But the truth was she had already been half in love with Jack when she’d realized he was Sean. She wanted this second chance to find out if he was the man she’d thought he was.
And there was no second chance if she was lying.
She knew that. She wasn’t about to mess this up. Sean was trying and she had to at least meet him halfway.
“Hey, Pais, you in here?” Olive called.
Guiltily, she flushed the toilet so her friend wouldn’t realize she’d been simply hiding and then she came out. “Hey. What’s up?”
Olive tipped her head to the side, studying her closely. “Just checking on you. Sean said you looked like something was up.”
“Just the same something that I’ve been dealing with,” Paisley admitted. She touched her stomach so that the other woman would know without her having to say anything. She didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing she was pregnant before she had the chance to tell Sean.
“Oh, did today help at all?” Olive asked. “I know it’s still a lot to take in with the Jack-Sean thing and...that.”
Paisley wasn’t sure if it had helped or not, but she knew she didn’t want to talk about it with Olive. She wasn’t sure how she felt and didn’t want to stay something that she’d later regret. “Maybe. I mean Sean was great today, wasn’t he?”
“He was better than great!” Olive exclaimed. “For my two cents, I don’t think he was faking it.”
“I don’t, either,” Paisley admitted. “He said...no more secrets.”
Olive’s eyes widened. “That’s great, but you still have one.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want to rush telling him or deceive him but... I don’t know what to do,” she said.
“It’s okay to not know,” Olive reassured her. “I think whatever you decide he’ll understand.”
“Really?”
“No,” Olive admitted. “I was just trying to be a good friend. I mean, I know you can’t say anything, but he’s going to be hurt that you didn’t and I don’t think you should rush it. But he’s a man so I don’t know if he’ll get the subtlety of you waiting, the way I do.”
Paisley laughed and nodded. “Exactly. I’m trapped and I have no idea how I’m going to get out.”