Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Mary let out a soft laugh. “Always wanted to be on the go.”
I nodded. “I told her I could hire someone to run the bar and we could move back to New York if she wanted to, but she was hell-bent on staying in Moose Village. I couldn’t understand how one minute she would say she hated it here, then the next say we couldn’t leave because we needed to raise Winnie here. I finally found out why.”
Her eyes widened, and her face wore an expression of concern for what I was going to say. If I had any thoughts on whether Mary knew the truth of the matter, I could toss them out the window. By the look on her face, she had no idea.
“You remember Ronald Cunningham, right? I worked with him in New York City.”
Mary’s brows drew down. “Yes,” she slowly said. “I remember Hope mentioning him a couple of times after you two were split up, but I never got the impression there was anything between them. It felt more like a friendship. Like maybe he was there for her during your split because he had recently split from his wife as well. At least that is what Hope told me.”
It only took a few moments before it clicked. “No. Are you saying they were together together?”
I nodded. “Hope didn’t tell me. At least not until she had to tell me. We were separated, and I honestly wouldn’t have cared, but if I had known when she told me she was pregnant. Well…things might have turned out differently.”
Her head shook. “Wait, Liam, you’re confusing me, and to be honest, I’m a little worried about what you’re going to say.”
Looking at Winnie playing on the playground, I smiled. “I never thought I could love someone like I love Winnie. I loved Hope, but my love for Winnie is different. The moment they put her in my arms, I knew I would love her for eternity. And I would do anything to make her happy. Anything.”
“She’s easy to love,” Mary said, then touched my arm. “Liam, why did you ask Hope for a divorce the second time after you moved to Moose Village?”
I drew in a deep breath and exhaled. I had promised Hope I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I was so tired of keeping her secrets.
“Winnie isn’t my biological child.”
A sharp intake of breath caused me to look at Mary. She looked utterly stunned. “What?”
“She’s Randal’s child. He and his wife reconciled and got back together shortly after his and Hope’s dalliance. When Hope told him about the baby, he had his lawyer draw up a document that essentially stated he didn’t want the baby, no part of her life…nothing. He gave up all rights to her. He wanted Hope to stay as far away as possible. He was worried that as the baby grew older, it would resemble him, and his wife would discover the truth since we did see them at work events. I’m not sure what happened between them when she told him and he told her he wanted no part of the child’s life, because he also filed a restraining order. Ronald never once told me any of this. Anyway, when the truth came out, Hope told me she had fallen in love with Randal, but he wanted to be with his wife and didn’t want to ruin this second chance he got. I’m going to assume Hope didn’t take that very well and maybe made a few threats, hence the restraining order.”
Mary’s hand came up to her mouth. “Liam, I had no idea. Hope never told me.”
I smiled. “I believe you.” I inhaled again as all the memories came flooding back to me. “Hope wanted so badly to move to Moose Village because she needed to get away from Randal, and she didn’t want to tell me the truth, so she lied and said she was pregnant with our baby. We had slept together the night before we decided to split up in a sad attempt to see if there was still anything between us, so I didn’t think twice about the baby not being mine.”
“When did you find out? Did she finally tell you the truth?”
I shook my head. “About a month before Hope found out she had cancer. I was looking for the lease we had on our place in New York City because the guy was claiming we owed him more money. Long story short, I found the documents from Randal’s lawyer. I was so shocked, I didn’t want to believe it. Hope walked in and saw me holding the papers. She tried at first to make up a story, but the truth soon came out. She confirmed that Winnie wasn’t mine. I still didn’t want to believe her, so I got a paternity test done, and it showed I was not Winnie’s biological father. Hope only knew for sure because apparently, Ronald insisted on one as well. She didn’t tell me any of this until after the fact though. I probably would have done the test anyway, just for my own sanity. I needed to know. Not that it makes a difference.”