Knocking Her Up by London Hale

Author:London Hale [Hale, London]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781944336394
Publisher: London Hale
Published: 2017-10-03T16:00:00+00:00

Storming into my childhood home after a fight with a boy was something altogether new for me. Hell, being with a man at all was something I had absolutely zero experience with. Something my dad made perfectly clear when I flew through the front door, cheeks flushed, eyes red-rimmed and glassy, and he looked at me as if I were a ghost.

“Emmy?” he asked, eyebrows shooting toward his hairline. “What’s going on? Is everything all right?” He did a quick scan of me from head to toe, flitting his eyes briefly near my stomach, panic written all over his face.

Wade Collins was the most fearless man I’d ever known…except when it came to his only daughter. Though he hadn’t expressed it in so many words, his worry for me had always been plain as day. Worry that I’d follow in my mom’s footsteps. That a ravaging disease would take me too soon. A fear that only worsened around the anniversary of her death, which was next month.

“It’s not anything like that, Daddy.” I gave him a hug, intent on reassuring him. Instead, my eyes burned as I settled into arms that reminded me of a happy childhood despite everything we’d gone through and tried my hardest not to cry.

“Wade?” Yvonne called from another room. “Is that Emery?”

“Yeah, honey. She’s, uh…” He thumped his hand on my back. “Maybe you could come out here?”

While my dad had never shied away from showing his affection with hugs, he’d also never had to deal with his daughter blubbering all over him. I’d never had a reason to.

“Emery, I’m so glad you… What is it?” Yvonne asked, stepping into the room.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” I pushed away from my dad, discreetly wiping my eyes as I slipped over to the couch and sat down, pretending like everything was okay. Like the man I’d asked to give me a baby hadn’t just stomped all over my heart with his careless disregard for my concerns and feelings.

But Yvonne had been a mom for a long time, and my dad was the chief of police—it was their jobs to spot bullshit. There was no way I was getting anything past them.

She shot my dad a look—one I pretended not to see—then tilted her head in my direction, eyebrows raised. “You two should talk. I’ll go make some coffee.”

My dad stared after Yvonne’s retreating form, looking as lost as I’d ever seen him. He cleared his throat, then crept toward the couch to settle on the cushion next to me. “Do you…do you want to talk about it?”

Even though I was upset, I couldn’t help but laugh at how uncomfortable he was. I shook my head. “Not yet. I just wanted to be home. And Yvonne said you were worried about me.”

“Yeah. Wanted to make sure that bug was gone. You feeling better?”

And just like that, everything came flooding back. I hated having to lie to him, hated every second of it. I wanted to tell them everything,

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