Her Silent Revenge novel Chapter 91

I turn my face into his bare chest.

He smells like warmth and safety, like home, even though I've only been with him like this for a matter of days.

"You're not alone anymore. I promise," he tells me, rocking me back and forth. His hand sweeps down my hair, smoothing it against my neck.

"I… I never thought this would happen." I hiccup embarrassingly loudly. God, I don't know where the tears keep coming from—no human being should cry this much.

But I'm not scared and ruined anymore.

I'm happy. This is far more than I could've ever hoped for.

Or maybe it's just sheer giddy relief. The sense that finally all this single mom responsibility isn't a lonely crushing weight piled on my shoulders that just keeps grinding me into the dirt year after year.

Arlo never had the life I wanted for him, there's no hiding that. But now, if Patton steps up, my son might finally have dreams. He could have a life he truly deserves.

And me, well… is it too much to think maybe I can have a fair shot at a fairy-tale?

It's almost too much, like you're holding a winning lottery ticket in your trembling little fingers.

"Talk to me," Patton urges. "Tell me what you're thinking."

I press the heels of my hands into my eyes until red streaks bloom against my eyelids. Then I shift, resting my head against his shoulder, my legs hooked over his knee.

Lying here like this, we feel like one person.

"It doesn't seem real," I whisper. "My parents left town when Arlo was only three months old. They gave me one more chance to give him up and join them. I told them to go to hell."

Patton's arms tighten around me.

"And I guess when you have to do something like that and the reality hits, it becomes all you know, right? Survival. So I learned to look after Arlo fast. I had to learn how to be a mother. And all the time, I watched as the world around me moved on. I was stuck with the label."

"Single mom?"

I sighed. "I told myself I was glad. I laughed about it some days. Better than having a dad who's only going to break Arlo's poor heart, right?"

Patton doesn't say anything, and I have to ask, even though I know it'll be a mistake.

"If… if you'd known it at the time, would you have really stuck around?"

Again, the only sound is his steady breathing, his chest rising and falling as he considers the question. His arms tighten around me.

"Honestly, I don't fucking know," he says eventually. "Back then, I wasn't the same person I am today. I'd like to think it would've shaken me awake."

"You were more fun, you mean?" I tease.

I crave him, all mixed with the blinding knowledge that he's the father of my child.

He wants to be Arlo's father.

All those bittersweet moments, all the times when I thought we'd be a party of two forever—are those days really done?

"You're crying again." Patton breaks away and wipes my cheeks.

"I know, I know. Sorry." I scrub my face, still half laughing, half crying. "I am happy, I promise, despite all the evidence to the contrary."

"You haven't told me to fuck off or where to mail the child support check, so I believe you," he says with a wry smile. "Despite the evidence to the contrary."

"But we should talk more about it," I say. "About us, I mean. At home.

We can hash out the practical stuff."

"Oh, so you do want me to mail that check?" "Be serious!" I slap his chest.

"If you insist." His grin feels fragile, fading like a dimming lightbulb. "What do you want to ask me?"

"I just mean, if we're going to figure out a way to make this work, we need to organize it. You're still my boss and Arlo has no idea you exist."