“Spill,” Daisy says urgently, as soon as I pick up the phone call.

“I still haven’t heard from the hospital,” I say, although I know that’s not what she’s asking.

Daisy sighs. “Don’t tease me, Katie. Tell me everything about the guy. So, who is he?”

Daisy knows I used to try to find Adam in the beginning. She helped talk me down from the ledge when I cried to her, telling her I couldn’t possibly raise a child on my own.

She still gives me tons of parenting advice and even some hand-me-downs from her own two kids. She also helps babysit William sometimes.

She’s been right there beside me in my journey as a mom. I couldn’t have done anything I’ve accomplished without Daisy.

I tell her exactly what happened last night—Adam’s stunned expression when he first saw me in the kitchen; what he said about Sawyer’s “investigation” to find me; the way he asked me directly if William was his and my negative reply; and the way they went into food comma together on the couch.

“That sounds adorable,” Daisy sighs. “I love to watch Caine interact with the kids. It’s the most mesmerizing thing.”

“Yeah, well, Caine’s your husband, Daisy. We’re talking about a guy whom I slept with once. At a sex club. While he was wearing a mask. And I didn’t even know what his name was. Oh, and he left me some money on the nightstand when he was done.” I massage my temples; my head’s been feeling progressively worse today. Good thing I’m not working today, I guess. “God, Daisy, I can’t believe I did all those things.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Daisy says. “You were just having fun, and you weren’t hurting anybody.”

“Maybe I hurt William by bringing him into the world when I couldn’t give him what he needs to flourish.”

“If you don’t stop talking like that, I’m going to slap you,” Daisy says. “You’re a great mom, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. So you can’t send William to private school. Who cares?”

I stop myself from pointing out that her kids will probably go to private school, seeing as Caine’s whole family is loaded.

“Besides, it wasn’t like you were running around being irresponsible. He wore a condom, right? It was just . . .” Daisy pauses, probably stopping herself from calling William an accident—yes, she’s done that before, although she didn’t mean anything negative by it. She finally says, “It happened by chance.”

“Yeah, but I probably shouldn’t have been banging a faceless, nameless guy in a kinky sex club in the first place,” I say.

“Well, as Alanis Morissette says, ‘you live, you learn,’” Daisy says. “So, was it kinky?”

“What?”

“The sex. You said it was a kinky sex club.”

“I guess, a little,” I answer quickly just to move on to what I really want to talk about. I get up from the couch where Adam sat last night and pace the floor. “So, what should I do now?”

“What do you mean? Like, whether you should tell him or not?”

“Well, that, too. But I meant in general; what should I do to fix this situation?”

“You said you told him he wasn’t William’s father, right?” Daisy asks.

“Yeah. I’m not proud of that, but yeah, I lied to him,” I admit.

“Are you going to tell him the truth?”

“I don’t know . . .” I take a deep breath and tell Daisy about the thoughts that have been bothering me. “I feel like. . . Maybe Adam has a right to know William’s his son.

“But when I tried to look for him at the club and couldn’t find him, I gave up the thought that I was going to see him again. I decided to raise William on my own.

“And now, when I’ve got everything covered, he’s suddenly here, and he wants in on this parenthood thing? It just doesn’t feel right.”

Daisy’s quiet for a few seconds. Softly, she says, “Katie, it doesn’t sound like it was his fault. You told me he’d tried to find you, too.”

“I know.” I groan.

Logically, I know Daisy’s right. But there’s this strong, emotional reaction against sharing William with anybody. I’ve had him to myself his whole life.

“What if he really does like you, Katie? You said he’d been paying Sawyer to look for you—I can’t believe Sawyer never realized it was you, by the way.”

“Me neither,” I agree. “He tried to explain why it totally made sense that he didn’t figure it out, but I wasn’t listening.”

“Yeah, but the main point is, maybe there’s a chance this Adam guy’s for real. Maybe he’s really serious about this. Maybe he meant it when he said he wanted you,” Daisy says.

I huff a tired sigh. I’m always exhausted these days; it’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t.

“Daisy, not everyone can have a fairy-tale, happily-ever-after thing like you and Caine,” I say.

Daisy’s the sweetest girl ever, but she has a rather naïve view of the world. It’s almost a miracle she’s married to a cunning, infamously cut-throat businessman.

“You know, Katie, it’s not impossible for you to also have a fairy-tale ending,” Daisy gently reminds me.

“Well, no, but it would be crazy to expect it to happen. It’s called ‘fairy tale’ for a reason. Besides, have you seen a princess in one of those stories who’s also a single mom?”

Daisy falls silent on the other end of the line.

“I’m not being pessimistic. Just realistic,” I say.

“Well, I guess we’ll see,” Daisy says stubbornly, in a soft voice. “It doesn’t seem like he’s just going to let this go. And I have a good feeling about this guy.”

“Daisy. He’s the kind of guy who goes to sex clubs and pays girls for sex. Do I really want him around my son?” I ask.

“Well, to him, you may also seem like the kind of girl who works at sex clubs and gets paid for sex,” Daisy says. Sometimes, this sweet girl can come up with barbed answers that just pain my soul.

“Ouch.”

“You know that’s not what I’m saying. That’s what he’d be saying if he were as negative as you.” Daisy pauses. “All I’m saying is, I think you should give this guy a chance. He could be a good guy. You’re a great girl, even if you once had anonymous sex in a kinky club.”

“Okay, sure. Maybe he’s here to rescue me from my miserable existence as a single mom,” I say sarcastically.

“Fine, try to look at it this way. If he turns out to be a decent guy and he wants to be a dad to William, won’t that be a good thing for William, too?” Daisy asks.

This time, I don’t have a comeback for her.