Everywhere I look, eyes are on me. At the grocery store. Filling up my pickup with gas. When I pulled up to the school to get the boys from practice.

My phone rings, and I look down and see Barrett’s name lit up. I swipe to answer immediately.

“Hey, Barrett! What’s up?” I say by way of answering, scrunching my eyebrows at two moms standing next to their car, glancing at me every so often.

Would I get in trouble if I flipped them the bird sitting in the school parking lot?

“Uh, man. We got troubles.”

“Shit. What’d Gavin do now?”

Gavin has been screwing up left and right lately. Well, no, that’s not true. He’s been screwing up since we hired him. Lazy shit.

“It wasn’t Gavin.”

“Okay, then what?” I ask irritably. All the looks I’m getting starting to piss me off.

“It’s Heather.”

I groan and throw my head back against the head rest and pull my beanie off my head, tossing it in the passenger seat.

I scrub my hand through my hair and down my face.

“What’s she doing now?”

“Flapping her tongue. In a big way. It’s bad, Andy. Catastrophic.”

“What could she be flapping her tongue about? Divorce is done. Final. Has been for months.”

“Christine.”

“No. We were never together until the divorce was finalized. Why the hell do you think I waited so long to get with her? Wasted months not being with her.”

“That’s not what I mean. She’s flapping her tongue about Christine,” he explains, then continues on after a beat of silence, “and Todd.”

I sit up straighter in my seat and lean over my steering wheel, looking to see if the boys are coming out of the building yet.

I don’t see them, so I figure I’ve got a few minutes to clear this shit up before they get here.

“Spit it out, Barrett. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Man. You know I joke around a lot about hating secrets and loving to know everything and spreading it around, but I’m not really that way. I mean, I am with the fun shit, but this… dammit. I would never. This isn’t me gossiping. You need to talk to Christine.” I hear him blow out a breath. “Apparently Todd cheated on her. Did you know that?”

I sit for a few seconds wondering what I’m supposed to say to that. I don’t want to betray Christine by spilling her secret, but it sounds like he already knows. Still, I say nothing.

“I take it by your silence this isn’t new news to you. Did you also know that when he cheated it was… shit, man, it was with Heather?”

“What?”

I touch my chest to make sure it’s still beating because his words feel like it stopped my heart.

He continues on as if he hasn’t just rocked the ever loving shit out of the already rocking boat I was sitting in. “And she’s saying the only reason Christine is with you is revenge against her. Christine’s with her husband because she was with Todd.”

And just like that, my world falls out from beneath me all at once.

Memories of Christine’s words describing her husband’s affair rush back to me but never once do I remember her mentioning anything about it being with Heather.

Is it possible?

Did I misread her this entire time?

Was she holding on to that much anger over Todd cheating that she’d actually get pregnant on purpose?

I can’t believe I’m in this situation all over again.

With a liar.

Except this time?

I got the girl pregnant before I discovered her betrayal.

Christine’s known this entire time that Heather has been a cheater for years.

And not only that, it was with her husband.

She… what? Thought the ultimate way to get back at Heather was to make me fall in love with her?

Prove to Heather that she’s the better woman?

Did she really plan to get pregnant?

We were stupid and never discussed birth control, but still…

The questions that are rolling through my head are endless, as is the anger boiling up inside.

“Dad! Hey, you okay?”

The sound of Reece’s voice and the door closing jars me back to reality.

I didn’t even realize that I’d hung up on Barrett. My phone is resting on my thigh as I look blankly out the windshield.

“Dad?” Reece’s hand is on my forearm, and I look over at him, then to Aidan in the backseat. Both have confused looks on their faces.

I clear my throat and try to give my best, most reassuring smile. “Yeah. Bud. I’m good. How was practice?” I reach over and clap Reece on the shoulder and squeeze once.

They both give me weird looks. “Good, Dad. Practice was good. So was school. Are you sure you’re okay?” Aidan asks, leaning forward in his seat.

“Just a bit off today, boys. I’ll be fine. Ready to head home?”

“I’m starved!”

“Is Christine coming over?”

Shit.

* * *

I get in my car and drive as quickly as I can to Andy’s house, wanting to be there when he gets home.

I don’t want him to hear it from anyone else but me. And if Heather is running her mouth, he’s bound to hear it.

I open the garage door using the opener he gave me and notice he’s already here. I park on the opposite side of his pickup and shake out my hands, trying to calm my nerves.

The second I step out of my car, Andy is pushing through the door to the house, marching toward me.

“Is it true?” he growls.

All I can do is nod.

“You… this is all revenge on Heather?” he asks, genuine shock covering his face. His gaze drops to my stomach, that’s now rounded slightly, and points. “You did this all to get back at some bitch who means nothing?” This time his voice isn’t holding back the venom.

I stumble back a few steps, shaking my head wildly. “Andy, no. Let me explain.”

“Oh, I know enough. Trust me. I get it. I can’t believe I fell for another liar,” he scoffs, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“No, you don’t get it. Please,” I plead with him. “Where are the boys? Are they inside?”

“They’re next door at Nolan’s house. I was getting ready to come over to you when you pulled up.”

I nod my head. “Let’s go inside. You have to let me explain this.”

“Explain what? That you found Heather — my ex-wife — having sex with your husband and didn’t think you should tell me? And then, by some random stroke of fate, I came into Dreamin’ Beans, and you latched onto your one chance to get back at the bitch your husband cheated on you with all those years ago?”

“That is not how it happened. You know this, Andy. You know my heart. It wasn’t like that at all. Yes. Heather is the person who Todd had an affair with. That part is true. Yes, I admit I hid it from you. Not just from you, though. From everyone. You know I didn’t want to tell anyone about it. It wasn’t important.”

“Not important?” he screams. “How can me not knowing years ago that my wife was cheating on me be not important?”

I stay silent, not knowing how to get through to him.

He already knew. He admitted that time and time again.

So, the fact that I knew Heather cheated is not what’s got him so angry.

The misguided idea that I got pregnant on purpose — all for some crazy revenge against Heather years later — is what has him ready to end everything.

“Please. Just listen to me,” I whisper.

“I’m done listening.”

“What?”

“I said, I’m done. I’ll be there for the baby. She’s a part of me, and whether you planned to get pregnant as some sort of twisted revenge plot or not, I would never take that out on our precious baby girl. But you and I? We’re done.”

“We are not done, Andy. You won’t even listen to me!”

I cover my mouth when my sobs begin to come out uncontrollably. I rest my hand on my belly, praying for the baby to calm my ever-growing nerves.

He stalks over to me and leans down to get in my face. Not in a menacing way, but in a way that is sure to keep my attention. “Oh, we so are, Christine. I was screwed over by one woman before. Duped into thinking that I had to stay with her for the sake of my children, but I know better now.”

Well now I’m just angry. To be put in the same bucket as Heather, of all people? “You can’t be serious. You haven’t even let me tell you my side of things! You think I got pregnant on purpose? Fell in love with you on purpose? Did all this to what? Show Heather that you would love me instead of her? Are you even listening to yourself?”

He stays silent, staring daggers into me.

“You are wrong, Andy. Whatever is going through your head. Whatever you’re thinking right now is wrong. I knew Heather cheated on you with Todd. You’re forgetting that I found out my husband cheated on me and that he had cancer in the same day. My top priority was not running off to tell on Heather. I’m sorry if I made the wrong choice.”

“You had years to tell me, Christine. Years.”

“You’re right. I’ll give you that. But you know what? It wasn’t my place. And after Todd passed away, everything else just kind of faded. I’m sorry if I made the wrong choice in not telling you, but do not throw me into the same anything with Heather. You know better than that, and if you’d just get out of your head for one second, you’d figure it out.”

I get in my car and slam the door shut, backing out of the driveway and praying that I’m able to make it home safely before breaking down entirely.

And when I get there, I see the cars of Carly, Tess, and Lauren waiting in my driveway.

“We have ice cream,” Lauren says when she makes her way to my car. She hugs me tightly. “Are you okay?” she whispers in my ear, giving me a tight hug.

I nod even though I feel nothing close to okay.

Wondering if I’ll ever feel close to okay again.