Brandon shows up at my house bright and early the next day.

When I woke that morning, I had a seriously long discussion with myself over whether or not the events of the previous evening had been real or a weird pregnancy dream conjured by my off-kilter hormones and subconscious unease over this whole mother thing in general. But the longer I lay there, the clearer it became that, despite my above-average brain capacity, even I wasn’t capable of coming up with something so unlikely all on my own.

Brandon Jeffers had shown up at my house yesterday, completely unexpected. And what’s even more unexpected? He actually wants to be a part of my baby’s life.

Our. Our baby, I remind myself.

When he left last night, he promised to be by this morning so that we could spend the day together before he had to leave town again for a game. I barely slept at all last night, wondering if, after some sleep and time to think, he might change his mind.

But at seven a.m. sharp, he is banging on my door, adorable grin in place as I swing it open.

“You’re here,” I mutter like an idiot, blinking rapidly, as if somehow clearing my vision would make him disappear.

His smile widens. “Of course I am. I told you I would be.”

I stand here in shock, my mouth hanging open, as Brandon has once again proven me wrong.

He invites himself in, making himself comfy on my couch as I finish getting ready for the day. Once I deem myself presentable, I walk back downstairs to find him looking at all the pictures on the mantel.

“These are all of you and Charlie,” he observes, glancing back up at me as I reenter the room.

“Nuh-uh,” I protest. “Look, there’s one of me and Lexi right there.”

His eyes flick over to the shot I am pointing at for a moment before falling back on the photos with Charlie.

“None with your parents though.”

I shrug, not really wanting to delve into the situation with him when I’m still not sure he is sticking around. “We’re not close. Charlie is pretty much the only family I’ve ever known. Now, come on. What’s on the agenda for the day?”

He leads me out to his truck, holding the door open for me before walking around and climbing inside.

Brandon might not live here full-time, but he’s owned the house on the lake long enough that he knows the area pretty well. He takes me to breakfast at a small diner just a few blocks from my house where half the people in town are surely sitting and talking about our appearance together.

I’m not sure how I feel about that—Brandon making it public knowledge that we’re together. I mean, not together, together. But one meal in each other’s company is enough to set off the rumor mill in a town this size.

But he and Lexi are right. He has a right to know his baby if that’s what he wants, and until that changes, I’m going to do my best to be civil and keep the peace between us.

I just need to keep any insane notions I might develop buried down deep. Like, way down deep. Twenty-thousand-leagues level deep.

It was far too easy to fall victim to his charms last night, laughing at his pathetic attempts at humor and smiling at his subtle chivalry. He is way too easy to be around, a certain level of comfort existing between us that I can’t even begin to explain after having known him for only a few hours total.

Things are different with Brandon.

And different is dangerous.

Which is why, a few hours later as he climbs up the ladder in the bookstore with an armful of books, I have to remind myself not to let my guard down. Because, despite everything he’s said in the past twenty-four hours, I’m still not convinced he’s seeing this for what it really is. He might like the idea of a baby right now. And, hell, he might even end up sticking around long enough to see him or her being born. But, the second this kid starts wailing and projectile vomiting across the room, Brandon will be running for the hills.

A rustle pulls me from my thoughts as Charlie sidles up beside me. I turn to look at him, but his eyes are fixed firmly on Brandon.

“I’m surprised to see him back here so soon. From what I heard, he only makes it out this way maybe once or twice a year.”

I nod. “Yeah, it was a surprise to me, too.”

“Must’ve seen something he liked,” Charlie says, his tone light and airy as he continues to watch Brandon up on the ladder.

I turn to look at him, unable to suppress the coy smile spreading across my face. “And just what might that be, Charlie?”

He shrugs. “Heck if I know.”

I bump him with my elbow as I laugh, and he slides his arm around my shoulders, tugging me into his side.

“I like him, Livvy. He seems like a good guy. Lord knows, you could do a lot worse with the options you have in this town.”

I raise my brows. “Why, Charlie, are you trying to play matchmaker again? Need I remind you what happened last time?” I ask, referencing the only time he tried to set me up on a date with the nephew of one of the old women in town.

He showed up a half hour late, talked on his phone the whole time, and had the nerve to ask the waitress for her number right in front of me. Needless to say, there wasn’t a second date.

“No, no. I promised you I’d never do that again. I just like seeing you happy.”

A laugh sputters out of my mouth. “Happy? He’s been here twelve hours, Charlie. We’re not exactly skipping down the aisle together.”

Charlie gives me a knowing look. “Maybe not. But, in the forty-five minutes you two have been in the store, I’ve seen you smile more than I have in the last year combined. Maybe two.”

The smile drops from my face, and I instantly realize he’s right. My cheeks ache from being stretched for so long. In fact, I don’t think my grin has dropped since Brandon and I left the house until this very moment.

He makes me laugh with his crazy stories. He makes me grin with his weird sense of humor. And, above all, he makes me feel…special. When Brandon is speaking to me, I feel like I’m the only woman in the world. He gives me his complete, undivided attention, something I haven’t had in…well, ever.

I am so screwed.

I still haven’t told Charlie about the baby yet, so he has no clue why Brandon is really back in town. I mentioned this to Brandon on the way over to the store, and he agreed he wouldn’t bring it up until I was ready. But I need to tell Charlie. Tomorrow evening, I’ll invite him over for the spaghetti dinner I was planning before Brandon showed up, and then I’ll drop the bomb.

But looking at him as he walks over to the base of the ladder, giving Brandon directions on something he was about to do, I have to wonder if maybe he won’t be disappointed in me after all. When Charlie turns back and gives me a little wink, it only furthers my suspicions.

Charlie likes Brandon. Well, Charlie likes everyone. But he doesn’t let just anybody climb up on the ladder in his shop and touch his precious books. It took me years to earn that privilege. But, when Brandon insisted on doing the task for me—he didn’t like the idea of me being on a ladder in my condition—Charlie didn’t protest at all. And, now, here Charlie is, giving Brandon pointers and acting like he has been here all along.

It is like I am living in an episode of The Twilight Zone. And everyone is in on some inside plot, and I’ve been left completely in the dark.

We spend another few hours at the store, Charlie and Brandon kicking back in the chairs Charlie and I set up in the corner for people who like to linger, while I head behind the desk and work on some inventory. I steal glances at them every so often, finding it harder and harder to focus on my task the more I hear them laughing and joking with one another. When I finally finish and announce we can leave, Charlie looks genuinely sad.

“But we were just getting to know each other.” He starts to sulk.

Brandon stands and claps him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mr. P. I’ll be sure to stop by and see you when I’m in town again in a few weeks.”

Charlie’s face brightens, and I don’t miss the subtle glance he shoots at me.

“Oh, coming back so soon, are you?”

Brandon nods. “Yes, sir. I plan to come back as often as I can as long as this one here will let me.”

I blush when both of their gazes turn to me. “And, on that note, we should probably head out. We’re going to be late.”

I have no clue where we’re going next, but Brandon told me he had reservations for us in Grover, the closest thing we have to a big city for about a hundred miles. It’s not exactly Denver, but compared to Maple Lake, it’s a metropolis. The reservations are at two, and if we don’t get on the road soon, there’s no way we’ll make it on time.

Brandon glances down at his watch and nods. “You’re right. We’d better get going.” He holds out his fist for Charlie. “Later, Mr. P.”

My jaw hits the floor when my sweet, little old Charlie, a man who refuses to accept that this is no longer the 1950s, actually reaches out and bumps his own fist against Brandon’s.

Yep, this is definitely The Twilight Zone.

“That was so much fun,” I breathe out in a rush as we climb back into his truck.

When we arrived at the arcade, I was a bit taken aback. When he’d said reservations, I’d expected it would be to some fancy restaurant or tickets to a play or something.

Instead, we just spent the last two hours playing laser tag with a bunch of ten year olds.

Brandon laughs. “That was one of my favorite places to go when I was younger. I actually grew up just outside of Grover. In the opposite direction of Maple Lake.”

I didn’t know that about him, but looking at him now, it makes sense. Why else would a hotshot baseball player end up owning a lake house in Middle of Nowhere, Colorado? I mean, it is a gorgeous house, and the country is breathtaking out here. But you’d think someone like him would choose Aspen over a place like Maple Lake.

“I have one question though,” I say as he turns the ignition and begins backing out of the parking spot.

“Shoot.”

“You said you had reservations. Why exactly does one need reservations at an arcade?”

Brandon chuckles. “You try getting in there on a Saturday without one. Besides, have you ever played laser tag with two people? It’s no fun at all. I wanted to make sure we’d have people to play with.”

“And you thought a bunch of ten year olds would work just fine? Didn’t they think that was creepy? A couple of almost thirty year olds wanting to play with a bunch of kids?”

Brandon shakes his head. “Nah, Paul knows me. Besides, when you offer to pay for the kid’s birthday party in exchange for being able to crash it, people tend to be a little more…accepting.”

I smile, the knowledge that he paid for all that—including the eight large pizzas and endless pitchers of soda, I’m sure—warming my heart. And he did it all just so he could spend some time with me doing something he loved.

A sudden pang of sadness pulls at my stomach when I realize he’s leaving again in the morning. I was so caught up in our afternoon together that I didn’t even have time to remind myself of the fact that he’d soon be gone. I hadn’t once reminded myself to guard my heart and not let him get too close. I simply just…had fun.

It has been way too damn long since that happened.

Brandon pulls out of the parking lot but doesn’t turn in the direction of Maple Lake.

“Now, where are we going?” I ask, my amusement and anticipation leaking out into my voice.

“You didn’t think I’d bring you all this way and not feed you, did you?”

He winks, and it sets off a flurry of butterflies in my chest.

Yep, I am so screwed.