“That she’d get pregnant?” I asked incredulously.

“No. That I’d find you.”

I swallowed my response in a sticky lump.

“She had a boyfriend I didn’t know about when we last were together. And when I left LA, I swore I’d never see her again. I moved nearly three thousand miles away to ensure it.”

“A boyfriend?” I frowned. “God, Luke. So it really might not be yours?”

“That’s the question.”

My mind whirred with possibilities and questions and a dozen emotions.

“She has a doctor’s appointment in a few days, and I’m going with her. She insists the baby’s mine, but … I don’t know. I want to believe she wouldn’t lie about this just as much as I hope it isn’t true.”

I stared at him, feeling his honesty in every word, written in every line of his face. He hadn’t known. And Wendy was desperate—I’d seen it for myself when she came here yesterday. But I had no response, no answers. It was all too much to comprehend. But there was one thing I knew for sure.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, my chest aching. “I’m sorry you have to go through this, no matter if it’s true or not.”

“I don’t care about that, Tess,” he said gently, pleadingly, taking my hands. “None of that matters as long as we’re okay. None of it matters if I still have you.”

But I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted to hear, not because I didn’t want to. But because I didn’t know if I should.

I’d taken enough risks for a lifetime. The next time I took a chance, I had to be sure.

I withdrew my hands from the confines of his. “This has all been so much, Luke. The drama, the upheaval in the shop, in my home, in my life. It feels like someone reached in and pulled it inside out. I don’t know which way is up because there is no one answer. It’s not black and white. There is no yes or no, and there’s no right or wrong.” I watched as his face fell, his eyes sharp with pain.

“But there is. I haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t do this to hurt you—it’s out of my hands, out of my control. And you don’t trust me. After all of this, you still don’t trust me.”

“I do, Luke,” I insisted, my emotion rising in a wave. “But if this has proven anything, it’s that Wendy will always manipulate you, and you will always let her. I don’t know how I fit into your life, not when it’s always in danger of being controlled by her. I need time. And you need to sort things out with Wendy.”

“I don’t need time for that,” he urged, his eyes sparking with desperation and honesty. “I need you, Tess. That’s all I need.”

“Then you’ve got to give me time,” I said with a shaky breath, taking a step backward I didn’t want to take. I wanted less space between us, not more, but if I fell into his arms, I’d never get back out. Too much was unknown to take a leap, and I was all out of faith.