I’m sure she must have a thousand questions, but I’m so grateful she chose to start there. “Yeah. I mean, I’m getting there, at least.”

She watches her bowl as she pushes a spoonful of ice cream around. “It’s definitely George’s?”

I laugh. God, for a blessed moment in the doctor’s office, the possibility that it was Easton’s crossed my mind. No, not possibility—dumb hope. “It’s George’s.” I put my ice cream down on the coffee table. “Easton and I talked Sunday, and I decided I wanted to stay in Jackson Harbor and give him and me a chance. And now instead of going out on dates with him and finding a job in the place I really want to be, I need to figure out how I can blow them away at my L.A. interview so I can start over somewhere else.”

“Wait. Is that what you want to do? Start over?” She shakes her head. “Why? I don’t understand.”

Because I’m too ashamed to raise a married man’s child in front of my mother. Because I’ll do anything to avoid disappointing her like that. Because I can’t ask Easton to raise another child that isn’t his. “It wouldn’t be unexpected, would it? It’s what I’m supposed to do next.”

“The only thing you’re supposed to do next is figure out what makes you happy.” Teagan puts both of our bowls in the sink before returning to the living room. “You didn’t answer my question. Is that what you want?”

“I’ve spent the last eight years of my life working on this PhD. I’m a good teacher. I’m a grown woman. I can do this.”

“Of course you can. I have every faith in you, but why move to L.A. if you don’t want to live there? Why leave your family?”

“Because I can’t look my mom in the eye and tell her I’m having a married man’s baby.” I close my eyes and hot tears stream down my cheeks.

“You didn’t know, Shay. Just explain. Your mom will understand.”

Shaking my head, I open my mouth to explain, but I can’t. I can’t speak the truth Easton broke me with. Saying the words feels like a betrayal to my father’s memory. “The whole thing makes me feel like an idiot, Tea. It’s like I’m looking at a map with a million different roads, and the only rule is I can’t stay where I am. I see all these options, and everything’s confusing, but there’s one thing I know for sure.”

“What’s that?”