He’d been handsome, sure, but it was his energy that spoke to her. Like her, he was an avid outdoor enthusiast. Plus, he’d been charming and funny and made her feel desirable after a breakup a year before that had left her questioning her choices.

Still, she’d accepted the no-strings fling for what it was, even if she did want more. There was no real future for them. She lived on the Olympic Peninsula and was only a year into her tenure at the job she’d wanted since she was eleven, and he lived…she didn’t even know where he lived. At the time, she’d assumed he was still in the Bay Area, near where he’d grown up with Jae.

They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. He’d made it clear from the start that one night was all they’d have. As they said goodbye, it had stung, but she’d accepted it.

But then the home test stick indicated she was pregnant.

She’d been shocked. And elated. At thirty-eight, she was all too aware her biological clock was winding down. She hadn’t planned this pregnancy, and they’d used condoms to prevent it—apparently, expiration dates mattered—but she was glad neither of them had bothered to check the wrapper in the heat of the moment. She was thankful for the wild, impulsive night with Xavier.

She wanted this baby with every fiber of her being.

In December, she’d been nervously excited to tell him the news. She’d planned what to say. She was having his baby, but she wouldn’t force him to be a father. He could make his own decisions about what role he wanted to have in their child’s life. She didn’t want her child to be fatherless, but neither did she want her baby to have a dad who resented the responsibility.

She’d called Jae and left him a message, asking him to tell Xavier to call her. It was the only way she had to get ahold of him. She then spent the rest of the day waiting with her cell phone in hand.

Nothing could have prepared her for the shock she felt the following morning when she stepped into park headquarters and came face-to-face with Xavier. For a moment, she’d thought he was there because he’d guessed why she needed to speak with him and wanted to hear the news in person.

She’d felt a rush of wild joy.

The feeling lasted less than sixty seconds. Her happy fantasy flamed out when he opened his mouth and told her what he’d just done: he’d filed a complaint with the park superintendent. The subject of the complaint was none other than Audrey herself for refusing to sign off on a Navy SEAL training slated for Lake Olympus Lodge and the surrounding forest.