That had been the dilemma she’d been trying to solve when she’d assured Dirk that Jack meant nothing to her. A lie meant to buy her time to sort through the quandary. Figure out what to do about the kind, principled man who’d prompted her to rethink the future she’d envisioned.

“I was going to ask you to marry me that night.”

At Jack’s admission, her lungs stalled.

It was worse than she’d thought.

“Jack, I’m sorry.” Voice choking, she pressed a hand to her chest. “I never meant to hurt you. What you heard that day . . . it wasn’t true. But I wasn’t ready to tell the world—or my father—about us.”

It was hard to read his face. His back was to the setting sun, leaving his features in shadows.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” His tone was cool. Controlled. “Like I said the day you showed up in town, it’s ancient history. I didn’t bring this all up to rehash it but to confirm that while I was with you that summer there wasn’t anyone else. I’m not the kind of guy who would run around on someone I cared about.”

“I know that. And here’s a piece of the story you don’t know. I went to your apartment that night. I also called repeatedly. When I couldn’t reach you, I went back to your apartment again. You were gone. For months I kept trying to find you—but it was like you disappeared into thin air.”

“That was the intent. The morning after Hannah was conceived, I returned the ring I’d bought you and left town. My goal was to start over as far away as possible from all the bad memories in the Midwest, and I didn’t stop until I hit an ocean. My new life was humming along until you showed up and I found out about Hannah all in the space of forty-eight hours.”

Wow.

No wonder Jack appeared shell-shocked.

“She referred to her mother in the past tense.” That had to be why the girl had appeared so suddenly.

“Yeah.”

Christi listened as he told her about the letter, the DNA test, his discussions with Erica, and the trip to Chicago earlier this week to pick up his daughter.

Talk about a life spinning out of control.

As he finished, she exhaled. “I can’t begin to imagine the upheaval all that has caused.”

“That’s a gross understatement. But everyone in the PD has bent over backward to accommodate me, which has been a godsend. The chief let me take eight unscheduled vacation days, and the other officers are working extra hours so I can help Hannah settle in and finalize day care arrangements. She’s not quite old enough to be by herself for extended periods, especially in a brand-new environment.”

“How is this affecting your writing career?”