He gave a small laugh. “I mean it. I’m sorry. We agreed to no blindsides, and I broke that agreement. Genna was excited and she just blurted it out over breakfast this morning. Honestly, I’m feeling a little blindsided myself.” He paused. “A baby.” He registered Zoey’s silence and jumped in to undig that hole. “It’s not about us and how we tried...”

“Stop, Chris.” Her head fell back and thunked against the house. “You have every right to be happy.” After breaking her heart. “But you need to remember this is a lot for Hazel to take in. It’s only been a year since we split, and with the move and puberty and now becoming a big sister... I would have liked to have been prepared for the conversation she and I just had.”

“She seemed happy when we told her...”

“Of course she acted happy—she knew that’s what you expected.” An edge had crept into her voice, and she took a calming breath. She’d just scolded Chris about parenting as a team, so she couldn’t let her personal feelings take over now. “Hazel’s fine with it. A little stunned, but she’s okay.” Another breath. “She seems to like Genna.”

“Genna will never try to take your place, Zoey.”

The fact that Chris thought he had to say that stung at first, but then she realized she needed to hear it. Her body tension eased.

“I guess I should get to know her, huh?”

“Sure.” He didn’t sound all that enthusiastic. “I guess we could start with coffee together or something.”

“Decaf, of course.”

“What? Oh...yeah. Pregnant. No caffeine. Right. It’s been a while.” He sounded overwhelmed.

“Fourteen years,” she answered. There was a long silence, and she actually felt sorry for the guy. “You’ll be fine. It’s like riding a bike.” She smiled softly. “You did good the first time around.”

“Thanks. I really am sorry I didn’t warn you about the news.” He paused. “How are you doing? Seeing anyone?”

“Between the business and working on Dad’s house, my days are full.”

And I didn’t have the head start of already seeing someone while we were married...

She didn’t say that. She also didn’t tell him Hazel wanted her to stay single. The conversation with Chris stayed with her after the call. It’s not like she was grieving his loss or anything. But one of Hazel’s homes had to be stable. She couldn’t bring some random guy back here. It would be nice to have a random guy, though.

She pulled the lasagna out of the oven and called out to Hazel.

Maybe not random. But a man in her life. Or at least in her bed.

She blinked.

Yeah, she did miss having someone in her bed.

CHAPTER SIX

“OOH...SPEAK OF the devil!”