I swallow the fear down. “Sir, I can explain—”

  “You have quite the stage presence, young man,” he says, glancing Junior up and down. “I can’t say you chose the best of moments to showcase your abilities, but I appreciate tenacity when I see it.”

  Junior blinks. “Thanks?”

  Young turns to me. “You kept it together up there, Alyssa. I like an actress who can handle a curveball.”

  I heave a thick sigh. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Let’s make sure tomorrow’s shows go just as smoothly, everybody!” he says, addressing the entire crew. “And can we please lock the stage doors next time?”

  Young wanders off.

  I spin toward the dressing rooms before Junior can grab me again.

  “Ally—”

  “Go away, Junior.”

  I slam the door behind me, but he throws it open and follows me anyway. “Dammit, Junior.” I hold back tears. “I can’t do this right now.”

  “This isn’t over,” he says.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Don’t I have a say?”

  “No, and no amount of gesturing is going to change my mind.”

  Junior furrows his brow. “Is that a theatre thing? I’ve never heard of it before.”

  “Get out.”

  “No.” He stands up a little taller. “I said that crappy dialogue, but I meant every word. I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Ally.”

  “Junior, you…” I inhale, feeling the sharp stab of guilt in my gut. He doesn’t know what he’s getting into because I was too much of a coward to tell him. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

  “I know.”

  I shake my head. “No, Junior. I really have—”

  He kisses me, but that just makes me feel even worse.

  “I know, Ally.”

  He entwines our fingers together with a tight grip.

  “You know?” I ask.

  “I know.”

  “You know all of it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure? Because there’s a lot.”

  He looks down, eyes pointed at my stomach. “I know about the baby.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Your dad told me.”

  My face falls. “Why would he—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he says, nudging my chin up to make me look at him.

  “Wait. Why aren’t you at the game?”

  Junior pauses, but his touch on me never ceases. “He wanted me to choose. I made my choice.”

  My eyes fill with tears. “Junior, no.”

  “Yes.”

  “You can’t give that up for me.”

  “I already have.”

  “But—”

  “I’m in, Ally. I love you. I’ll never let anyone take you from me.” His hand falls to my belly and his warm touch fires a spark throughout my body. “Or this.”

  I let the tears fall. “Promise?”

  He draws an X over his chest and kisses me again.

  CHAPTER 47

  JUNIOR

  September

  I walk from room to room. My room, empty. Ty’s room, empty. Kitchen, bathroom, living room, all empty.

  It’s moving day.

  Technically, I moved out a month ago, but Ty stayed to finish out our lease before shacking up with Grant. Today’s our official last day at 218 Shanty Row, so I stopped by to return my key and do one more walk-through of the house to make sure I didn’t forget anything.

  And to remember.

  We didn’t live here long. Only a year, but there are so many great memories. This party. That party. The night we moved in. The night after we moved in when we got up on the roof and I drunkenly fell off. That first epic night with Alyssa, and all the secret nights we spent together after that.

  And now it’s over, but life goes on in the best way.

  “Hello?”

  I follow the unfamiliar voice to the living room. There’s a young woman on the porch. She smiles through the screen door as she spots me coming out of the hall.

  “Hi. Are you Mac?” she asks.

  “Oh, no,” I say. “He’s downstairs working on the dryer.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  She steps back, clearly shy.

  “It’s okay,” I say. “Are you here to check out the house?”

  “Yeah.”

  I open the door and wave her in. “You can come in and wait. He won’t take long.”

  “Thanks.”

  As she enters, I notice her eyes. They’re golden and bright, shining beneath a head of blackish-brown hair. Cute. Real cute.

  But I’m taken.

  “Are you a freshman?” I ask.

  She blushes. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Well, you didn’t squeal when you saw me, so I figured you were new in town.”

  Her eyes narrow. “Is that common for you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Congratulations.”

  I extend my hand to her. “I’m Junior.”

  “Heidi,” she greets me without a hint of recognition as she shakes my hand. Not a sports fan, I take it.

  “Where are you from, Heidi?”

  “Iowa,” she says, ashamed.

  “Home of Adventureland!”

  “In Des Moines!” She nods. “That’s right.”

  “My family went there almost every summer back in the day.”

  I make a note of it. I have some great memories there, too. That’s a family tradition I definitely want to continue.

  “Mine, too!” she says. “Until the time my brother threw up on me after riding the Outlaw. Then, we kinda stopped going…”

  I chuckle. Great memories come in all shapes and sizes. “So, how do you like the house so far?”

  Heidi glances around the living room. “I see four walls, a roof. I assume there’s a bathroom somewhere?”

  I point down the hall. “Right over there.”

  “Then it looks great to me! My roommate-to-be is on her way. She demanded final say, but it’s the only one near campus that’s in my budget, so I’m hoping she likes it.”

  “Well, it’s a nice house,” I say.

  “Is it?”

  “No, not really.” We laugh. “But I have some memories here. Good things happen in this house.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” I look around, into the kitchen, toward the bedroom. “No regrets.”

  The back door opens and closes.

  “Well, that’d be Mac,” I say, shifting toward the door. “I’ll get out of here. Just stopped by to drop off my keys.”

  Heidi sidles to let me pass. “It was nice to meet you, Junior.”

  “You too, Heidi. I’ll see you around campus.”

  “You, too!”

  I step outside onto the porch, smiling at the squeaky sound of the hinge one last time.

  CHAPTER 48

  ALYSSA

  Junior takes my hand and gives it a light, reassuring squeeze as he rolls his eyes at me.

  “Don’t think I didn’t see that, young man,” Bonnie says, pointing a finger at him from the loveseat across the room.

  “Mom, we already said no,” he says.

  “Not that we don’t appreciate the offer,” I add. “We do.”

  “Right. We do.” He nods. “But… no.”

  She sighs. “Well, why not?”

  I chuckle at her desperation. Everyone else sitting around does, too.

  Ty and Grant hold it back the best so they don’t appear rude in her home, but I see the humor dancing in their eyes.

  Maggie lets it all out, cackling hard at her little brother’s expense while Nate keeps his head down beside her.

  Roy just shakes his head quietly from his chair.

  “Because…” Junior says, “I don’t want to move back in with my parents.”

  “Well, this isn’t only about you, Junior.” She gestures at me. “This is about Alyssa and what she needs.”

  “Really, Bonnie. Thank you, but…” I hesitate, trying to think of the best way to say it without offending her. “I have all the support I need near campus.”

  “But it’s far quieter out here. You can’t raise a baby by a college campus. It’s too noisy! Especially now that the stadium will surely sell out for every game.”

  “It’s fine, Mom,” Junior says. “The condo Ty’s cousin found us is far enough away that noise won’t be an issue.”

  Bonnie flinches at the word condo. “But what about daycare?” she fires back. “It’s far too expensive nowadays. If the three of you move in here, then I can take care of the baby while you’re in class or at football practice.”

  “You live an hour away from campus, Mom,” he points out. “The daily commute would probably cost the same as daycare.”

  “I’m taking the fall semester off,” I say. “We don’t have to worry about the daycare situation until spring.”

  Grant points at me. “And you absolutely have to be back by then,” he says. “Shakespeare showcase!”

  I smile at him. “I won’t miss it.”

  “What about you, little brother?” Maggie asks, her cheeks pink with wine. “Will you be gracing us with your amazing stage presence again next semester?”

  Junior glares at her. “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”

  She grins. “Never.”

  “No,” he answers. “I’ll be sticking with football.”

  Nate leans forward. “Have they chosen a new coach?”

  The air shifts slightly. Junior squeezes my hand a little tighter.

  “Yes,” Ty says. “Well, kind of. Bob is taking over, and he’s nailing it so far, if you ask me.”

  Junior nods. “He’s doing great, yeah. Not surprising, though. He’s been around forever. He knows what he’s doing.”

  Bonnie sighs to pull attention back on her. “Fast forward to spring and we’re right back to square one,” she says, gesturing with zeal. “What are you going to do with the baby then?”

  Roy finally chimes in. “Bonnie, the kids have made their decision.”

  “But they have better options.”

  “I’m sure they’ve considered every single option available to them and they’ve decided, together, to do what they feel is best for them and their family.”

  “But they don’t—”

  “Remember when Maggie was born and how you used to complain about my mother not leaving us alone?”

  Her jaw drops. The room cringes. “This is completely different.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  The doorbell rings.

  Junior shoots up off the couch. “I’ll get it!”

  “Don’t leave me,” I whisper.

  He grins and drops my hand, abandoning me to fend for myself.

  “Alyssa,” Roy says, looking at me.

  I swallow hard. “Yes, sir?”

  “We’re just a phone call away if you two need anything. You know that.”

  “Yes, I do. Thank you.”

  “Anything at all,” Bonnie says.

  I smile. “Thank you. Really, though, we’re fine. We’ve figured out our routine and I don’t expect any big surprises to come knocking anytime soon.”

  “Ally?”

  I look up at Junior and pause, catching sight of the familiar face lingering behind him in the open doorway.

  My father.

  I stand up, but I can’t bring myself to step any closer.

  He looks at me over Junior’s shoulder with soft eyes and a long expression, neither of which I’ve ever seen on him before. It’s strange, almost foreign, like an alien wearing his face as a mask. Strangely, I don’t feel an ounce of hatred or fear of him. I thought I would if I ever saw him again.

  “I would like to talk to my daughter in private, please,” he says.

  Junior doesn’t budge. “That’s up to her.”

  “Junior,” I say. He turns to me and I nod. “It’s okay.” I push forward through the silent room and Junior steps aside, his eyes asking me for reassurance, and I nod again. “We can go out back.”

  My father scans the room, vastly outnumbered here. “Hello,” he says, nodding awkwardly at their wide, unblinking eyes.

  I always forget how much of a celebrity my father is. Even after everything he’s done, it’s difficult for them not to look at him like that — Junior being the obvious exception in the room. There’s a subtle anger hidden behind his brown eyes, but he remains calm and strong.

  “Come on,” I say to my father.

  I lead him through the house to the backyard, feeling Junior’s watchful stare on me the entire time. Silence falls between us despite months of planning what I’d say to him. All the anger and frustration I imagined melt away. It’s pity that takes their place.

  He seems older. More wrinkles. He hasn’t shaved in days judging by the scruff on his face.

  “Where have you been?” I finally ask.

  “I went back to New York for a while,” he says, his voice low. “Thought about staying there, but…”

  “But what?”

  He clears his throat. “I wanted to see my daughter again.”

  My tongue twitches, but I force down my snarky reply.

  He glances at the house. “Seems like you’ve been taking care of yourself.”

  “The Morgans took me in after you… left.”

  “Good. And Junior? I hear he’s still got that arm—”

  “Dad, what do you want?”

  He goes quiet, but looks right at me for several moments. “Alyssa, I was never meant to be a dad. Then, suddenly, I had a little girl. I didn’t know what to do with you. Where I come from, family was just something that held a man back. Love, marriage, kids — it was all a distraction from what really mattered.”

  I cringe away from him. It’s one thing to know it, but to hear it so blatantly is something else entirely.

  “I never gave that a second thought,” he continues. “Not until Junior walked away from that game last year. When he did that… I don’t know.”

  His voice trails off.

  “Is that why you took off?” I ask.

  “I couldn’t bring myself to face you again after…” He shakes his head. “Alyssa, I don’t know a lot about what family means or what it’s supposed to be, but I know that you’re my daughter. You’re the only family I got left. I’m willing to try… if you’ll let me. I’d like to start here with the home you’ve built for yourself and hopefully… you can find a place for me in it.”

  And just like that, I’m a little kid again, staring up at the television screen, screaming, “that’s my dad!” at the top of my lungs. It took years for the truth about who he really was to decay the rosy tint in my vision, but I’ve always longed to feel that again.

  Turning my back on him now might feel good for a while. It’s downright tempting, to be honest. It’s what he’s done to me, but it’s not who I am.

  It’s not how I’d raise my own child.

  “Well, to start…” I shift on my toes. “Would you like to meet your granddaughter?”

  He smiles. “Yeah, I would.”

  I take him back inside and up the stairs. The house is far too silent for the number of people in it, but I imagine the voices ceased the second we stepped inside.

  “She’s been napping for a while,” I say outside of Junior’s old room. “Being around people wears her out, but I don’t think she’d mind one more.”

  I push the door open and we step softly toward the crib in the corner. Even before I see her, I can feel her turning to look at me — like a magic link constantly pulling us together.

  “Hey, baby…” I whisper, reaching down to pick her up. “Someone here wants to meet you.”

  She twists her head, instantly drawn to the massive man behind my back, but she doesn’t make a peep.

  “Wow,” my father says. “She looks just like you did.”

  “Yeah?”

  He nods, gently smoothing his palm over the brown tuft on her head. “What’s her name?”

  “Courtney.”

  I shift her closer to him. There’s a quick panic in his eyes, but it passes as soon as he takes her from me. I chuckle at how much smaller she appears in his huge hands.

  “Hello, Courtney,” he says, chuckling. “I’m your grandfather.”

  Still, she doesn’t make a noise. She just stares at him with wide eyes, confused yet comfortable.

  I take a deep breath to swallow the rush of tears down. “Dad, if you want, you can stay for a while. I don’t think Bonnie or Roy would mind setting another place at the table.”

  He furrows his brow. “What about Junior?”

  I raise my voice a little, sensing the near-silent movement in the hallway. “Junior won’t be a problem.”

  Dad finally tears his eyes away from her face to look at me. “Is he taking care of you two?”

  “Yeah,” I say, my heart throbbing. “He’s a good man.”

  He nods, regret filling his eyes. “Yes, he is.”

  CHAPTER 49

  JUNIOR

  I stay behind on the porch as Alyssa walks her dad to his car.

  She holds our daughter in her arms, swaying confidently with her as if she always knew how. I can’t say it came that easily to me. Holding something so fragile has quite the learning curve.

  Luckily, I had the perfect tutor to guide me through it.

  She lets out a laugh and says goodbye to him. I breathe a thankful sigh. Cary Pierce showing up like this could easily have gone south fast, but it went as well as it could have. I’m sure Alyssa will spend the next several hours replaying the encounter in her head, but I don’t want that.

  I’m not about to let Cary Pierce ruin tonight.

  Alyssa walks up the driveway, whispering into the baby’s ear to keep her calm, but Courtney is far more interested in looking up at the dimming sky.

  She climbs the porch. “Well, that was strange and slightly traumatizing,” she jokes.

  “Which part?” I ask. “Your dad showing up out of the blue or my dad trying to have a conversation with him?”

  “Both.”

  “Think he’ll really be sticking around?”