Free Destined To Be A Dad (Welcome To Destiny Book 9) by Christyne Butler Page A

else?” he asked.
    She nodded, but remained silent.
    “What?” he pushed, something telling him he wasn’t going to like it. “Missy, after everything we’ve—said to each other tonight, you can just spit it out.”
    She pulled in a deep breath, releasing it in a slow exhale before she said, “Destiny seems to be the same quaint small town I remember. I’m sure the gossipmongers are already talking about my daughter’s appearance at the rodeo tonight with you and your family.”
    “You’re probably right.”
    “I wonder whether you’ve decided what you plan to tell...people. Your family, friends, colleagues. Now that you know everything.”
    Another good question that he didn’t have a ready answer to. “What do you want me to tell them?”
    “The truth. All of us have been living with this lie for too long.”
    Liam admired how she spoke without any hesitation, but the last thing he wanted was to cause her any embarrassment over what her parents had done. To her. To them. Especially since she’d had so little time yet to come to terms with their deception herself.
    “We’ll tell them...” He paused, and then went with a decision straight from his gut. “We’ll tell anyone who asks there was a mix-up with the hospital paperwork and your...husband was incorrectly listed as Casey’s father. The mistake wasn’t discovered until now.”
    Relief colored her features, but she still appeared upset. “It won’t take a math genius to figure out the time difference between when I left here, Casey’s birth and what I did when I got home to create such a...possibility.”
    “I don’t care about that.”
    When Liam let himself think about it, the idea of Missy getting busy with her ex still stung a bit, but hell, that was years ago. With everything going on between them now—especially in the last half hour—her actions back then just added another twist in this crazy turn his life had taken.
    “So, you believe me then?” she asked. “This whole crazy story?”
    Liam looked at her. His first love. Now the mother of his child. “That’s why we’re getting a new DNA test done, right? Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
    He took a step, intent on heading down the stairs, but apparently Missy wasn’t done.
    “I told you earlier how Casey was taking all of this in stride,” she said, “but as excited as she is about you and what you represent, she has no idea how you feel about suddenly having a teenage daughter in your life.”
    The pounding in his chest returned.
    All the things he hadn’t been able to experience over the past fifteen years when it came to Casey flashed inside his head. Birthdays. Holidays. Her first words, first steps, first day of school.
    “Seeing how I’ve only known about her for the last twelve hours or so, I’m not sure exactly what I’m feeling, either, but we’ll work on that.”
    “She wants to get to know you, and your family.”
    “I want that, too.”
    The words came easily because they were true. He wanted to get to know his daughter. Wanted her to be a part of his life, part of his family. What that meant for him and Missy, he had no idea.
    He’d honestly never thought—
    Okay, maybe once in a while, especially lately with the company’s business growing in the UK the way it was, he’d thought that he might someday run into his first love again on a trip to London. Pass her in Piccadilly Circus. Catch sight of her in a restaurant or on the subway.
    Now she was here, right in front of him.
    Now he had the chance to get to know her all over again...
    “As for all that happened here tonight, between us—” Missy turned slightly and waved at the porch behind her, before putting her hand on the doorknob “—I know talking about the past—our past—is inevitable. Reliving it, however, is not. I’m only staying in town for Casey’s sake. To give her what she wants and needs.”
    And that was all.
    She disappeared back inside the apartment. It was as