“What’s that?” Kate examined the information.

“The Flyers have an open practice tomorrow morning at their facility in New Jersey. If you don’t want to be the woman you described to me, go and talk to your child’s father.”

“I can’t.”

“No, you won’t. You’ve known about the baby for almost a week. I’m with your sister on this one. You don’t want to tell him on the phone, fine. But tell him.” She picked up her keys and gave Kate a hug.

“I thought you guys would take it easy on the pregnant lady.”

Julie grinned. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. People always handle me like I’m going to break.”

“Everything else that’s happened has been out of your control. This isn’t.”

*

The training complex in Voorhees, New Jersey, was almost a full hour away from Kate’s house, which gave her lots of time to think about what she was going to say to David.

She’d called in the morning to confirm the practice time and, as planned, she was getting there about twenty minutes before it ended. Hopefully she would be able to see him, otherwise, she’d have to screw up her nerve for a second time and try again.

As she walked into the main door of the facility, a flood of memories hit her. It was a new building, but in some ways it was the same as the ice rinks she knew on Long Island and Boston. The smell and feel of the air, which was always a little cooler and drier than normal, had her feeling like she did when she had been five and entered a rink for her first skating lesson. She heard the sounds of skates and sticks hitting pucks and followed it to the rink. There were three coaches on the ice in warm-ups, and the players circled around, passing and shooting one of the hundred pucks on the ice.

At first, it didn’t seem like there was any organization to what the players were doing, but in a few minutes she saw a pattern emerge with the way the players were working together, passing and shooting.

David skated forward with two other men—his linemates, she guessed—and they brought the puck toward the two defensemen and the goalie. After some quick work with the puck, and before she could see anything, David let go a shot and he watched as the puck flew past the goalie’s left shoulder. He pumped his fist in celebration and rejoined his teammates back at center ice. Even though he’d complained about the workouts and the intensity of the practices, just like she used to, it was obvious he loved what he was doing. The love of the game came from inside.

There were only about twenty people watching practice and Kate settled herself on the back of the bleachers. She was there for about ten minutes when practice started to break up. Some of the players headed off the ice, but David continued to horse around with his friend. They were passing the puck and playing a little two-on-two with a couple of the rookies. Kate had picked up a considerable amount of information about the team in the two months she’d been following. David and his friend Jay had played together for a long time, and the younger players didn’t have a chance. David and Jay toyed with them, and she could see him having a ball with kids—especially his own.

He stopped for a moment, breathing heavily, and leaned on his stick. When he glanced up, he froze when he spotted her in the stands. His smile went wide at first, but then he sobered when he realized she was there for a reason and held her gaze. He said something to his friend, who looked in her direction, and as David came toward the stands, she made her way down.

When they met, by the entrance to the ice, she still hadn’t come to any decision about what to say to him. Should she blurt it out or break it to him gently? The drawn brows and weak smile said he wasn’t sure of what to do either.

He took off his helmet and rubbed his gloved hand on his forehead. Beads of sweat dripped off his face, and never had a big, sweaty, smelly man been so appealing. Kate’s entire body reacted. Of course, along with being completely crazy about him, she was terrified, and had no idea what she was going to say. Telling him she loved him was out of the question.

“Hey, this is a surprise,” he said. “Bring your skates?”

“Not today.” This wasn’t going to go well. “I guess I should have called.”

“No, it’s fine. Are you okay?”

Kate felt herself nod. “I’m fine. I… umm… I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” He kept trying to get a look at her eyes. “Kate, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Mmm hmm. Yes. Should I wait for you?”

“I’ll be about twenty minutes. Will you be all right out here?”

“No problem. Don’t rush.” Kate was grateful for the delay. If she could have, she would have procrastinated for another week.

*

Kate checked her watch. It had been just about twenty minutes when she heard footsteps. Freshly showered and walking up the bleacher steps, David was in faded jeans, a long sleeved T-shirt, and carried his leather jacket in one hand. Her heart did the little flip it always did when she saw him, then settled into a regular rhythm. Once he settled next to her, he leaned so he could have a look at the pile of papers on her lap.

“What are you doing?”

“Grading papers.”

He picked up one of the essays she’d been reading and smiled at all the colorful marks. “Guess this one isn’t so good?”

“It needs some work.” She took the paper from him and put it in the folder, then slipped it into her bag. “So…”

“Yeah. So…” He put his hands together and moved them back and forth. “What do you want to talk about?”

Kate looked at his face, into his eyes, and saw what everyone said was true. He had a right to know, but how was she supposed to tell him? He had no idea what was coming, that his life was about to change. She just hoped he wouldn’t offer to marry her. She didn’t need a pity groom, she needed him to man up and be a father to their child.

“Okay, there’s no easy way to say this.”

He took her hand and held tight. “Just tell me.”

The words came out of her mouth so quickly she didn’t have time to temper them. “I’m pregnant.”

Kate sat and waited for David’s reaction, but for what felt like an eternity, he didn’t say anything. He stared at her hand and traced circles around her palm with his thumb. It was driving her a little crazy, until he looked up and drew her hands to his lips. He planted a soft kiss on her knuckles and flashed the same gorgeous smile that seduced her in California.

“If it’s a girl,” he said, “I hope she looks like you.”

That did it. All the control, all the practiced words, all the cool consideration she’d given to this moment slipped away with those sweet words. One tear slipped down her cheek, then another, and pretty soon Kate was bawling into David’s shirt. She hadn’t lost control like this for almost a week, but seeing him, realizing what they were facing, broke her reserve. David let her cry, soothing her as best he could, but Kate felt more overwhelmed at that moment than ever before. She knew if he was to be part of this pregnancy, her family, her friends, people at school would all find out about their affair. It wasn’t like she and David were going to be together, even though she wished they could be. When she was honest with herself, Kate wanted that more than anything. Instead, she was a joke—the divorcee who couldn’t practice safe sex, the one who tried to trap a younger man, the cougar. Richard’s attorney would crucify her, she wouldn’t be able to face her daughter, and she would more than likely lose her teaching job.

But she was going to deal with those things anyway, so to protect this child, to make sure he, or she, only knew love, Kate made the tough call. Their baby needed a father, and knowing how it felt to be cut out of her own child’s life, she wouldn’t do that to anyone else.

Kate pulled away and wiped her wet face and runny nose with her sleeve, decorum be damned. She was a wreck, she knew it, and David still stared at her with eyes that were telling her everything would be alright.