Chapter 3All My Love Went to You

I stared into the darkness, sleep a million miles away.

The man who was supposed to be lying next to me, a promising new prospect from my recent dating efforts, had been unceremoniously punched out of the hotel room by Nolan hours ago. Now, the usurper himself was wrapped around me from behind, his arms a steel cage around my waist.

"Kate," he whispered, his voice a low rumble against my back. "If you can't sleep, we could still put that little thing to use."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

A soft chuckle vibrated through me, and the arms around my waist tightened.

Half an hour later, Nolan's breathing evened out into the deep, steady rhythm of sleep. Young people always fall asleep so fast.

I continued to stare at the ceiling until the sudden glare of my phone screen illuminated the room.

Kate, are you awake?

I'm planning on coming home.

Two simple messages. That's all it took to demolish the fragile sense of calm I had spent hours trying to build.

Regina Miller.

My best friend, ten years my senior, and Nolan’s biological mother. After nearly a decade of living abroad, she was coming back.

If I had received this news before tonight, I would have been ecstatic. Eight years! I’d raised her son for eight long years. The thought of finally unloading the burden who had kept me single and shackled for almost a decade should have been a dream come true.

But life is a cruel joke.

Nolan’s words from earlier echoed in my mind, a deafening roar.

"If any man will do, Kate, then why not me?"

I lay awake the entire night. It wasn’t until the first hint of dawn painted the sky that I finally replied.

When's your flight?

Nolan and I will pick you up.