LOST AND FOUND HUSBAND by Sheri Whitefeather Page B

moment, he hated himself, too.
    “Good. Fine. Hate it is.” She stormed off to her room, slamming the door behind her.
    Eric remained in his chair, lost in the mess he’d made of everyone’s lives.
    * * *
    After an hour had passed, Eric knocked on Kaley’s door.
    She called out, “Come in,” and he entered the room. It was the same room she’d had since she was a child, triggering memories of her when she was little, content in her kid-oriented world. The sugar-and-spice decor had changed since then, reflecting her age now, but he was remembering it as it had been.
    She sat on her bed, with her knees drawn to her chest, her iPad beside her. She was always using an electronic device of some kind.
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    “I’m sorry, too.” She gestured for him to come closer. “I don’t hate you, Dad. I love you.”
    “I love you, too.” He loved her with every ounce of who he was. “You’re everything to me.”
    “The new baby should be everything, too.”
    “I just found out about it a few days ago. I need more time to accept what’s happening.”
    “I know. It just bothers me that you seem so detached.”
    “I’ll try to become more attached.”
    “I still think you should offer to marry Dana.”
    “Oh, Kaley.” He sat down in her desk chair. “Life just isn’t that simple.”
    “I think it can be, if you let it. Look at what happened with Victoria and Ryan.”
    Victoria and Ryan were her birth parents, and yes, they’d come a long way, but the circumstances were different. “It isn’t the same.”
    “Ryan detached himself from me and Victoria when I was born.”
    “Because he was scared.”
    “You’re scared, too.”
    “That doesn’t mean I should marry Dana. And I already told you, she agreed that it wasn’t the right thing for us to do.”
    “But it wasn’t a legitimate offer. You didn’t ask her to marry you. You didn’t give her the opportunity to think about it.”
    “She probably already thought about it on her own.”
    “Only because she assumed it wasn’t an option. At least if you ask, you’ll have a chance to explore the subject. At least then you two can discuss it and see if it really could be a possibility.”
    He didn’t reply. But he knew whatever he said wouldn’t matter. Kaley was determined to sway him, and when she wanted something, she wasn’t going to give up.
    She said, “You’re a traditional man, Dad. An honorable man. You shouldn’t have a baby out of wedlock, and especially with a woman who vowed to never be a single mother.”
    “All right. So let’s say for the sake of argument that I ask her and she agrees, and then we have a crappy marriage. How is that helping the baby?”
    “At least the child will look back on his or her life and know that you tried to be a family.”
    “It’s a nice notion, and your heart is in the right place, but I—”
    “Please, just think about it. Even if Dana turns you down, at least you offered. At least she can tell her family that the man was willing to marry her.”
    “You’re awfully committed to a woman you’ve never even met, Kaley.”
    “She’s going to give birth to my brother or sister. I should be committed to making this easier for her.”
    “You and your women’s causes.”
    “My minor is women’s studies,” she reminded him. “So what do you expect, for me to take the male perspective on this?”
    “Even if the male perspective belongs to your father?”
    “Especially if it belongs to my dad. I want to be proud of the way you’re handling the situation.”
    As opposed to being ashamed of his detachment? Eric looked into her eyes. He wanted her to be proud of him. He wanted to be the man she believed him to be. He wanted to try to be that man for Dana and their baby, too, if that was possible.
    He stood up, took a deep breath and told himself he could do this, no matter how scared he was. “I’ll talk to Dana about it.”
    Kaley jumped off the bed and flung herself into