Accidental Fate by M.A. Stacie Read Free Book Online Page A

clinging to his calm.
    "Oops. Sorry. I meant to write it on the letter." She finally sat down on the chair facing the couch. She crossed her legs, flashing him every inch of her pale, bruised thigh. "So he's okay then?"
    Finally!
    "He's no longer confused, if that's what you're asking. One minute he was with you, then the next with a strange man who had no idea what to do with a baby. Took us a little time, but thanks to Erin, Joe and I are just fine."
    "Joe?" Carlie laughed. "His name isn't Joe. Did I forget to tell you that too?"
    "Are you high?"
    Carlie laughed again, only this time somewhat more hysterically. She pulled her purse from her shoulder, rifled through it, and handed him a crumpled piece of paper. As Leo took it he noticed her bruised arms; she was worrying him.
    "What's this?" he snapped, his patience disappearing fast.
    "It's the baby's birth certificate. His name's Leo too."
    Carlie beamed as though pleased with herself. Leo had heard enough; he needed to know why she was here. And where the hell was Erin?
    "What do you want?" He asked abruptly.
    She blinked, evidently shocked by the harshness of his words. She composed herself quickly.
    "I wanted to say goodbye to Leo. I'm going on the road with Bert's band."
    "Wait!" He squeezed the bridge of his nose. "You really need to start at the beginning. Like when I opened my store to find a baby on the doorstep! And while you're explaining, you may as well tell me why you never told me you were pregnant."
    Joe whined, swiftly breaking out into a full on wail, but as Leo moved to standing, Erin tiptoed out of his room and into Joe's.
    "I'll see to him," Erin muttered, disappearing quickly.
    Carlie carried on their conversation, apparently oblivious to her child's distress.
    "We had sex. I'm sure you remember that because, damn, it was hot! I wanted more, but you kicked me out. I got pregnant. You told me all along you only did one-nighters, and to be honest, by the time I figured I was pregnant it was too late to do anything about it. After I had him—which hurt like a bitch by the way—he wouldn't stop crying. I thought he'd be better with you."
    "Do you have any idea how callous you sound?"
    "What? All I did was let his father look after him."
    Leo took a deep breath. She simply didn't understand, or rather she was too intoxicated to try. Over the last few weeks he had tried to imagine what this moment would be like. This was not what he'd thought.
    "So now you've come to say goodbye to him? Don't you care about him at all? Don't you want to know how he's been? How I've managed with a son I never knew I had? I had nothing, Carlie! No diapers, no clothes, no milk."
    "You found a way to get that stuff though, didn't you? And now it seems like you have someone who is more than just one night for you. Maybe she can be his mommy?"
    "That's heartless. You're his mom."
    Carlie shook her head so hard strands of her hair whipped at her cheeks. Her eyes glittered with emotion as she spoke. "I don't want to be. Never did. Bert doesn't want him either, and I can't very well take a baby on a tour bus, right?"
    Erin stepped from Joe's bedroom, cradling the baby to her chest. She'd changed into one of Leo's T-shirts and a pair of loose jeans. She eyed them with caution, clearly bracing herself for Carlie's wrath.
    Carlie barely glanced at her son, staring instead at Leo.
    "I'd suck as a parent and you know it."
    "No, no I don't," Leo ground out, his whole body shaking. "You're not even trying! You can't just kiss him and then leave. You can't leave me alone to do this, Carlie."
    "I can. It's what's best for him. You seem to be doing well without me, and you have your little helper there." She jutted her chin over toward Erin.
    Leo could see the hostility in her posture. He chose to ignore it for now, as she didn't appear aggressive toward Erin. He could only hope that was because she didn't want to hurt her son. He wished there was some small part of her who did care for the