This Time by Kristin Leigh Read Free Book Online Page B

same guy all right. First of all, I know him. Second of all,” Rebecca looked up from Tara’s foot and used the polish brush to point at the wall. “Look at her. She’s a carbon copy of him. Trust me, it’s the same guy.”
    In unison, Callie and Sara turned to the wall to look at the same picture of Madelynn Tara had sent Michael.
    “Holy shit,” Sara whispered.
    “I wonder if Chris knows,” Callie reflected absently. “Because he would probably want to know.”
    “Chris runs a pretty tight ship.” Sara explained to Tara. “Did he at least send you child support?”
    Rebecca piped in, “Well, not since Madelynn was born, which was five years ago. But,” she looked over her shoulder at Sara, “he did start sending her letters a month or so ago. Then he sent her a huge check and made Maddie his beneficiary for his SGLI.”
    “How huge a check are we talking about here?” Sara asked, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “Because five years is a long time.”
    Tara debated telling her for a minute and then decided that Rebecca would tell them if she didn’t. “Seven thousand dollars,” she muttered.
    “And she hasn’t cashed it yet,” Rebecca piped in.
    Tara narrowed her eyes accusingly at Rebecca and defended herself. “Only because I don’t know if I should accept it.”
    “Take it, girl.” Sara wiggled her toes experimentally before stretching her legs and standing. “He owes it to you.”
    Callie rolled her eyes. “Always the voice of reason, aren’t you, Sara? It sounds good in theory, but I meant it’s too little, too late for him to chase after Tara, especially if he’s going to try to win her over with money.” She glanced over at Tara and said, “I understand why you haven’t cashed it. If you did, he’d probably take that to mean you’re interested again, even if you’re not.”
    Rebecca wrinkled her nose and said, “That ship has sailed.”
    Tara remained silent. All three women stared at her, waiting.
    Sara’s eyes widened, and she exchanged glances with the others. “Tara? That ship has sailed, hasn’t it? Are you considering anything you’d like to talk about?”
    Tara sighed and looked at them thoughtfully. “I’m not planning on getting romantically involved with him again. But if he’s going to be part of Maddie’s life from now on, it wouldn’t hurt to at least be on friendly terms with him. I told him I’d video chat with him occasionally.”
    The three women groaned in unison. “Tara!” Rebecca chided. “That is a really bad idea. You can’t be friends with a man like Michael and not want something else. It’s not just his looks. It’s everything. He’s an alpha male. You remember what he was like when he wasn’t around his friends.”
    Sara nodded at Callie and explained since she didn’t know Michael as well as the rest of them. “He’s a mix of a caveman and modern guy. He’s always gentle with women but very defensive of them too.”
    “What happened?” Callie asked. “I mean, he sounds like a great guy. But you have a daughter with him that he has never even mentioned to the rest of the team. There has to be a story there.”
    “Prince Charming turned into a wart-covered toad after I kissed him, and I had Madelynn nine months later. The end. It was almost six years ago.” Tara didn’t want to go over this again.
    Rebecca piped up. “He denied Madelynn was his and told Tara she’d been pretty much a one night stand that lasted three months.”
    Callie rattled the ice in her sweet tea glass as she drank the last of it. “So much for being a great guy. What a dick.”
    Sara giggled and joked “That’s what she said.”
    Tara laughed. “Actually, yeah, I did. At first.”
    Rebecca concentrated on the coat of what she called “whore-red” toenail polish she was painting onto Tara’s toes. “Well, even if you don’t cash the check, at least you’re taking the child support now.”
    Sara piped in, “You’ll take monthly child