As a single mom in a small town, there's only one thing I want. Another baby. When all the roads to getting what I want lead to dead ends, I turn to one of my best friends for help.
In my mind, Trent Castillo is the perfect baby daddy. He has good g...
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At breakfast, Amir stares thoughtfully into his cereal. "Are you sure Trent's not going to watch me now while you're away?"
"Yes," I say. "Grandma has planned some fun things for you two. Trent has a lot going on with work right now."
"And that's why he moved out..." Amir stirs his cereal, but I can tell he's still processing the sudden change in his life.
Trent has been here since April, and while I always considered the impact my relationship with Trent would have on Amir, I never expected everything to blow up so spectacularly and for Trent to be so stubborn in a way I'd never anticipated.
It also means that I'm back to barely holding my life together. All the threads are clenched so hard in my hands that I've been in tears almost every night. Trent has been right about people around town—many of them haven't been nice. Some of the comments have treated me as though I'm some poor, wounded thing, and others have treated me as though I should have known better—but in every case, those people are assuming Trent is guilty.
And it makes me so, so angry.
"Someone at camp told me that they heard that Trent was arrested. Is he in jail again?"
Amir's comment makes my heart stop.
"How would Trent even end up in jail?" Amir sets down his spoon and focuses on me.
"When Trent was a teenager," I say, carefully, "he made some bad choices, and the police caught him making those bad choices."
"And this time?"
"Some people Trent knows made some bad choices, and the police wanted to know whether Trent knew about those bad choices."
"Did he?"
"No."
"So, Trent's not in trouble?"
I turn away from him to stare into the sink. "He shouldn't be." The truth is, I don't know the status of the investigation. He hasn't been charged with anything, but I don't know if that means he's been cleared yet either. Last Maggie heard, there was still some lingering questions, but she didn't know exactly what those were.
"So I can tell Marcus he's a liar?" Amir says.
"You're probably better not to talk about it at all," I say.
"But if people are saying things that aren't true, I can't let them do that."
"You can tell them it's not true, but I wouldn't sink to calling other people names in response."
"But it is a lie."
"He was misinformed, and he told you the information someone else probably told him."
Amir slumps back in his chair, and I can see the same sadness reflected in him that I feel in myself. Part of me resents Trent for leaving me to explain all of this to Amir, but I also understand he's got a lot on his plate right now. It's a silly way to feel, but I can't help myself.
