One to Tell the Grandkids Read Online Free Page A

meant what I said before. I’m not here looking for money or help. I’m the one making the choice to keep this baby, and I thought it was only right you should know. If you want to take off, I’m not going to hold it against you.”
    Slate was already shaking his head. “No. Hell no. I’m not about to be another deadbeat dad.”
    His words knocked the breath from her. “Oh. Then I, I don’t know where to start.”
    “Um. I . . .” Slate laughed without humor. “Yeah, I got nothing.”
    Caleb cleared his throat. “Can I offer a suggestion?”
    “I haven’t been able to stop you so far,” Taryn said, but she gave him a weak smile to let him know she didn’t have a problem with it.
    “You have some time before you have to know all the answers. Start at the beginning. Get to know each other.”
    “He’s right,” Rob said. “You should do the dating thing.”
    Slate and Taryn both looked at him. “The dating thing?”
    “Sure.” He grinned and winked at Taryn. “Dating is where you go out with a person and have stilted conversations over dinner to see if you’re compatible at all? If nothing else, even if you don’t mesh as a couple, you can try to be friends. It would be better for Patch if you were friends.”
    “Patch?” Slate asked.
    “That’s what Taryn calls the baby. She doesn’t want us to call it ‘it.’”
    “Patch.” Slate met her eyes again and tried for a smile. It didn’t quite work, but she appreciated the effort. “I like that.”
    The waiter came over with the drinks they’d ordered. Taryn sipped her water, jealous as everyone else enjoyed their Thai teas. That minor injustice of pregnancy was something small to concentrate on when everything else seemed too big.
    Since no one had looked at the menu, Robin asked the waiter for another minute, but even when the man walked away, they still didn’t move. The silence that descended over the table was deafening.
    “So . . .” Caleb made a deliberate move to open his menu. “Who’s hungry?”
    Amidst conversation over the correct pronunciation of pho , the ice broke naturally and stayed broken. Caleb and Rob acted as a buffer when conversation got stilted. They talked about safe topics—family of origin, work, bands they’d seen—anything but the only thing they should have been talking about.
    Time passed, and when their food was long finished, they all began to make noises about leaving. Taryn and Rob had to collect Mel before they could get back to Orange County. Slate had missed his two o’clock appointment, and Caleb had to get back to his bar.
    Outside, Slate walked over to Taryn, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “I’m really sorry. About everything.”
    “It’s a relief to at least know a little about you. It’s better. Or not, really. I don’t know how to feel. When I woke up that morning next to you, and I didn’t remember anything . . .” She shrugged, helpless to finish her thought. She didn’t want to insult him again . “I don’t know.”
    “It felt ugly,” he said, his voice soft. “Dirty. Like someone had taken advantage of you.” He tugged on his ponytail. “That’s gross.” He shook his head and looked over at her with guilt in his eyes. “I’m not that guy. I’d never take advantage of a girl who was drunk.”
    “Well, if you took advantage of me, I took advantage of you. You were drunk, too, and sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I’m not that girl either.”
    His smile was slight but genuine. “I believe you.” He looked uncertain a moment before he grinned at her, the expression undeniably charming. “I’m Slayton Marcus McKenzie,” he said. “But call me Slate, ‘cause Slayton is a horrible name.”
    Taryn couldn’t help but smile back as she put her hand in his. “Taryn Elizabeth Sato.” They shook. “It’s nice to meet you. Honestly.”
    He took his hand back and rubbed his neck. “So.”
    “So.”
    “I do want to be involved,” he