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thought away. “This is crazy!”
    “Will you let me finish? I haven’t gotten to the best part. I’ll give you the thing you want most in the world.”
    “Oh yeah?” Sarah’s hackles were up now. What the hell did this guy know about her? “What’s that?”
    “I’ll back your business.”
    “I don’t need your charity. I can do it on my own.”
    “Who said anything about charity? I’m talking about making an investment. In you. You’ve got drive and skill. I think you’re a good bet. Besides, I honestly don’t know whether I’ll be able to keep running my company from this thing.” He tapped the arm of the wheelchair. “Here’s a chance to diversify. And I know you can do it on your own. But weren’t you the one who said everybody needs help sometimes?” He had her there. “Let me help you.”
    Confusion darkened her features as the conflict raged inside her. “You’ve got everything figured out, don’t you? You make it sound so simple. I can’t just move in with you! It’s not just me I have to worry about.”
    “What, you’ve got a roommate or something? I’ll cover your half of the bills until the lease term is up.”
    “That’s not it.”
    His frustration mounted with every word, and she could feel that he was about to lose his temper.
    “Then what is it? No ring. You’re not married. You got a boyfriend or something? Because you sure weren’t acting like it last night.”
    The words stung. “Fuck you for even thinking that.”
    Ethan shifted in his chair. “I deserved that. I’m sorry.”
    “You notice you seem to be saying that an awful lot lately?”
    “You’re right. I’ve been a total dick. And I know how insane this sounds. Not sounds. Is. We barely know each other, but after last night…I don’t know. I just…I just need you.”
    Sarah knew she should turn and walk out of the house, but something kept her there. Something about the way he looked at her, desperate and reckless and full of hope, made her stay. “It’s not that simple.”
    “It can be! You’ve got no roommate, no boyfriend. I’m making an offer you can’t refuse. What’s the holdup?”
    Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. “The holdup is that I have a son.”
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    Shockwaves reverberated through the room. Ethan looked like he’d just had a bucket of ice water thrown in his face.
    “A son?” He said it as though he didn’t understand the phrase, like it was some foreign saying he’d never heard before.
    “Jared. He’s eleven.”
    “You have a son.”
    “Yes. That’s what I said.”
    “I—I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
    “Of course you didn’t. We just met. You don’t know anything about me. You’re asking me to move in with you, and it honestly never even occurred to you that I might have a life of my own?” She threw her hands up and took a deep breath. “That’s why it took me so long to get to the hospital yesterday. I had to scramble to find a friend to watch him and take him to school in the morning.” She couldn’t tell how much of what she said was getting through.
    “You must have been so young.”
    “Too young. I had him when I was seventeen.” She took a long swig of her now-lukewarm coffee. “Got pregnant my first time. That’s why my parents stopped speaking to me.”
    “Because you got pregnant?”
    “No, because I wouldn’t have an abortion.”
    He raised an eyebrow.
    “My dad was a pastor. Mom was a housewife. They were fine, upstanding members of the community.” Sarcasm oozed out of Sarah’s every pore. “Uber-conservative. They couldn’t handle the thought of everyone finding out their daughter was a whore.”
    “I would’ve thought a pastor would be against abortion.”
    “Well, you know what they say—everybody is just one unplanned pregnancy away from being pro-choice.”
    “Not you, though?”
    “I wouldn’t say that. I don’t judge other women for their choices. It just wasn’t the right one for me.”
    “And