He rolled his neck to the side as if working out a kink. “I don’t know if I can take an entire weekend of this. I’m tempted to just tell them I’m your boyfriend to get them to go away.”

Exactly what Liz suggested. “It might work,” Julia muttered. Of course then she’d have to live with the story. And the myriad ways in which her sister would pitch a conniption. “I’d say we could go out through the alley, but we’re still going to have to walk right past them to get to the car.”

He took her hand. “It’ll be okay. I won’t let anything bad happen.” He opened the door and out they went, back into the belly of the beast.

* * *

They narrowly escaped the reporters outside the bakery unscathed. One of them, a brutish man with a camera lens so long that Logan wondered whether he was compensating for some shortcoming, had become particularly curt with his questions. It was clear he just wanted an answer. And Logan was inclined to agree, only because he himself had reached the boiling point.

Now they were being followed in the car again. “Maybe it’s better if you just say something, Jules. The only thing you seem to be accomplishing is frustrating them.”

“I wouldn’t even know how to say it. You know me. Give me a script and I can deal with it. In front of cameras, with unfriendly faces barking at me, I get panicky. The next thing you know I’m tripping over my words and accidentally telling the press I’m pregnant. And I’ll have to spill the beans then. I’m a terrible liar.”

“That’s probably an argument for just telling your parents about the baby before you mess up and the secret comes out.”

“No way. As long as you keep your end of the bargain and keep your mouth shut, it’ll be fine.”

“Personally, I don’t think it’s a risk worth taking. Just tell them. Then you can relax and enjoy the wedding.”

Julia directed a piercing glare at him. “That’s the most harebrained thing you’ve ever said. My plan is not only the best plan, it’s the only plan. My baby. My plan.”

Her plan. Jules was doing what she always did—putting her head down, forging ahead and ignoring what everyone else said. Like a beautiful steamroller. She was far better at handing out advice than taking it, which would make it impossible to change her mind. “And what exactly is the rest of your plan? What are you going to say to your parents about the baby’s father?”

“I’m going to have to tell them the truth. You might be the dad. And you might not.”

Hearing her say that didn’t sting any less today than it had last night. “Have you taken the time to think about how they’re going to react? Because there could be a lot of fallout, and I’m sorry, but most of that is going to fall on me.”

“You have to make everything about you, don’t you?”

“No. I don’t. I’m just thinking this through to its logical conclusion. Do you remember what your dad asked me the night I took you to senior prom?”

Her eyes narrowed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just answer the question. Do you remember what he said?”

She reached into her bag, pulled out a lip balm and rolled it across her lips. Logan was thankful he was driving and only caught a glimpse of what she was doing. He had a soft spot for her mouth, especially for the things it could do to him.

“My dad asked you what your intentions were with his daughter. Doesn’t every dad ask that?”

“Maybe in old movies, they do. My point is that your dad is an old-fashioned guy. And that’s part of what I love about him. He’s going to want to know if I’m accepting my responsibility. And I told you I’m willing to do that.”

“Logan. You dumped me three months ago.” She turned sideways in her seat and confronted him. “Dumped me.”

He didn’t want to feel remorseful about ending things with Julia, but he was starting to. Even though he was also certain that they wouldn’t have made it through the summer. Julia would’ve gotten flighty. She would’ve started doing the things that made him question whether she wanted to be with him, and he never handled that well. “But that was before the baby.”

“Precisely the reason this won’t work. A baby is not a reason to be together. And I’m not going to be with some man who didn’t want me three months ago, just because he’s worried about what my dad might think.”

“A child deserves two parents.” It bothered him to hear his voice crack like that. A few words and the pain of losing his dad returned to the center of his chest, just as it had the night before. After all these years, it hadn’t gotten easier; there were merely longer stretches of time when he could focus on other things. It was hard enough to think about how difficult it’d been on his mom to shoulder the responsibility of three boys, a mortgage and law school. It was even more difficult to recall the promise he’d made at the age of twelve, to his father, his hero, as he slipped away. Don’t worry. I’ll be the man of the house. I’ll take care of Mom and my brothers. “I have to accept my responsibility. I owe you that much, and I won’t allow your dad to think anything less.”