Chapter 287

Amanda Walker, known to everyone as Mandy, closed her eyes tightly and let the tears fall from beneath her lashes. Last ones, she promised herself as she stiffened her chin and pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth. Crying never solved anything. It was a lesson she'd learned as a kid, and it had carried through life. Her mom, Denise, hardly let her or her twin brother, Drew, see her cry, and she made a vow as she cradled her stomach that this baby would not be a witness to it regularly either. Her mom had been a single mother up until the point she'd met the man who had adopted the twins, and he now preferred to be called Dad instead of Liam. Mandy knew she could do this. She had to do it. Period. Point blank.

It was a blow—Dalton not returning the text breaking the news he was going to be a father. A big blow. One she hadn't expected, even though things between them had been strained for the past few months. Never had she imagined he'd let that tidbit of information go by witho