Sweet Caroline {Ryan Blaney} ✔️

eighteen

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Lydia glanced at the parking lot, her eyes searching for that familiar Bronco. She was anxious to see Ryan again, to talk with him more.

Since their phone conversation, she had had a hard time getting Ryan out of her mind and an even harder time getting the picture of the three of them as a family out of her mind.

She wasn't sure why she was considering it, all she was to Ryan was his daughter's mother — the woman who kept his daughter from him — there was no reason for him to ever consider a romantic relationship with her.

She focused her attention back on Caroline, watching as zipped around the playground, her curls bouncing behind her as she ran after one of her playmates with a grin on her face. She tried to shake the thoughts of Ryan away, to keep herself focused to ensure that when they tell Caroline the truth, she could do everything to make sure that Caroline handled the change well. Lydia knew that she shouldn't have time for romance but that didn't stop her stomach from flipping as Ryan approached her.

"Hey." Lydia greeted Ryan as he sat down next to her. "How are you doing?"

Ryan offered a weak smile before lightly shrugging his shoulders. He pulled a hand through his hair. "My sister knows."

Lydia cocked an eyebrow. She wasn't really surprised, he had mentioned that he was going to tell people. "How did that go?"

He shrugged, "Stacy heard me talking to Caroline and thought that Caroline was my mistress or whatever so she told my sister. All things considering, I think she took it pretty well. She wants to meet Caroline." He paused for a moment, "And I made sure that Stacy knew that Caroline won a contest."

"That's good." Lydia chuckled. "I'll bet your sister was surprised when you told her that Caroline was actually your daughter."

Ryan gave her a sideways glance before smiling, "She was, for sure. I think she is a little skeptical about it all but --" Ryan shrugged. "I don't really care."

"Skeptical, how?" Lydia was curious. She was afraid of how people would react when Ryan started introducing Caroline as his daughter. Fear flashed through her that her daughter would be ostracized for something that wasn't her fault.

Ryan shrugged, his brow furrowed a little, "It doesn't matter because I'm not skeptical." His guardedness took Lydia off guard but it dawned on her that his sister was probably skeptical that Caroline was actually Ryan's daughter.

"She thinks you should do a paternity test?" Lydia guessed. Ryan froze, his whole body tensed, fear flashing in his eyes, confirming her guess. Lydia's heart sank at his reaction, knowing that he was waiting for her to verbally assault him.

"Hey." Lydia squeezed Ryan's bicep, keeping her voice steady. Sure, it would've hurt a little if Ryan had demanded a paternity test but she wasn't going to tell him that, she knew he believed her and that was all that mattered. "It's okay if you want to do a paternity test, I think it's perfectly normal to want confirmation. I am not mad."

Ryan relaxed, flashing an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry." He shifted, his eyes searching the playground for Caroline, "For the record, I don't want one. I have all of the confirmation that I need."

Lydia smiled at Ryan, but before they could continue their conversation, a shrill, "Ryan!" cut through the playground.

"I thought you could tell her that we were coming to the track this weekend," Lydia whispered quickly as Caroline ran towards them.

Ryan grinned, slipping from the bench into a crouching position, ready to receive Caroline. She dove right into his arms.

Lydia's throat caught as she watched Caroline and Ryan embrace. Never in a million years had she imagined that they would bond the way that they had. Guilt bubbled up -- knowing that she was the reason that Ryan hadn't been there for Caroline the entire time.

"So your mom and I were talking," Ryan pulled himself back up onto the bench, Caroline on his lap. "I race in Charlotte this weekend I was wondering if you'd like to be my guest and spend the weekend at the track with me?"

"Can my mom come too?" Caroline asked.

Ryan looked over Caroline's head, his eyes sparkling at Lydia. "Of course." Lydia returned the smile, trying to ignore the thumping of her heart.

"Can we, Momma?" Caroline turned to her, batting her eyelashes at her mom.

"I think it will be fun." Lydia agreed, ruffling her daughter's hair. She was excited -- she hadn't been to a NASCAR race in nearly ten years and now she was going to get to experience it all with Caroline and Ryan.

"Can I go play again?" Caroline asked, eyeing her friends who were beckoning towards her.

"Yes." Lydia nodded, watching Caroline dash off. Selfishly, she was glad that she hadn't asked Ryan to play with her. She liked talking to Ryan, she wanted to get to know him better.

Because he was Caroline's dad, of course.

They sat in silence for a moment before Ryan cleared his throat, "The Monday after the race, I'm going to go to the bank and end things with Stacy."

Lydia nodded, flashing a sympathetic smile, "Do you want me to come to the bank with you?"

Ryan nodded slowly, running his hand through the hair, "I'm scared." His confession came out as a whisper. "I'm so scared."

"It's going to be hard. And things are going to probably be bad." Lydia paused, "Do you have a therapist?"

Ryan's eyes widened before he shook his head. "Should I have one?"

Lydia shrugged, "I have one. It would probably be a good idea to have one to help you sort everything out from your relationship with Stacy. Your life has changed so much in less than a month."

Ryan nodded slowly, "I'll see about getting one." He paused. "Would you believe me if I told you that finding out about Caroline has been one of the best things to happen to me?"

"Really?" Lydia studied Ryan, trying to determine if he was being serious or not. He was one of the top guns in NASCAR, one of the most popular drivers -- Lydia had never considered that he would consider Caroline to be the best thing to ever happen to him, not yet anyway.

Ryan shrugged. "I didn't have a lot to live for and then I go to a fan event and find out that I have a daughter and all of a sudden, I have everything to live for." He swallowed hard. "I would never tell her because it's not her burden to bear but she saved me, Lydia."

A lump formed in Lydia's throat, guilt once again bubbling up. She knew that apologizing wouldn't give Ryan back the time, it wouldn't justify any of this. She wanted to tell him that but she didn't know how to.

"Mom! Ryan! Come play with me!" Caroline's voice cut through the playground. Lydia breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she didn't have to figure out something to say to Ryan.

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