Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“Jules,” I muttered. “She liked to be called Jules.”
“You remember her?”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “We met at some party. I often met women at parties or dinners. We dated briefly. Less than a month, I think. She was smart, ambitious, and funny. She did wicked impressions of other models. She didn’t take herself as seriously as some of them.”
“But you broke up.”
“She wanted what every woman wanted from me. More than I could give. More than I was capable of giving to anyone. I felt nothing for people, and every person in my life had a time limit. She called me cold and callous. I told her she was right. We argued, and I was done.” I huffed a laugh. “It never took much. I had one foot out the door as soon as they gave me their number.” I blew out a long breath. “I broke it off, dropped her at her place, and went home. I left for a convention a couple of days later.”
I frowned as another memory hit me. “I told Katy to send her flowers and have her escorted from the building if she showed up.”
“Wow, you were cold,” Aiden breathed out.
“Yep. That was my standard MO. No second chances, no redo. Nothing.”
“So, you never heard from her again?”
I shook my head with a frown. “No.”
“And you didn’t know about Ashley?”
“No.” I shut my eyes as I said the next sentence. “It wouldn’t have made any difference. I mean, I would have helped, but I wouldn’t have gotten involved.”
It was quiet until Reid spoke up. “Ashley works for The Gathering Place. It’s an event management group. She’s one of the senior planners. Excellent reputation. She has a degree in business, communications, and hospitality. Top of her class.”
“An overachiever, just like her father,” Aiden mumbled, winking at me.
“Never been in trouble, no tickets, nothing. Drives an older Toyota, is faithful with its maintenance. Rents a townhouse in Etobicoke with another woman. Has student debt but pays it faithfully. No other major debts. Small savings account.”
“And is dating me.” Luc’s voice reached us.
We all turned. He stood by the door, his arms crossed. He looked tired but calm. He crossed the room, turning a chair and sitting down.
“Anything you want to know about her, you can ask me.”
“Did you know?” I asked him.
“That she thought you were her father?” He shook his head. “Not until Friday night. I had noticed her odd reaction to you, and she finally told me why. I told her to give me a chance to dig into stuff first before she talked to you.”
I lifted my eyebrow. “Obviously, she doesn’t listen well.”
“She got emotional. She saw you with your other kids, Richard. With Katy. The love you had for them. She wanted to know why you never loved her.”
“I didn’t know about her.”
“Her mother told her otherwise.”
“Then her mother lied.”
He held up his hands. “That is something you need to work out between you. I just came to see how you were.” He leaned forward. “She’s an amazing woman, Richard. Your daughter or not, she is wonderful.”
“What is she to you?” I asked. “How serious are you about her?”
“She’s my future.”
“So pretty serious, then.”
“Yep. And I’ll stand by her. We talked this morning before she left. She’s already headed back to Toronto, and she’ll wait to hear from you.” He paused. “We came in separate cars, and she had to leave this morning for work,” he added.
“I want a DNA test, and then we’ll talk.”
“She assumed so. Get Halton to contact her. I explained the relationship, so she understands you don’t just keep a lawyer hanging around in case.”
“She thinks very little of me.”
“Do you blame her? She was told all her life you didn’t want her. Then suddenly, she comes face-to-face with you without warning. This has thrown her. Same as it has thrown you. She didn’t mean to march in here last night and blow your world apart. She wanted to talk to you in private, but as I said, she got emotional. And you told her to talk in front of everyone.”
I scrubbed my face. “I thought I’d inadvertently insulted her at some event where we’d met. Or run over her cat and she had my license plate number. ‘You’re my father, and I hate you,’ were the last words I expected her to say.”
“You let her take the floor, Richard. But I hope once the test comes back positive—which I’m sure it will—that the two of you can work out some sort of relationship.”
“Why are you so certain?”
“Because I have eyes. She has so many of your mannerisms. Your eyes. The flip in your hair. She resembles Heather. I saw it all last night when they were standing side by side.”
He was right, but I wasn’t completely ready to admit it.