Page 25 of Prospect Year

Mac slid across the table.

“So, everyone knew but me?” Lola asked.

“No one knew until today. King needed to know because at the time we didn’t know what evils we were about to face with the blind attack on Cowboy. I did what I did for your own good.”

“Spoken like a true father.” Lola sneered. He glanced down, taking his finger to the edge of the photo and pulled it toward him. “I thought I had lost this. I hadn’t seen it since . . . Well, you know when.”

Mac nodded. Not sure if he was glad that day happened or if he regretted it. “Young scrawny man crazy enough to challenge the Troops. I never expected you to survive the beating. I was searching your vehicle deciding whether to chop it or sell it. The moment I looked at that.” Mac fell silent, the nauseating memory rushing back. His gut twisted as it had that day. “The instant I recognized Anja and read the date on the back something shifted. I suspected you were mine. In truth I could feel it. I sat there on the ground next to you all night reliving memories and trying to discover where I went wrong. Why she had run away without telling me. But I wasn’t certain until I tracked her down and made a visit.”

“You saw my mother?” Lola leaned forward, folding his arms on the table.

“I did, while you were recovering from your injuries. She was stunned, to say the least. But the blame for our separation belongs to neither of us.”

“How’s that?”

“The minute I turned eighteen, I enlisted. We planned to stay in touch and marry when I returned. A few letters made their way to me and a phone call, then they stopped. When I came home, her family had moved with no forwarding address, so I had no idea where to begin searching. For all I knew, they could have returned to Russia. That’s where her grandparents were originally from. And at the time, I didn’t have the resources that I do now to have found her.

“When I walked into the room and saw the light come alive in her eyes, I knew, in my mind, what had happened. She confirmed it, although she didn’t need to. Her father took her away the day he discovered she was pregnant. They relocated to save face, saying she was a young widow.”

“That explains them having little to do with me,” Lola admitted quietly.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. I loved your mother more than I thought was possible,” Mac said, staring at the photo Lola held.

Lola slid the photo back toward Mac. “Keep it.”

Mac smiled. He loved this photo. Many times, he had pulled it out and looked at it. One last glance and he slipped it back into his wallet.

“That’s why she made me promise to come here?” Lola guessed. “She could have just told me.”

“I believe she thought this way would save her the heartache of reliving the sadness to explain the events. I agree this is something you needed to face for yourself, to grow. To become the man we both know you can be.”

“And if I hadn’t shown up here?”

“I would have come after you.”

“So, you beat me to a pulp for a stupid mistake against Nova, discover I may be your son, sit with me to make sure I live, visit my mother for confirmation, then pull me in to prospect for your club?”

“Pretty much,” Mac confessed.

“I guess that proves you’re my father. You’ve already set out to run my life.”

Mac barked a laugh. His son did have a sense of humor.

“This is a lot to take in. But I like the road my life is on now,” Lola admitted. “I don’t plan to risk that. Even if that means I traded an easy life alone for one with a manipulative, overbearing father. My mother was the one who gave up her life dreams to raise me. I won’t have you or your woman disrespecting her.”

“No chance of that.” Mac stood and offered his hand in agreement, pulling Lola in for an embrace when he stood, accepting his handshake. Stepping to Lola’s side, Mac looped his arm over Lola’s shoulders as they walked to the door. This was not going to be easy, and this short conversation would only be the tip of the iceberg. But he intended to chip away at it as Lola came to grips with the truth. “We can figure out this father and son stuff as it comes. The main thing is that you’re here now.”

Mac pushed open the door. King, Brick, and Oz were on the porch, and King stepped toward them. “We good to go?”

Lola nodded, and Mac grinned. King cocked his head, studying Lola. “You realize that thing I said about no rifts, doesn’t pertain to Cowboy.” King grinned. “Annoy him all you want.” He slapped Lola on the shoulder.

Chapter 12

Lola pulled another net full of leaves from the pool that the rainstorm the night before had deposited there. He emptied the debris and turned to search the home for any damage or other trash the winds may have blown in.

Was that Amber? He squinted against the sun focusing on the third-floor window. She seemed to be fixated on something across the grounds. He twisted to see what it could be. Nothing. But she hadn’t moved. Maybe he just wasn’t seeing it.

He returned the skimmer to its place and headed inside.

---