Page 60 of Beck and Call

I shook my head. "No, that's not possible. You're here, and we were in Kentucky."

"Where I went the summer before I turned sixteen to build houses with a charity my parents were sponsoring. I'd gotten into some trouble the year before, and they insisted I needed to go and repair my image for the sake of the family."

"This isn't … why didn't you call her?" I wasn't sure I believed what he was telling me yet, but something about it felt true.

"I tried. Dozens of times, but the number she gave me didn't work. I was never allowed to go to her house to pick her up because she didn't want her mom to know about me. She said that rich boys come into town and only want one thing from local girls. When I turned eighteen I tried to search for her, but my parents found out and sent me to Europe. I tried over and over again. I found her at one point, but the investigator showed me pictures of her and a guy."

He hung his head. "I thought it was better to let her move on. It had been four years since I'd last seen her at that point. She obviously wasn't thinking about me anymore. But, over the years I thought I'd go and find her, sweep her off her feet and make it all up to her. I tried to find her again after I graduated college with my MBA. I was ready to take on the world, wrap it up and give it to her. My investigator couldn't find her though."

"Was that about fifteen years ago?" I asked quietly.

He nodded, and I knew he'd already figured this part out. "That's when she died."

"Why didn't my investigator turn up a grave?"

"You called her Jenny. That was her nickname. If your investigator didn't search for Genevieve Holmes he wouldn't have found her, and she doesn't have a proper headstone. There's a flat marker with her initials and date of death. That was all my grandma could afford. She was cremated and her ashes were buried in the cemetery in Coalville."

"How did he find her before if he was using the wrong name?" he wondered aloud.

"I can't answer that for you. She was notorious in town, so he could have learned about her just by asking."

"You don't like talking about her, do you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "She was ill my entire life. If I hadn't had my grandma, who knows where I'd be now. I feel bad for her, she never really had a good life, but being around her hurt. She forgot about me for long periods of time, and all I wanted was her attention. I pray she's at peace now. Lord knows she wasn't while she was alive."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be pushing you for information on her. You've had fifteen years to come to terms with her being gone. For me, it just happened. This isn't all about her though. I just got you, and you're already grown. Even still, I'd like to be your father, whatever that means at this point."

I broke down in full body shaking sobs. He rushed to my side and wrapped his arms around me. "Shh, I'm here. I'll always be here if you'll let me."

His words made me cry harder, which brought Jana rushing to the room. She shoved at him, trying to get him away. "What did you say to her."

"Only the truth I found out today. She's my daughter."

Jana stopped trying to push him away. "Well, shit."

I laughed through my tears. "Pretty much."

"You've got a really hot dad," Jana blurted out.

We all started laughing, and the pain lifted for a while.

Colter stopped laughing all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to stop the nearly hysterical laughter.

"I just realized, I'm going to be a grandpa. I'm not even forty yet."

Jana and I started laughing even harder.

Chapter Twenty-One

Beckett

Isat at my desk holding the diamond ring that had once belonged to my grandmother. This should still be on the hand of the woman I loved. It was my fucking luck I could admit I loved Evie once I was sure she would never be mine again.

I hadn't shaved since the morning she left the building. I drank more than I had eaten, and I couldn't remember when I showered last. Probably the morning my life went to shit. The things I said to her were so much worse than telling Callie I needed space. I never accused her of cheating on me, though she had.

Callie had given me every reason to be suspicious of her. I'd even seen her cheating with my own eyes, and every time she convinced me to forgive her. Evie did absolutely nothing wrong, and when her being pregnant didn't make sense in my stubborn head I threw vile allegations at her.

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