Page 111 of Mistaken Intention

“Can I help you?” I wade in, Hunter flipping around, the shocked expression on his face taking me by surprise. He glances over my shoulder, and I turn to see Josie just a few feet behind me. Despite her reluctance, she must have followed me, although the fear in her eyes has been amplified about a hundred times over.

The man turns, facing me, and then looks at Josie, tilting his head. There’s no obvious sign of recognition, and I wonder for a second if Josie’s made a mistake.

“This doesn’t concern you, Drew,” Hunter says. “This man is just leaving.”

“Like hell I am.” The guy turns back to Hunter. “I told you. I wanna see my granddaughter.”

“Who’s your granddaughter?” I ask, quickly working out the math in my head. It can’t be Josie. That wouldn’t add up. But who else can it be? And whoever his granddaughter is, why is she here? And what’s the connection between this guy and my girlfriend? “Is she here?”

“Of course she’s here.” He gives me a withering look. “She’s been here ever since she was kidnapped from the hospital after my daughter was killed in that accident.”

This gets more confusing by the minute. His daughter was killed? And someone here kidnapped his granddaughter? That doesn’t make sense. The people here might be unknown to me, but they’ve been kind. They’re not kidnappers. I open my mouth to say so, just as Josie steps up, passing me and walking straight up to the stranger. The color is back in her cheeks and I barelyhave time to see the spark in her eyes before she turns and points a finger at him.

“What makes you think you have a right to see her?”

The man looks down at her, a smirk touching at his lips, like she’s no more significant than a fly he’d swat away. “What’s it got to do with you?”

“Answer the goddamn question? Why do you think you have a right to see her?”

“Because she’s my flesh and blood,” he says, raising his voice.

“You weren’t too worried about that when you found out your daughter was pregnant, were you? You disowned her.”

I glance at Hunter, to see he’s looking as confused as I feel, and the stranger is just the same, frowning down at Josie.

“How do you know about that?”

She takes a deep, stuttering breath and looks over at me, tears filling her eyes. “I’m sorry, Drew,” she says, puzzling me still further. “I’m so sorry.” And then she turns back to the man. “You don’t even recognize me, do you?”

He shrugs. “Why? Should I?”

“Yes. I lived with you…”

I step forward, and Josie stops talking, my movement grabbing her attention. “Wait a second. You lived with this guy?”

She nods her head. “Yes. But not in the way you think.” What does that mean? I don’t know what to think anymore. She blinks a few times, biting on her lip and then says, “This is my step-father.”

The ground shifts and I feel myself stumble. Hunter moves closer and Josie reaches out, but I hold up my hands, halting them both. “Your step-father?”

“Yes. He married my mom when I was three years old.”

For a split second, I feel the tug of a memory… a story, told to me by someone else, but I can’t hold on to it, and I’ve got more important things to think about.

The man studies her again, frowning, his eyes narrowed. “You mean, you’re Josie?”

“Yes,” she says.

“What are you doing here?” He looks up at the house behind her.

“Good question,” I say and they both turn to me. I’m captured by the sadness in Josie’s eyes. It fractures my heart, splintering it into fragments that stab at me… painfully. She doesn’t say a word to me, though, but turns back to her step-father.

“It’s none of your business what I’m doing here.”

“Oh? You don’t think you owe me an explanation?”

“No. I owe other people explanations – and apologies – but I owe you nothing.”

He opens his mouth, then closes it again, brushing his hand down his face.

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