Page 43 of Seven

I’d barely made it halfway up his drive when I spotted a big white dog with a thick, fluffy coat and a little gray and white goat wearing a pink collar with a tiny bell. They walked close together like they were old friends. I couldn’t help but smile despite the knot twisting in my stomach.

My chest tightened when I glanced past them and over to the little white farmhouse. It was a three- or four-bedroom home with a wraparound porch and oversized swing. And it had a big back yard with a barn off to the side.

I couldn’t believe it.

It was thehouse I’d told Holt I wanted when we were kids. He’d not only remembered everything I’d told him I wanted, but he’d made my dream a reality. He hadn’t given up on us. If only, I had done the same. But maybe, just maybe, there was still hope for us yet.

11

SEVEN

“You have a goat.”

“Yeah, her name is Mable.”

“And the dog?”

“Percy.”

“Any cows?”

“Not yet.” Damn. Why did she have to look so damn beautiful? Just being next to her made it difficult to breathe, much less to think. It made me almost forget how angry I was with her. I’d been tied up in knots since she pulled up in the driveway, and I couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m not really interested in talking about cows and goats, Tal.”

“I know. I just don’t know where to start.”

“How ‘bout you start with Ford?” I sounded angrier than I’d intended as I snapped, “I’d really like to know why the hell you never told me about him.”

“Okay.” She let out a breath, then started, “First, you should know that he wasn’t planned. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until months after I got to Paris.” There was no missing the turmoil in her eyes as she said, “I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to tell you right away, but Dad made it difficult.”

“How so?” I pushed.

She leaned back on the swing and sighed. “He monitored my phone calls and emails, and he warned me time and time again that I wasn’t to reach out to you or there would be consequences.”

“For you or me?”

“Both, but I wasn’t worried about me,” she answered without hesitation. “I didn’t care if he cut me off or made me leave art school. I could’ve figured things out, but when it came to you… I didn’t know how far he was willing to go and couldn’t take the chance.”

“And how long did you buy into his bullshit?”

Her silence was answer enough.

My jaw tightened as I let out a slow, measured breath, trying to temper the frustration building inside me. “Answer me, Tal.”

“Ford was almost two.” She lowered her head and toyed with the hem of her shirt. “I was still scared, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to see you and tell you in person about Ford, so I started trying to find you. That’s when they told me you were...”

“I was what?”

“That you were dead, Holt.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she repeated, “They told me you were dead.”

“What the fuck?” I’d gone through a hundred scenarios in my head from she wasn’t sure he was mine to she didn’t think I’d want him. I never dreamed her father would go so far as to say I was dead. “Who the hell told you that?”

“Mom. Dad. Rooks. They all did.”

“Fuck me.”

Surprise wasn’t something I handled well. I was a guy who liked to be in the know. Maybe something I’d picked up in the military, or maybe it was ingrained in me as a kid, but I alwayswanted to be prepared for anything and everything. I didn’t want to be caught off guard.

Needless to say, hearing that people I once cared about lied and said I was dead wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. Some might say I was in shock, but to me, it was much more than that.

---