Page 58 of Vodka and Chocolate Drops

She picked up her purse and turned, just about slamming into a man about her height.

“Oops.” John Abcott steadied her, smiling at Amber’s mom. “Hello, Gloria.” He placed one hand on the back of the vacant chair beside Delia. “Mind if I join you?”

Gloria blushed, her palm on her chest as she gave a small shoulder lift of acquiesce, and Amber just about stopped breathing. They were back together.

“Tell me about the cruise,” Amber said, not quite ready to leave, but not quite ready to stay. “You were on the same ship?”

“We were,” John said, still smiling at Gloria, who was all but preening and giving flirty looks. Amber had never seen her act that way.

Her mom was in love with John Abcott.

He’d been through two wives.

He had a daughter.

He was a lawyer. Her mother was a waitress.

But they’d dated when they were younger. Before she’d dated Philip the second time.

No, no. The connections didn’t fit.

There was no reason for them to date secretively.

It was my idea to date secretly, as he needed his family’s support.Getting a law degree wasn’t cheap.

He was starting a business.Legal office.

He’s successful.

He came from a different world.

Hello.

Amber fell into the chair she’d vacated, her mind spinning, knocking threads of old conversations together like a high-speed jigsaw puzzle.

But John had always been so accepting of everyone. It was difficult to think of him as judging her mother so harshly. Of them breaking up over a secret baby that wasn’t even his.

He had his own family by then. A wife. A kid on the way.

His daughter, Marisa, had been in the same grade as her.

“When did you start your business?” Amber whispered.

John watched her for a moment, a sad look in his eyes as he contemplated his answer. And she knew. Right there. Right then.

John Abcott was her father. Hehadknown. He’d always been there, looking out for her. Sponsoring soccer. Coaching her team. Joining her for vodka and peanuts.

He had been a father figure in her life because hewasher father.

He hadn’t rejected her, only accepted her and helped her in the ways he could, while respecting Gloria’s wishes.

But Amber had hurt him. She had lashed out like a spoiled teenager and told the town she hated him.

She tried to whisper an apology, her vision narrowing as the force of the knowledge hit her hard in the chest. She gripped the edge of the table so she wouldn’t topple out of her chair, and tried to force herself to glance up at her mother, to look for confirmation.

A warm, strong hand gripped her shoulder. “I think you need some fresh air,” said a familiar voice. It wasn’t her father. It was Scott.

He whisked her away from the table before anyone could protest. Instead of taking her to the front door and out onto the Main Street sidewalk, he pulled her through the kitchen area, waving away Mandy, who looked up in concern as they passed.

---