Page 103 of Hound Dog
Morgan coughed uncomfortably. “I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I knew Stan very well when he was alive. The day you were born, he wrote a song for you. It was recorded but never released. Never performed. He always said that he didn’t know how to be a daddy, but he could at least do this for you. He could at least be your father, even if he couldn’t be your dad.”
There was a long pause from both of us.
What the hell could I say to any of this? When I went to bed last night, I had about thousand bucks and my mother’s house to my name. As far as I knew, my dad had wanted nothing to do with me.
Now… I was what? Wealthy? With a dad who had actually cared about me?
Morgan cleared her throat. “I’ll email you your listed assets now. And I already overnighted you many of his personal effects. They should arrive by nine o’clock this morning. But, Ms. Rogers, you should know, Mr. Skinner was very smart with his money. The trust also includes his LA house, his Paris loft, and his Brooklyn townhouse. I’ve been managing everything for him in the years since his death. It’s up to you if you want to keep me on as your trust manager. I know it’s a lot to process, but if you could let me know within five business days, I’ll have a new agreement drawn up for you and me.”
I couldn’t even speak. My jaw hung open, and only a hoarse sound came out as I exhaled. Finally, I managed to croak, “So, I’m what… a millionaire now?”
“Ms. Rogers, I don’t think you quite understand the scope here. In liquid cash alone, you have seventy-four million dollars.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Finn
I came rushing overto Haylee’s house as soon as Meryl called. The door swung open before I could even knock. Meryl stood in the doorway, pulling her long, springy, gray and black braid over one shoulder, running her hands over it nervously.
“Thank you for coming,” Meryl whispered. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
“Is she okay?” I asked, breathless.
“She’s in shock, I think. But at least she stopped crying.” Meryl risked a glance over her shoulder, but Haylee was nowhere in sight. “Now, she just keeps breaking out into random fits of giggles before returning to silence and staring at the letters he sent.”
“He sent letters?”
“Alotof letters. His lawyer overnighted them so they would arrive first thing this morning,” she said, restlessly wringing her slender hands together. “I just… I don’t know what to say to her. This whole time, I thought he was just some asshole who left her mother to fend for herself with a baby, but he was taking care of them… in his own way.”
I winced and did my best to give Meryl a sympathetic smile. The truth was, all the money in the world didn’t make up for her dad not being there.
“She’s upstairs,” Meryl said, stepping to the side so I could enter.
I was halfway up the stairs when Meryl’s voice stopped me. “Finn?”
I turned around to look at her over the banister, and Meryl gave me a sad smile. “Her heart is fragile right now. The anniversary of her mom’s death was just a few weeks ago. Then her breakup. Now this…”
Her breakup. I inhaled a sharp breath. “Just say what you’re thinking, Meryl. Don’t tiptoe around it.”
The muscles in her jaw ticked, brown eyes sparkling. “Haylee is a tough cookie. But she is loyal to a fault and loveshard. She doesn’t do casual relationships. So, if that’s all this is to you—”
“It’s not.”
“If it’s not casual, then it’s…” She arched her brow, staring me down with an intensity that John Wayne would envy.
My pulse raced and I gripped the banister tighter. “I—I love her.” As soon as I said it, relief flooded me.
I’d been trying to pretend for weeks that I wasn’t relationship material. Trying to convince myself that she deserved better than me.
“I’ve never stopped thinking about her. Not once in six years.”I think I may have loved her back then, too.
If Meryl was surprised by my declaration, she didn’t show it. There was no widening of her eyes. No twitch of her mouth. She merely held my gaze a long moment before finally giving a single nod. “Well, then, go get her.”
I took the stairs two at a time and gave a quiet knock on the first door I came to.
No answer.
The door was slightly ajar, so I nudged it open enough to poke my head in. “Haylee?”
