Page 237 of Small Town Firsts
I frowned. What the hell was his deal? He was always sweet as could be to Sage. In fact, he was kind to most everyone in town except Ally, which royally pissed me off. Of course, Sage’s parents had just landed one hell of a nice deal when they recently sold their B&B to a developer who had plans to make sleepy Crescent Cove “more cutting edge” and “more in line with the times.” Whatever that meant.
As much as I hated thinking my father was that shallow, this certainly wasn’t the first time I’d been confronted with evidence that money was all that mattered to him.
But it would be the first time I called him on it.
“No, we need to talk right now.”
EIGHTEEN
I roseand walked to the door. “Sorry about the timing,” I said to Sage as she sailed out. “It can’t be helped.”
“Par for the course from a Hamilton,” she said under her breath before turning a sunny smile on my father. “Have a nice day, sir. It was good seeing you again.”
“You too, Sage. Don’t be a stranger. You’re welcome here anytime.”
With a bounce of her blond curls and a flounce of her non-flouncy skirt, she was off.
I closed the door and turned back to my father. He raised an eyebrow and gestured with the Hamilton Realty folder in his hand. “Why do I have a feeling this has nothing to do with the Parsons deal?”
“Because unlike you, work isn’t the center of my world.”
“Forget center. Sometimes it’s barely even in your peripheral vision.” Huffing out a breath, he sat in the chair Sage had vacated and crossed his legs. “What is it now, Seth?”
I didn’t sit. I leaned against my desk and crossed my arms. “I’m starting a family with Ally.”
Wow, those words didn’t burn my throat nearly as much as I’d feared. Not because they weren’t true, but because they were.Saying them to my father was acknowledging their truth. Their power.
And from the expression on my dad’s face, I might as well have thrown down a gauntlet.
“Is this about that contract business?”
I didn’t ask how he knew. In an office this small with paper-thin walls, he could’ve easily overheard us talking.
Which also meant Shelly had probably heard Ally and me having sex. That should probably embarrass me. And yet…
I wanted to tell the world she was mine, in every possible way. Even the graphic, inappropriate ones.
Or Oliver could have told him. I wouldn’t have put it past my twin to hop on the phone to my dad the minute he had walked out of my office. The timeframe was insanely tight, but Oliver worked fast.
Still, he’d said he wanted to fix things with me and Ally. Telling my dad wouldn’t fix anything.
Then again, there was my lawyer. My lawyer who golfed every Sunday with my father and had a shark emblem on his golf shirt rather than an alligator.
“Talked to Artie, hmm?”
My father glanced away, all the proof I needed. “Don’t be ridiculous. That would violate client confidentiality.”
Yep. I’d called that one right. At least it hadn’t been Oliver who’d blabbed. I really didn’t want to have to kick his ass since he was purportedly doing me a favor with Ally.
Though, God, I’d sunk low if I was accepting his help. Oliver’s love life was even worse than mine. He went through women like ties. Actually, he probably used ties with women, since his tastes veered toward the dominant side. Yet another thing I had no desire to ponder.
“That contract was a mistake.”
My father didn’t reply for a long moment. “But she signed on the dotted line, didn’t she? She agreed to take money for your child. Just like Marjorie did.” He lifted his head and narrowed his flinty eyes on mine. “Women are all the same, Seth. You may think I was wrong for offering a payout to your mother.”
“Considering I only learned about that today, can’t say I’ve had much time to process. But wrong seems like a good place to start, yes.”
My father went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “The truth is, it was a test, and she failed.”
