Page 17 of Lost Times

He was just as lost as I was on this as I was, and somehow that soothed me. He always seemed to know what he was doing, just what to say to get his way, but now he seemed more…human.

Putting that aside for now, I thought about it. “Well, first, we’d have totellher. I don’t want her thinking for a minute longer than necessary that she grew up without a father for any reason other than I couldn’t find you.”

He nodded. “Agreed, but what then?”

Staring at the closed door, I answered. “Maybe we let her choose? Knowing Jasmine, she’ll want to know you, ask you thousands of questions, probably drag you into our various ‘family day’ things...” I hesitated, eyeing the sheer amount of paperwork piled on his desk. “Are you sure you want to sign up for that?”

He looked at the papers, too, his face twisting into a grimace that only deepened when his phone rang. Shooting a short but no less pointed glare at the machine, he ignored it, putting his back to the paperwork.

“I don’t mind the thought of any of that. I’ll be upfront and say that I am busy most of the time. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do, but I want to try.”

I couldn’t ask more of him than that, no matter how much I wished I could.

Though there was one thing I could do to hopefully lessen the potential pain for Jasmine…

Meeting his eyes, I spoke. “Alright, but if you can’t make it to something or don’t want to,say so upfront. Don’t lie and tell Jasmine that you’ll try, or that you’ll think about it. If you can make it, you’re welcome to be there. If you can’t, don’t lead her along. I don’t want to have to soothe my crying daughter because you said you would be somewhere, and then you don’t come.”

I hardened my tone to diamond, making sure he understood how dead serious I was about this. He winced, but to his credit, nodded.

“That’s fair. I wouldn’t want to let her down so I would have done that anyway.”

The tight knot of nerves in my chest abated a bit. “Okay, so…how do you want to do this? I can bring her home and tell her there alone, or if you want, I can wait until you’re there to tell her.” I glanced at his desk again, his phone sounding off for the second time.

“It looks like whatever we decide, it won’t be tonight, though.”

He grimaced. “No, I still have to finish all the work before I can leave, but how about tomorrow, if that works for you? I want to be there for this.”

His eyes were set in his decision, and I agreed. “Alright, tomorrow then.” And I could only hope this wasn’t going to bite me in the ass…

Chapter 10

Ludwig

I watched Thalia’s back as she moved toward her desk again, only looking away when she was completely out of sight.

Once she was, I slumped back in my chair and heaved in a shuddering breath, my heart slamming against my ribs loud enough that she must have been able to hear it.

I’d just agreed to be a father, not a mystery man that Jasmine would never know, but afather. A chill rolled down my spine at the thought and my phone rang again, as if sensing my unease. I didn’t have to look at the caller ID to know who that was.

I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Pushing past the sick swirling in my gut, I answered. “Evans Financial Services.” I could at least pretend I hadn’t known it was him.

Father’s voice was ice cold when he spoke, “How kind of you to finally pick up. I suppose the office is busy today?”

Straightening in my chair, I braced for whatever he was about to say and agreed. “It is. We’re having a record-breaking day for profit, and I’m handling clients nearly back to back.”

Thankfully no meetings yet; those were all scheduled for next week, so I could get the paperwork situated beforehand.

He hummed lowly, dispassionately. “I would assume so, since it took you so long to answer your phone. At least it was due to clients though; it would have been the height of rudeness to answer me while in a meeting.”

I held my tongue, knowing when not to speak. A few beats passed, then he continued as I knew he would.

“I won’t waste your time with idle chatter. I sent some papers over for a dozen new clients that my contacts rounded up. Make sure they’re treated well.”

I moved to my computer, shifting through my emails until I found his and opened it. It would take me even longer to finish work now, but I didn’t say that. Instead, I marked the new clients as priority and answered.

“I have them here and will start on getting their paperwork straightened immediately.”

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