Page 87 of Daddy's Little Patient

Taj raised his brows and Owen realized this wasn’t about Sabby or Jojo. Had to be that he’d found something out about Monty Hanson.

Cricket was already playing with Gwennie off to the side of the construction project so he took a quick detour.

“Hey babygirl, Mister Taj needs to chat with me about something privately so I’m going to be out of sight for a bit. Have fun and be a good girl for Mister Gavin, please.”

Cricket beamed up at him. “Okay, Daddy.”

Guilt poked at his stomach again for keeping this from her. He’d tell her soon, he was just protecting her. And hopefully Taj would have something to tell him that would get him closer to being able to share this turn of events with his love bug.

He and Taj made the short trip over to Taj’s cabin and copped a squat on the porch since Jojo and Sabby were inside napping.

“I’ve got some news,” Taj said. “And I think it’s good? But seeing your face, I’m not so sure.”

Owen shrugged, knowing already what Taj was going to say. “It’s good, I guess. Better than my father being dead. But it sure does turn a lot of things upside down. Makes me wonder what else might not be true, you know?”

Taj nodded. “I can see that. But if it helps at all, I don’t think it changes anything about you. You’re still the same pain in my ass you were last week whether your dad’s dead or alive. You’re still Cricket’s Daddy who’s going to love and discipline her the same whether you’re an orphan or not. You’re still a damn good bush doc if you’ve got kin in Silver Sun or no closer than the lower forty-eight. I’m not trying to make light of the situation because I get how it could feel like the world fell out from under you. I’m just trying to tell you it doesn’t change everything. It doesn’t change the kind of man you are.”

Taj had a point. And Owen wanted to get back to being that man as soon as possible. Keeping Monty’s existence from Cricket had been close to impossible. Because yes she was his babygirl and he wanted to protect her from every bad thing that could bring her harm, but she was also the person he was closest to in the world.

“Right on, right on. So, what’d you find out?”

“Maybe Monty told you this already but I dug into some shit and this is what I found. After your mom moved you back down to Washington, Monty kicked around a few different fishing ports, working on other people’s boats. Looks like he hunted and foraged or bartered for most of what he needed since there’s not a whole lot of paper trail except his hunting licenses. He was on a commercial fishing boat that sank and a few crew members died, one from a faulty suit like your mom told you. But the guy who died wasn’t Monty, it was some other poor sucker. Not long after that, Monty saved up enough money to buy his own boat, moved out to Silver Sun. He’s been fishing out of there ever since, and doing the subsistence thing. That DNA test you sent off can confirm but it does look like the Monty Hanson you met in Silver Sun is in fact your father.”

Owen had known it was coming but the news still hit him like a kick to the head. His father was alive and mostly well. Had been for thirty years. Now what?

Taj must’ve sensed how overwhelmed he was because he clapped Owen on the shoulder.

“You know it’s still up to you whether you want this guy in your life. You didn’t do anything wrong, it wasn’t your fault that your mom lied to you. If you’re excited to have a father figure to catch up with, go out fishing and hunting with, great. Enjoy. Monty seems like an interesting character and I’m sure he’s got loads of good stories to tell around the campfire. But you don’t have to call him ‘Dad’ and have him be a big part of your life if you don’t want. You don’t owe him anything, and you’ve got a family.”

He sure did. It wasn’t a typical one, and they weren’t related by blood, but it was a family all the same.

“Thanks, boss,” Owen said, shaking Taj’s meaty paw. “I appreciate that. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and for us.”

“Feeling’s mutual. Now why don’t you go make sure that Little girl of yours isn’t causing too much trouble?”

Owen scoffed. “I’m sorry. Between Cricket and Jojo, who’s more likely to be wreaking havoc?”

Taj laughed, his massive shoulders shaking. “You got that right. That woman sure does keep me on my toes.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Daddy had been back from his latest trip for a week and everything seemed back to normal. Sort of.

It was hard to explain, and Cricket had begun to wonder if she was making things up. Because her Daddy had been perfect—attentive, loving, strict, sweet—just like he always was. But there was something that seemed a fraction of an inch off.

Cricket couldn’t imagine taking care of her was easy but somehow Daddy had made it seem that way. Almost as if it was a privilege instead of a burden. But for the past few days… Ugh. Maybe it was just her brain being a jerk face. She had to hope so because the alternative—that he’d grown tired of her—was unthinkable.

She’d been coloring while Daddy did some charting stuff for work when the phone rang. She and Daddy both had cell phones but they were also one of the few cabins on the island that had a landline. This was the second time she’d ever heard it ring and the first time was when Mister Taj had been testing the line. Maybe it was just Mister Taj again since he liked to keep everything around the island shipshape. Did the man ever sleep?

“Hi hi, this is Doctor Pierce’s house.”

“Oh. Is Owen there?”

“Sure is,” she chirped. “May I tell him who’s calling?”

Daddy loved her good phone manners, and she preened as he smiled big at her.

“Yeah, course. It’s Monty. His dad.”

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