“YoulookliketheChristmas spirit came and died on your doorstep,” Chelle teased as she slid a slice of fruit cake off the plate Mother had laid on the dinner table.
She’d taken a call and went to the kitchen with the cordless phone, leaving them at the dinner table.
“I’m fine,” he said, dredging up a smile.
“I didn’t ask if you were.Something’s wrong when you’re giving me information I didn’t ask for.”
“Har, har.”He swallowed a mouthful of sorrel, then set the glass on the table.
“Seriously, though.”She touched his arm.“It’s good having you home.You’ve spent way too much time abroad.”
“It was for a purpose.”
“Mmm, and yet it hasn’t made your life better.”
“It would have, if …”
Supporting her cheek on one fist, she asked, “What are you doing about Christy?Are you going to try and get any of that money back?”
“Get your elbow off the table before Mother comes back.”
When she grinned and did what he suggested, he shook his head and continued, “There’s no point.I’ve written it off as a bad investment.”
“But what about the house?”
“Everything in life isn’t about money and things, Chelle.”He spun the glass on the table and glanced at the doorway.“The property is in my name, thank God, and at least she put down a foundation, so there’s that.”
“You’re really going to let her get away with this?”
Heat settled at the base of his neck, but he reminded himself Chelle’s only angle was concern for him.“Look, she is, was, whatever, the mother of my daughter, or so I thought.”
Chelle rolled her eyes.“But now she isn’t.”
“The truth is, I don’t care about the money.Not really.”
“Are you serious?”His sister sat back and narrowed her eyes.“Thanks to her, you’re starting over.”
“I know, but I’ve been thinking about the situation.”He shrugged.“It’s not going to make me any better off to harass Christy over what she’s done.She’ll have to live with that, plus the fact we now know officially, Natanya isn’t my child.”
“Yes, but—”
He held up one hand.“Meeting Lizette came at the right time.She’s the lady whose proposal I asked you to look at the other day.”
When she nodded, he added, “I can wallow in what Christy did to me and stay bitter, or think about what I want for the future.”
“That makes sense.”Leaning on the seat, she said, “I knew there was something special about her.Doing all that work for a friend didn’t make much sense.The truth is, life never stands still, and we have to pivot or be crushed by our circumstances.”
“There’s that.”
His heart was still crushed when he thought about how his life had changed.One test result absolved him of responsibility for the child he still considered his daughter.At the same time, it helped him see how he’d gotten caught in that situation.His need to be needed led him to misplace his trust and stay in a relationship that wasn’t working.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember them exchanging more than casual endearments since Natanya’s birth.Based on what he saw that day in the botanical garden, Christy had a stronger connection with the father of her child than she did with him.He hadn’t seen Natanya since, and his heart ached, but he didn’t have a cure for that.
But he did have the antidote for what else was ailing him.Ifhe chose to do something about it.He chewed the fruit cake slowly while his thoughts churned.How would Lizette react if he begged her to take him back?She’d been nothing but supportive, and he’d pushed her away to wallow in self-pity.
He’d avoided her at work, which was hard to do.But she’d been missing in the last couple of days.According to Emily, Lizette had taken a short trip and was expected to return this afternoon.He’d been thinking about how to put things right, but wasn’t sure how to fix what he’d broken.His thoughts had turned bitter, and he berated himself for something that wasn’t his fault—he’d gone from being a full-time father to a daycare dad.In the process, he’d hurt the woman who made him believe love was possible again.
Once she realized where his head was at, Lizette pulled back from him and only spoke to him as necessary, which made sense.Added to that, he hadn’t gone to Wintertime’s Christmas party.He’d done more damage than he knew, trying to keep her at arm’s length.
