I laughed again, even through my tears, and showed them the phone as Lilah crowded in.
“He’s a fireman too, dumbass.”
He took the phone from me and they stared at it, jaws dropped. It was an older picture someone had tagged him in.
A group photo of several firemen in front of their station.
“Son of a bitch!” Lilah gasped. “What are the odds?”
“Apparently, pretty damned good,” I said.
“I’ll let the ‘dumbass’ slide, babygirl,” he said. “This was… emotional.”
“Ya think?” I kissed him. “Sir,” I added.
He laughed. “You may not be a Little, but sometimes you sure excel at bratting.”
“She’s always been a multitasker,” Lilah joked.
Chapter Fifteen
Two Weeks Later
Emmy
I gave myself a day to think about it. Once I made the decision to do it, I fully committed. Jack picked the company for the testing, coordinated that part with Miles, and I submitted my sample and tried to put it out of my mind while we awaited results.
I had some contact with Miles, but only via email. I wasn’t ready to talk to him on the phone yet. Not until I had proof. Part of me refused to get my hopes up, wanted to believe that this was a fluke and Lilah was wrong.
Not that Lilah was ever wrong. Well, rarely wrong. An entire lifetime taught me that.
Email felt safe. Safer, anyway.
Plus, email felt more…controlled. Because I didn’t want to talk about my life before…
Before.
Not yet. Not like that.
What I wanted to know now was why, how.
Who. Who did what that made her suddenly up and leave when she’d never run away before?
Unfortunately, he didn’t know. And I believed him when he said he hadn’t known she was pregnant. He told me they were dating.
That he’d loved her.
That had he known she was pregnant, he would have kept trying to find her. Would’ve reported her missing.
Would’ve told someone. Anyone.
Wouldn’t have stopped looking for her until he found her.
He was convinced the results would confirm I was his daughter, because he had no reason to suspect she would’ve been with anyone else.
I hadn’t asked about any of my grandparents yet. I envisioned the “special” conversation I’d eventually have with Mom’s mom.
Wanting to know, oh,whatthe actualfuck?
