David rubbed his hand across his jaw. “Sometimes. It depends what I’m doing in the evening.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “Too much bathroom talk is bad for my digestion.” His eyes widened. “Talking about digestion…” A Krispy Kreme donut bag appeared in his hand. “Anyone feel like a little pick-me-up before we join the real world?”
Andrea smiled. “No, thanks. If you feel like something a little healthier, I could whip up a couple of omelets?”
Reaching over the driver’s seat, David grabbed the bag of donuts. “That sounds much better than Ethan’s choice.”
“I thought it might.” Although it looked as though Ethan was already missing his early-morning sugar-rush. “While we’re in the kitchen, you can show me the report your security friend gave you.”
David frowned. “About Scotty?”
She opened his door wider and nodded. “I need to make some decisions. I can’t do that without knowing who he’s become.” And whether he would hurt their sons all over again.
Chapter 19
Andrea placed David’s omelet in front of him.
“It looks delicious. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She returned to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of juice. She’d never shared her peaceful start to the day with two burly men but, over the last few weeks, there’d been a lot of changes in her life.
Ethan waved his fork over his half-eaten breakfast. “This is delicious. You’ll have to give me the recipe. If I make this for Diana, she’ll think she scored the jackpot when she married me.”
David laughed. “It will take more than an omelet to make her think that.”
“So says the man who’s never been married.”
“I just haven’t met the right woman.”
Ethan glanced at Andrea.
“Don’t look at me. My life is so complicated it would scare most men away.” Before Ethan said something that would make her blush, she picked up her phone. The email David had forwarded to her was waiting in her inbox.
Before she read the report, she moved her bowl of granola and a glass of juice to the kitchen table. “Don’t mind me. I’m going to read the report.”
David picked up his fork. “Let me know if something doesn’t make sense.”
There would probably be a lot that didn’t make sense. Her ex-husband was good at keeping his personal and private lives separate. So good, she hadn’t realized he was having an affair until after their divorce was final.
Picking up her spoon, she dipped it into the granola. She had a feeling she’d need something in her stomach when she read the report.
Her eyes widened when she saw the executive summary. If this was a snapshot of what David’s friend had found, there were definitely things in Scotty’s past he hadn’t mentioned.
She swallowed her first mouthful of cereal. “He didn’t tell me the people I met weren’t his biological parents.”
David frowned. “There was a reason for that.”
Andrea kept reading. When she saw what he was referring to, she was glad she’d eaten something. When Scotty was eleven years old, he was removed from his biological family and placed into foster care. For most of his childhood, Scotty and his mom were physically abused by his father. One day, his mom attacked his dad with a knife. It hadn’t ended well for anyone.
She stared at the report. Like father, like son. Four words that were easy to say, but contained so much heartbreak.
By the time he was fourteen, Scotty was being looked after by the people she knew as his parents. A troubled five years was followed by a quiet period in his life. His college degree and jobs were close to what he’d told her.
What he hadn’t mentioned was the sexual harassment claim made against him at one of his work places. “Did Scotty really do this?”
David looked at where she was pointing. “There was an out-of-court settlement made to a woman. Fletcher Security didn’t know whether that was because he was guilty or because he didn’t want the case going to court.”
“He never mentioned any of this.”
