I’m here. I might as well see what my father looks like in person.
A second later, and the door is opened by Lana’s mate, Owen.
He steps back silently to give me room to walk past him.
I nod my thanks as I come into the office.
Lana is sitting down on the couch closest to her desk.
My father is positioned across from her.
He looks up as I move into the room, stopping and standing next to the coffee table that sits between the sofas. I look back at him, and all I can think is that he looks just like his picture.
I hear Owen close the door and I turn my gaze to Lana.
She stands up, and gestures to the seat next to her.
“I’m here at your request to supervise this visitation, Robin. That means I’ll be here with you the whole time. You can ask me to leave if you’d like a moment alone, and it’s up to you to indicate when this meeting ends. Do we all understand?”
I nod, and when I glance at my dad, I see he’s doing the same.
“Good,” Lana says. “Take a seat, Robin.”
She sits back down on the left side, leaving half of the sofa free.
I sit down beside her, not comfortable enough to lean back. I perch closer to the edge than the back, trying not to slouch.
To say I’m nervous would be an understatement.
I clasp my hands together as I let my gaze drift to the man sitting across from us.
“Robin, this is Steve Barrister,” Lana introduces him. “Steve, this is Robin Yates.”
“You look nothing like Scarlett,” he murmurs, laughing lightly. “I don’t know what I expected. I didn’t think you’d look like a Barrister, but here we are.”
He’s not wrong, but I knew we looked alike when I saw his picture.
It makes me wonder again about my mother, only this time I’m sitting right across from one person who might be able to tell me about her.
“What did my mother look like?” I ask, wishing I’d been old enough to remember her before she was gone. The single real memory I have is of her singing voice, and I only unlocked that one thanks to Dr. Morgan’s rare gifts as a Zeta.
He smiles wistfully. “She was the most alluring woman I’ve ever seen in my life. My heart stopped when I laid eyes on her. I doubted my chances, but she seemed to enjoy talking with me. She had the brightest green eyes I’d ever seen, and her hair was like spun gold, but that smile … That showed her true beauty. I wish I had taken a picture. Unfortunately, we didn’t get more than a single night together.”
The warmth in his voice feels genuine. It’s enough to make my eyes feel a little misty.
He was besotted with my mother, even if he didn’t know her for very long.
That much is obvious.
“Why didn’t you get to meet her again?” I ask, trying to ignore the compulsion to just believe him. I should be questioning everything. I don’t know yet if I can trust him.
He sighs. “Foolish circumstance, I’m afraid. I ran late for work the morning after and all I could do was leave her my number and hope that she would call. When she didn’t, I assumed it was because she wasn’t interested.”
I nod slowly as I take in the information.
It’s hard to know what else to ask.
So much about the story he told doesn’t make any sense.
