“Apparently, I have a daughter I know nothing about, and her mom just died.”
CHAPTER
THREE
Elle
Chuck looked serious. His bushy eyebrows were drawn together, his left eye twitching every other second. My mind spiraled into what this emergency meeting was about—he won the lottery and was buying a boat and peace-ing out?
He was harboring a fugitive?
He found out his girlfriend had three secret families? Whoa, that was dark. I shook that thought away and yawned. He’d shut the bar down early, the second the Bulls game ended, and demanded everyone get out.
All except Alex, Cal, and me. Alex had to use the restroom, so here we were, waiting in silence.
Cal sat to my right, his left knee bouncing up and down. It wasn’t egotistical to say that it felt weird to not see him staring at me. All night, I’d felt those intense blue eyes on me. I swore his gaze prickled my skin as he constantly watched me. But now, they focused on whatever captured his attention on the top of the table where he sat. He scratched it with his long fingers, and the muscles along his jaw clenched.
He seemed to be in a mood too.
Alex returned after a tense two minutes, and Charlie pressed his hands together like he was praying only to release them with a soft exhale. “There’s no easy way to say this.”
Oh no.
No winning the lottery and buying a boat.
I placed my hand on my chest, rubbing small circles at whatever news he was going to share. Even though I hardly knew him, I only wanted the best for him. We all held our breath as Charlie ran a hand through his beard, clearly disgruntled.
“I have a daughter.”
Alex sucked in a breath, and Cal didn’t seem surprised at all. I wasn’t sure if this was good news or not. From Charlie’s stressful reaction, I gathered it wasn’t.
I traced a crack on the table with my pointer finger and waited for more.
“She’s in Indiana.”
“Jesus, Charlie.” Alex inhaled loudly. “When did you find out?”
“Two hours ago.”
“Youjustfound out you had a daughter? Two hours ago? Oh my god. Are you alright? How old is she?” I blurted out, trying to imagine a world where one just discovered they had a child. Maybe… yes, maybe he had a passionate lover, and she’d left him.
Yes, that’s it. She left him and had a baby but changed her mind and wanted him back. It’d be a passionate second chance, secret baby romance. She pined for him, and he regretted never going back for her. He was too attached to the bar, but now, he realized he needed her to be happy!
I had their whole story formed in my head just as Charlie swallowed hard. “I guess her mom died and left a note with my information. She’s four, and… I have a four-year-old.”
Oh no, no, no. My eyes stung; my created fantasy crushed. It wasn’t a second chance romance. It was tragic. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to prevent tears, but it was too late. One slipped out, and Cal narrowed his eyes at me, the familiar frown lines forming on his face. I angled my body the other way. He didn’t need to see me cry. He’d probably tell me it’d make me dumber or something.
“What are you gonna do, boss?” Alex asked, the question hanging in the thick air for a moment. It smelled like beer and popcorn, and the humidity snuck inside even though there were no windows.
Then Charlie placed both palms on the top of the bar, and he leaned forward, resting his forehead on them. “I don’t fucking know. I can’t stop thinking about this little girl who lost the only parent she’d known. Lizzie. Lizzie Swanson. That’s her name.”
“You need to get a test done to be sure,” Cal said. His tone was brisk and to the point.
I flinched.
“Obviously that would happen,” Charlie said. He stood up and looked at each one of us for a beat. “I need to go there. It could take a while to get things sorted out.”
“What does that mean for us?” Alex asked. “Are you closing the bar?”
