"That's probably a good thing. I won't bore you with all the details that you can easily look up. Let's just say that Laurent is furious with Tristan and threatening to disown him altogether now that a second woman has come forward claiming to be carrying his child."
A second woman? Eden wasn't aware there had been a first.
Wait, that's not true.
She did recall some woman claiming to be pregnant with Tristan's baby a few months ago, but Laurent insisted it was all a ploy for money and demanded a prenatal paternity test. The woman was quiet after that, so Eden assumed the results were negative.
What if they were positive? And Laurent paid her off.
Then he tried to force Tristan to shape up by forcing an engagement with her, treating them like puppets on a string. A shudder rippled through her body. She'd definitely dodged a bullet there. She'd never cared much for the narcissistic billionaire, but she'd held him in a little higher regard than she did his playboy son.
Not anymore.
Eden must have been quiet for too long because her father asked, "Are you still there?"
"I...uh...yes. I'm just confused. Are you okay? You're not acting like yourself?"
He chuckled. "I suppose I deserve that." Then he cleared his throat. "Helen and Nora both chewed me out for driving you away."
Eden's jaw dropped. She could understand her former nanny defending her, but Nora? Her dad's strait-laced, stoic secretary stood up for her?
"Wow. I was not expecting that."
What had he said? He'd behaved quite deplorably. That sounded like a phrase Nora would say, alright.
Silence again filled the line.
"So, will you bring Rudy to dinner on Friday?"
Eden had to admit that she'd missed Helen and even her father, in a way. She didn't miss his judgment and criticism, but maybe having dinner with him could start to heal this rift between them. He'd certainly extended an olive branch today.
"I'll have to see if Rudy is available. If I bring him... No, ifIcome home for dinner, there's something else I refuse to discuss." Silence hung heavy on the line while Eden waited to see if he'd protest. When he didn't, she said, "I don't want you to try to talk me into coming back to work at DuPont Analytics."
He let out another sigh, but this one sounded like it was tinged with a growl. "You never did like it here, did you?"
She gave a rueful grin as she looked at Hattie's ledgers spread across the table in front of her. She certainly didn't enjoy having to enter all this data, but it was necessary to see the bigger picture and ensure success for Hattie.
Eden didn't understand why she felt so strongly about helping the aged store owner, but she did. And the most important thing was she enjoyed it. She hadn't made much money yet, but that wasn't as important to her as helping Hattie, who was so appreciative of her help.
She needed to find a job soon though, because she couldn't take advantage of the Wheeler's hospitality forever. Nor did she want to be at her father's mercy again.
Eden didn't bother answering her dad. She'd made it no secret in recent years that she didn't like her job. She just wished she hadn't waited so long to finally take a stand.
"Fine," he said with a huff. "If I promise not to mention coming back to work for me, will you give me a chance to get to know this Rudy kid, so I can figure out what you see in him?"
Her father must really be lonely to push this hard for her to bring Rudy home.
"He's not a kid, Dad."
He's a man. A strong, attractive one.
"I prefer the idea of my baby girl having a crush on a boy rather than falling in love with a man."
Falling in love? Was she falling in love with Rudy?
Warmth filled her abdomen as she thought about their kisses and the hours they'd spent working together on the website. Just thinking about him made her heart beat a little harder against her ribcage.
Holy smokes! I'm falling for him.
