‘And that’s why you’re here this Christmas,’ Dean added in.
She nodded. ‘I’ve been trawling the internet looking for him and there’s nothing! And today, before we went to the Guggenheim, we went to a gallery he mentioned.’ She shook her head. ‘Nothing again, but the man was nice. He’s going to email some other people.’ She stepped back from Dean’s embrace, wiping at her eyes. ‘Sorry, I think I dribbled on your coat.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘Sorry,’ Hayley said again, her gaze falling back to Angel and Vernon who were chasing Randy round and round in circles.
‘Stop apologising,’ Dean said. ‘You’re not Superwoman. You can’t do it all.’
Superman. She sighed, banishing thoughts of hot billionaires she had no time for or interest in.
‘So you havenoidea where he is?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I mean I’ve searched and searched for weeks. Nothing on Google, or Facebook either.’ She sighed. ‘I basically could get a job with the CIA for all the background checking I’ve been doing.’
‘Do you want me to help? There are definitely other sites I know we can try,’ Dean suggested.
‘I know nothing about him, Dean. I don’t even know if the name he gave me was real. That’s why I’m here. Because this place, this city, is the only connection we have.’ She threw her arms up, indicating the expanse of land and buildings surrounding them. One city. But one of the biggest cities in the world and she had to try and find a man she’d only spent one night with. She was alsoignoring the part of her that was saying he could just as easily be in Kuala Lumpur or Acapulco.
‘Well, whatever you need, I’m here for you,’ Dean told her, sincerity coating every word.
‘I know,’ Hayley responded, sniffing the emotion away. ‘Thank you.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
Dean made sure Angel was pre-occupied with Randy before he asked the question.
‘Well, my master plan was to go back to the places I went with him. Show his photo, ask around. He said he was an artist; I can phone the half of the galleries I haven’t already contacted.’
‘Do youknowhow many galleries there are in New York City?’
‘Yes, of course I do. I’ve spent the last two months calling and emailing them.’ She let out an irritated sigh. ‘I tell you what, Dean, shall I go and ask Angel? She’s bound to know. She could probably even tell me what year they opened.’ She brushed the snowflakes off the front of her coat with a sharp, annoyed motion. She’d been harsh and Dean wasn’t saying anything in response. ‘I’m sorry.’ She moistened her lips. ‘I was going to try Vipers, the club where we met.’ She looked up at Dean. ‘But I’d need you to watch Angel for me.’
‘Are you going to tell Angel what you’re doing?’
Hayley shrugged. ‘I don’t know. What do you think? I’m worried if I say anything at all, I’ll get her hopes up and then if I don’t find him…’
‘Well, in my opinion, every child has a right to know who their father is.’
That comment turned her stomach over. She agreed, but her default position as a mother was to always protect her child. If she opened this box with Angel, there would be no putting the lid back on.
‘I guess I didn’t think through the talking it out with her bit,’ Hayley admitted.
Dean swung an arm around her, drawing her close to him. ‘It doesn’t have to be turned into an episode ofJerry Springer. You just have to sit her down…’
‘Remove the special dictionary from her hands so she can’t look up the phraseone-night stand.’
‘Hay, is that what you’re worried about? How she came into this world?’
‘I don’t know, maybe.’ She sighed. ‘I just don’t want her to think she isn’t special because I wasn’t in a relationship. And… I don’t want to think I wasthatgirl. Stupid, naïve… she’s meant to look up to me.’
‘She isn’t going to think any of that,’ Dean said. ‘Look at her.’
Hayley shifted her gaze to her daughter, holding out her hand to Randy, controlling his moves with a wave of her finger, lips moving as she spoke to the dog. She was her everything.
‘There isn’t anyone on this planet more special than that bundle of cute intelligence,’ Dean told her.
‘But I’ve let her down,’ Hayley said.
