“Right.” Charlotte swallowed hard.Just say it.“She was—she was my mother.”
“Now that you mention it, I see the resemblance. I’m sorry for your—” He stilled. Something shifted in his expression. His eyes grew intense as he scanned her face. All the blood seemed to drain from his face as the moment drew out unbearably long. “You didn’t come here for an oil change.”
It was now or never. Unfortunately, his response so far gave no indication of whether he would welcome her news.
Gunner set his hand on the small of her back.
The gentle weight of it bolstered her courage. “I guess there’s no easy way to say this, and maybe you already know, but... I have reason to believe you’re my biological father.”
He blinked. Otherwise his features seemed set in stone.
Charlotte fumbled through her purse for the photo. “My mom never told me about you. Whenever I’d ask about my biological father, she’d change the subject. But after she passed I found an envelope in a safety-deposit box marked with my name. It contained newspaper articles about Gavin and Cooper Robinson—they’re your sons?”
He nodded, then sank onto the desk chair as if his legs would no longer support him.
“I also found this with the clippings.” She handed over the old photo of Craig and her mom.
His hand shook as he focused on the image. He stared at it for a long time.
But she couldn’t read his expression. Did he have fond memories of her mom? Had he loved her? It was impossible to tell by his reaction. He was obviously shocked. “You didn’t know about me then?”
His eyes were still locked on that image. “No...”
His reaction seemed genuine, but it was hard to believe. “Riverbend’s a pretty small town. I figured you must’ve known.”
He returned the photo. Rubbed a hand over his face.
The phone rang, loud and shrill in the quiet.
Craig glanced at the clock, then stood and headed toward the door. He flipped over the Closed sign. Voice mail must’ve kicked on as the phone stopped ringing. He turned to face her. Ran his hands down the pants of his jumpsuit. “Listen, maybewe could go somewhere else and talk. There’s a coffee shop—no, they’re closed now. There’s a diner. Or maybe the park. It’s just up the street.”
He wanted to continue the conversation. That was good, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to talk at a crowded diner where they could be overheard. “The park by the river?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. There’s a picnic table by the bridge. I can meet you there in a few minutes?”
“All right. That sounds good.”
Craig let them out and locked up behind them. Charlotte headed toward her vehicle feeling numb. She wasn’t sure how that had gone, but at least the hard part was over.
“You did great.” Gunner ushered her toward the truck. “I’m really proud of you.”
“Everything about this feels so surreal. He didn’t exactly seem overjoyed, though, did he?”
“It’s a pretty shocking thing to tell a man.”
“So you think he was telling the truth—that he didn’t know about me?”
“I do. He seemed blindsided. He might need a minute to catch up.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. She’d been hoping he never knew about her. Otherwise, he’d rejected her from the beginning, and who wanted to believe that of their biological parent? “He didn’t deny I could be his. I was afraid he might.” Or mention a paternity test, which would be understandable. She wouldn’t mind taking one with him, for both their sakes.
“He wanted to talk some more, so I’d take that as a good sign.”
Something terrible occurred to her. Her head snappedtoward Gunner. “Unless he just said that to ditch me. What if he doesn’t even show up?”
Gunner squeezed her shoulder. “He’d be crazy to miss out on knowing you.”
The picnic table sat in the shade of a towering pine tree. The river rippled past and birds tweeted overhead. A squirrel scampered through the pine needles nearby. If this wasn’t the most stressful meeting of her life, she might appreciate the peaceful surroundings.
