It all made sense now. Her mom had wanted a good life for her, and that didn’t include an alcoholic father. She was trying to protect Charlotte. The realization went a long way toward assuaging the anger and frustration she’d felt over the situation.
“That’s why I never noticed your existence. I had my head so far down in the bottle I couldn’t see daylight.”
Gunner raised an eyebrow. “Had?”
Craig pulled a green chip from his shirt pocket and held it up. “Been sober for nine months now.”
“Congratulations,” Gunner said. “That’s quite an achievement.”
“Hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. But it’s been worth it.” Craig’s attention swung to Charlotte. “I’m sure you were hoping for a better man when you set out to find me. But I’m determined to remain sober and make better decisions for myself.”
Her heart softened at his raw honesty. “You seem like an earnest, hardworking man.”
“Thanks for saying that.” He blinked back some tears and his gaze roved over her features. “You’re a beautiful girl. You look like Connie. Those eyes, that hair. But I see a little of me too. You actually remind me a bit of my mother in her younger days.”
“Are your parents still alive?”
“My dad died when I was little, and my mom passed from cancer a few years ago. She never got to see me sober up.”
“She’d be proud of you now though.”
“What do you do, Charlotte? Are you married? Kids? You’re living in Riverbend, you said?”
“Yes. I’m single, no kids. And I run the ranch my mom left my sister and me.”
“Took after your ma, did you? She always loved those horses so much. You have a sister?”
“When I was young Mom married my dad.” She winced at the word. “He adopted me.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad you had a father figure in your life. A whole family. I’m real glad to know that. Do they know you’ve found me?”
“Emerson knows I’ve been searching. We lost our dad a few years ago. Do you see Gavin and Cooper very often?”
He glanced down at the table. “’Fraid not. I wasn’t much of a dad to them. I’m sure I was more of an embarrassment than anything.”
His regret was obvious, but it sounded as if he’d all but abandoned his sons. Her mother’s decision to keep her pregnancy under wraps had been for the best. After all, he probably would’ve abandoned her too.
“Do you know them very well?” Craig asked. “Cooper’s county sheriff now, and Gavin has his own construction business.”
Despite Craig’s regrets he was clearly proud of his sons’ accomplishments. “They recently came into my life. They’re good people.”
Craig’s expression fell. “They don’t know about...?”
“No. I didn’t feel it was my place to tell them.”
“It’s not that I don’t want them to know about you. But they don’t know I cheated on their mom. I already have so many strikes against me. I’d like a relationship with them, but I wanted a year of sobriety under my belt before I contact them again. I want them to know I’m serious about changing my life. I’ve been working hard toward that goal. Some days the hope of a relationship with them is the only thing that keeps me going. I have two grandchildren I’ve never even met. I need to make amends with them if they’ll let me.”
That wasn’t what she’d hoped to hear. Craig was still three months from that goal. And with the Robinsons circling the perimeter of her life, sooner was better than later. “The thing is... Gavin and Cooper are kind of in my life now as friends. I feel as if I’m keeping this deep, dark secret from them.”
He held her gaze for a beat, then defeat flickered in his eyes. “I understand if you feel you should tell them. This is my problem, not yours.”
But it would set Craig back another step in gaining his sons’ forgiveness and earning back their trust. He had so much to lose.
He gave her a kind smile as he patted her hand. “It’s okay, honey. You do what you have to do. I’ll be fine one way or another.”
Twenty-Nine
Three weeks later Charlotte was still reeling at the idea. She was sitting across from her biological father. Ordering supper as if it were just another day. After a lifetime of thinking she’d never know his identity, he was here. And he wanted to know her. It was a dream come true. Maybe he wasn’t exactly as she’d hoped he’d be, but he seemed kind and humble. And he seemed eager to spend time with her.
