“Let me call him first.”
I nodded and hit the bathroom.
Nickel left the office and I settled into a chair across the desk from Lark.
While I drove us here, I’d thought about what I’d say …and of course, now all of those thoughts went by the wayside.
“Don’t have all day, lady,” Lark said with a smile.
I wrung my hands in my lap.“Yeah, I know.This isn’t like me.”
He leaned forward and I took in how handsome he was for an older man.He had curly, dark hair – which would explain why my hair was so curly when Mom’s was stick-straight.One thick lock of it was a silvery gray and it was so expertly done, I almost wondered if he had it colored, but his weathered skin and calloused fingers told me otherwise.
“I’ll have to take your word for it, darlin’.”
Mom called me ‘darlin’’ all the time, and for some reason hearing Lark use that term kicked me into gear.
“Okay, this is bizarre, but here goes nothin’.You donated your sperm in Atlanta twenty-seven years ago.”
Lark’s face froze and he sat back in his chair.“Yeah,” he drawled.
I twisted my hands up in front of me.“You may not recall, but you didn’t check the box for no-contact.Mom gave me the information she had.And… I’ve been looking for you in Atlanta, and Memphis over the past seven months.”
“Moved here a year ago,” he muttered.
“Yeah.I figured that out four months ago, but Ryan wouldn’t, I’m sorry, Nickel, kept me from you.”
He nodded.
“My mom chose your donation for her IVF treatment.”
“How old are you?”he asked.
“Twenty-five.”
He grunted and I couldn’t tell if it was a grunt of that checks out, or something else.
“That’s why I was here Monday, but… Things went awry.”
He laughed.“‘Awry’.Yeah.Getting taken at gunpoint is exactly what awry means.”
I stared at him.
“Sorry.What do you want from me?”he asked.
“Nothing, I suppose.”
His brows drew together.“Nothing?I doubt that.”
I shook my head.“I’m not here for back child support or anything.”
He shook his head.“You couldn’t demand that even if you wanted to, that’s spelled out in the contract.”
I did a slow nod.“Right.Mom knew what she was getting into, and still she would mention how much she wished she knew the man who made me who I was.”
“I didn’t make you into anything.”
My head tilted.“No, and I said the same thing.But, looking at you, I can see where I get my hair because it’s never been from Mom.”
