And finally her mother spoke. “I have nothing to say to you.” The words were coated in ice. “Leave now.”
“Leave? That’s all you’ve got to say after all these years? You used to be a loving little thing. A real daddy’s girl. So come on—” He held out his arms and winked at her. “Give your old dad a hug.”
18
Alexandra
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.
Give your dad a hug?
Was he serious or had he said that to throw her off balance? In the end it didn’t matter.
His arrogance shook her. The fact that he stood here with his chin up when he should have had his head bowed in shame. The fact that he’d forced his way into her place of business, into her life, when he’d walked away without a backward glance.
What was he doing here? What possible reason could he have for pursuing her like this after all this time?
She was so angry she was surprised that the windows didn’t shatter with the force of it.
The past churned inside her, threatening to swamp the control she kept over her emotions.
She was grateful for the years she’d dedicated to learninghow to hide her feelings. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply his sudden reappearance affected her.
“I didn’t reply to your emails because I had nothing to say to you, and that hasn’t changed.”
“Maybe, but it’s been a while. I thought it was time we reconnected.”
“A while.” She stayed still. Stayed calm. “I last saw you when I was eleven years old. I’d say that’s more than a while.”
“Yeah, so maybe time has slipped past a bit, but all the more reason to fix that now.”
She’d learned the advantage of silence in a conversation and she used it now.
He waited, and when she didn’t respond he frowned slightly, as if he was trying to reconcile this self-contained woman with the sobbing child he’d left behind.
“I mean, family is family, right?” He gave a dismissive shrug. “You’re still my child.”
Anger raced through her, driven by the deep pain she felt and also her sense of injustice.
She remembered the day Abby was born. Her child. She’d been devoured by love. Filled to the brim with it. And it had shaken her, because she hadn’t known it was possible to feel so intensely. She’d been desperate to do everything right, to be the perfect mother, and even though she knew that wasn’t possible because of course all parents made mistakes, she also knew that she would never knowingly bring harm to her daughter, that she would die for her child if necessary, and she’d wondered what her father had lacked that he hadn’t felt the same visceral protectiveness towards her.
Those feelings came back to her now. “You’re not my family.”
“Yeah, I am. I messed a few things up back then—I’m willing to admit that.” He eyed her, expecting at least an acknowledgment of that admission. “I made a few mistakes. But it was a long time ago. What happened between us—water under the bridge. Time to move on. Put it behind us.”
Water under the bridge.
The words jarred because for her the love she felt for her child was more like a river bursting its banks. It flooded into every part of her and filled every crack. There were times when it felt deep enough to drown her. It would never flow comfortably under a bridge.
She thought of her poor mother, her gentle and loving mother, hurting both physically and mentally. She thought about the days and nights that she’d spent caring for her, trying desperately to put back together the pieces that he’d broken, scared of what lay ahead of them and the weight on her shoulders. She remembered the devastation and disbelief that her father, her hero, had done this. It had been beyond the comprehension of a girl who still believed in fairy tales and happy endings. Who believed that love was about sticking together through thick and thin. But she was older now, and life had made her wiser.
What did a blood connection excuse? How much were you supposed to forgive before you saidno more?
Giving herself permission to finally move on she broke that connection, snipping through those wires as if defusing a bomb.
“I’m still not clear why you’re here, but let me clarify what I believe you’ve already been told by my very capable lawyers—I won’t be selling this hotel. Not now. Not ever. We have nothing more to say to each other.”
“And that being the case, I think we’re done here.” Evie stepped forward decisively and for a moment he was distracted.
