“We do not.”
“Then, how can I help you?”
“Is there somewhere we could talk privately?”
“Umm…I guess we could use the conference room, if no one’s in there.”
“Perfect.”
She checked with the receptionist, who confirmed that theroom was available, then led Stone to it, where they took seats at one end of the oval table.
“Am I in some kind of trouble?” she asked.
“Not that I’m aware of. I represent the estate of Trenton Sidney.”
She looked at him blankly. “Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”
Stone had been afraid of this. Trenton had told him he would contact Susan himself when the time was right. Apparently, that had not happened prior to his death. But at least Trenton had the foresight to prepare Stone in case he was unable to talk to her himself.
“I understand your mother recently passed,” he said.
“My mother? What does she have to do with this?”
“She’s the one who knew Trenton.”
“Okay,” she said, clearly confused.
“They went to high school together. I’m told they were an item but lost touch after graduation.”
“She never mentioned him to me. Of course, she didn’t dwell on the past.”
Stone pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and set it on the table. “This should help explain.”
She looked at the envelope but didn’t pick it up. “What is it?”
“Nothing bad, I assure you.”
She warily opened it and removed the two sheets of paper inside.
After taking a quick look at them, she glanced back at Stone, her brows furrowed. “DNA tests?”
Stone nodded. “For you and your father.”
“My father? I don’t—” She stopped herself. “Are you saying this Trenton person is my father?”
“Trenton Sidney, and yes, though he didn’t know about you until after your mother passed away.”
“I-I don’t understand.”
“I was told that they’d already lost touch when she found out she was pregnant with you. It wasn’t until years later that she found Trenton again, though she didn’t contact him until a week after she died.”
“Aftershe died?”
“She’d arranged for a letter to be sent to him in the event of her passing. In it, she told him about you and provided him with the website through which you had done a DNA test.”
Susan sucked in a breath. “She gave the test to me as a Christmas present a few years ago. I thought she wanted me to do it to screen for medical information we might not know about. You know, from my father’s side. But she didn’t actually say that.”
“Trenton sent in his own DNA, though he said he believed your mother from the beginning. The match confirmed you as his daughter.”
