Page 55 of The Addendum

“I don’t know why your mother told you I knew. I didn’t,” I stated clearly. “She had her reasons, and I’m sure, to her, they were valid. She isn’t with us to ask her. But it doesn’t change the here and now. I do know about you. You know who I am. So, the question is, where do you want to go from here?”

She glared at me. “What are you offering, Richard? You going to welcome me to the clan? Host a party at the Hub announcing me? You think your other kids are going to welcome me into the fold? Your hidden mistake from the past?”

Her words touched my sore spot. I was worried about telling my kids. Their reaction. How they would feel about me when I told them.

Before I could speak, Katy did. Her voice was calm.

“Our children will be shocked by this news, but we will figure it out as a family, because that is what we always do.” She tilted her head, studying Ashley. “I met your mother a few times. She was beautiful. Kind. I saw her after she and Richard—” she swallowed “—your father, broke up. She came to see him, but he was out of town. I think she knew she was pregnant and decided not to tell him. She left BC not long after. She never got back in touch with him.”

“Of course you would defend him,” Ashley said.

“I’m simply stating the facts as I know them.”

“Excuse me if I think your facts are distorted,” Ashley sneered, her voice dismissive.

I stood. “I will not allow you to disparage my wife,” I said firmly, using Ashley’s words against her. “I know you’re angry and upset. I am as well, so I get it. But we need to find a starting point and go from there.”

Halton interrupted us. “Can I suggest we all take a minute? Richard, sit down.” He focused his gaze on Ashley. “Ashley, you started this. You could have suspected Richard was your father and walked away, but you didn’t. You confronted him, agreed to the DNA test for proof, so you must want something. You need to tell us what that is.”

Ashley was quiet for a moment.

“Is it money?” I asked, unable to keep my mouth shut.

“I don’t need your money,” she hissed, her eyes flashing in anger.

“What is it you need, then?” I bent forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “What do you want, Ashley?” I shook my head. “Can we try to have a simple, honest conversation?”

She looked at Luc, who touched her cheek in an intimate, knowing way. She drew in a deep breath.

“I have always had a temper. I never knew where I got it from since my mother had endless patience.”

I felt my lips pull into a smile.

“I suppose, like your cowlick, you get it from me.”

“I’m angry, Richard. Confused. I don’t know what I want,” she said. “I reacted when I saw your shirt and realized who you possibly were. I shouldn’t have pulled that stunt.”

“And now?”

“I need time to think. Now that I know for sure I was right, I need to come to terms with this my own way.”

I sat back. “So, you want me to step back and, what? Wait for you to get in touch?”

“Yes. I just need some time to process and sort out my emotions.”

She was much like me in that way as well, but I refrained from saying so. I nodded once.

“Would you like to meet again with us and Halton present?”

“No. I think from now on, we should keep our meetings between us.”

I met Halton’s gaze, his eyebrows raised in question.

“Legally, what are you looking for, Ashley?” he asked, his voice calm. “Do you have any idea?”

She shook her head. “Legally, nothing. I don’t want your money, your name, for you to announce me to the world, anything like that. I just—”

“Just what?” I prompted, keeping my tone gentle.