“That’s my fault. I’m sorry. I needed to see Aunt Taylor and Curt. But I’m sure Curt will have that conversation with you soon.”
“Reese, go on up and get ready for bed and read. I’ll be up to tuck you in later,” Taylor said.
Reese retrieved her book from her backpack and hugged first Taylor, then him. “Will you come up and say good night before you leave?”
As if she needed to ask. “Of course.”
Happy with his answer, she zipped out of the kitchen.
“Okay, Mom. What’s going on?” Taylor asked as they both sat down at the table.
“About five minutes after I walked in the door, the house phone rang. I almost didn’t answer it.” Priscilla reached for her tea but then clasped her hands together again. “For some reason, I did. The man introduced himself as Jordan King, and he said he was a friend of Eliza.”
Under the table, Taylor’s leg rubbed against his as she bounced her foot on the floor. He shared her impatience. At the moment, he cared more about what the caller wanted than what their name was or the moments leading up to the call.
“He claimed he got a letter recently from Eliza. In it, she told him he might be Reese’s father. She included our phone number so he could contact us.”
Taylor pushed back her chair with so much force it almost tipped over and stalked across the kitchen. When she reached the counter, she turned and raked her hand through her hair. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“When did anything your sister does make sense?” Priscilla asked, stealing the words right out of his thoughts. “The fact that she was sleeping around so much she didn’t know who Reese’s father was in the first place is a perfect example of her poor decision making.”
He’d never heard the older woman sound so bitter.
“But why now? She’s had more than nine years to contact this guy or the other men who might be Reese’s father, Mom.”
Curt had his suspicions on that, but he didn’t plan to share.
“Do you need to ask that?” Priscilla nodded toward him, and Curt suspected their thoughts were flowing in the same direction. “Eliza blames you and Curt for her being in prison.”
Taylor rejoined them at the table, and he took her hand. “How do you know that? Neither of us has communicated with her since her arrest.”
“That’s not entirely true. I didn’t reply to either, but I’ve received two letters from your sister. She mentioned you and Curt in both. Eliza believes if you’d given her and Brad the money as they asked, she wouldn’t be where she is. And she knows you and Curt are getting married. Most of the country knows it. Telling this man he might be Reese’s father might be her way of getting back at the two of you.”
“Why—never mind. What does this guy want?”
“If he wants money to go away, I’ll write him a check tomorrow.” Curt knew nothing about the man, but if he’d spent time with Eliza, he doubted he was the type of person who should be around a nine-year-old child.
Priscilla shook her head. “Jordan didn’t mention anything about money. He said he wants to find out if he’s Reese’s father. And if he is, he wants to be involved in her life.”
Curt couldn’t fault the man. If he’d ever received a similar letter from an ex-girlfriend, he’d want the same thing. Regardless, anger toward Eliza for not thinking of Reese first and fear that this man might be Reese’s father ate at him.
“Do you believe Eliza contacted him?” he asked. He recognized the question for what it was, a weak attempt at finding a reason they could dismiss Jordan’s claims.
“I wish I could say no, but how else would he have gotten our phone number if not from Eliza?” Priscilla replied.
“How did you leave things with him?” Taylor asked.
“I explained you had custody of Reese, so he’d have to speak with you. He gave me his number and wants you to call him. He wants to meet with you and Reese. And—”
“No.”
“Not happening,” he said at the same time.
For the first time since they sat down, Priscilla smiled. “I knew you’d both say that.”
“I’ll meet him. Reese can either stay here or maybe with Curt. And I don’t want her to know about this right now. If it turns out to be true, we’ll cross that bridge then.”
Curt squeezed Taylor’s hand to get her attention. “I’ll be there when you meet him.”
“You don’t—”
“Yes, I do.”
“I thought you’d both say that too. I promised Jordan I’d pass along his number and that you’d call him soon.” Priscilla picked up the cup and took a sip. “I need to heat this up. Do either of you want some tea?”
After this conversation, Curt needed something stronger than tea. But since Taylor and Priscilla didn’t drink scotch or bourbon, they didn’t keep any in the house. “Sure.”
“I’ll have some too, Mom.” Taylor closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, a severe frown on her face.
He wanted to tell her everything would be fine. That they’d meet this man and one of two things would happen—either Jordan would turn out not to be Reese’s biological father or, if he was, he’d offer to disappear and not claim any parental rights in exchange for money. In the case of the second scenario, Curt would hand over whatever sum the man requested. But he kept his mouth shut because who knew what would happen over the next few days.
“Until we know one way or the other, you can’t ask Reese if she wants you to adopt her,” Taylor said. “Because if Jordan turns out to be her father, he might make it impossible, and she’d be devastated.”
As much as Curt hated it, he’d reached the same conclusion already. “Yeah, I know.”
Four
Taylor had wanted to ignore the message Mom passed along and hope Jordan King didn’t call again or, even worse, show up at the house. If Eliza had provided him with their phone number, she might have given him their address as well—not that it’d be all that difficult to find it on the internet, assuming Jordan knew what town they lived in. While she didn’t know everyone, she believed they were the only Walkers currently living in Pelham.
As far as she was concerned, Reese had a father now. A man who’d do anything and everything for her. She didn’t need some low-life creep suddenly appearing in her life. And Taylor didn’t see how Jordan could be anything other than a creep if he had been involved with Eliza. Not to mention Reese had already suffered enough for three lifetimes thanks to Eliza and Brad. Who knew how she might respond if it turned out this stranger was her biological father?
At the same time, though, she suspected Jordan wouldn’t simply go away. Whether he genuinely wanted to know if he had a daughter or was after something else, she didn’t know, but if Jordan had reached out to them once, he’d most likely do it again.
So although it’d gone against what she wanted, Taylor contacted him Wednesday. Considering the subject of the call and the fact Jordan knew her sister, she’d prepared herself for an unpleasant conversation. While it’d been uncomfortable and awkward, it’d gone far better than she’d expected. After he’d more or less reiterated the details he gave to Mom, Jordan requested a meeting with both her and Reese. When she’d refused to bring Reese along, he hadn’t pushed the issue. In fact, he’d said he understood her desire to protect Reese. He’d also agreed to her predetermined location and time for their meeting, something she and Curt discussed in great detail before he left on Tuesday night. On the off chance the man didn’t know where they lived, neither of them wanted to invite him into her mom’s house. The subject matter, though, made them both leery about having the meeting in a coffee shop or a restaurant. In the end, Curt offered the use of his house. Although not ideal, it would give them the privacy she wanted and didn’t potentially give Jordan additional information about Reese.