Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
She was correct on one thing. I certainly had a lot to tell her.
Joyce looked over the rim of her glass. “Are you shitting me? Your father?”
I nodded, sipping my wine. I was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, in front of our coffee table, Joyce on the sofa. It was our usual spot to sit and unwind and reconnect when she came back from one of her long trips. “Unexpected, to say the least,” I replied.
“And you really confronted him? In front of everyone?”
“He told me to.” I blew out a huff of air. “In retrospect, I never should have done it that way. I was just…” I trailed off.
“Angry.” She finished for me.
“Yeah.”
“You still are,” she commented.
“He says he didn’t know about me. My mom told me he did. I can’t ask her. I have no reason to trust him.” I scrubbed my face. “I don’t know what I am really. Who to believe anymore. Luc thinks the world of him—of the whole family. He thinks I need to give Richard a chance, get to know him. Make up my own mind.”
Joyce wiped her fingers on her napkin after setting down her slice of pizza. “Hard to do when the person who supposedly abandoned you went on and had another whole family. I get your anger.” She took a drink of wine. “But why would your mom lie? She could have told you she never told your father because of their breakup or something. None of it makes sense.”
“I know.”
She was quiet for a moment, looking contemplative.
“I met him.”
“Who?” I asked, confused.
“Your father. Richard VanRyan. When I was doing the Toronto-Vancouver run for a while, he was often on board. First class, of course.”
“Of course,” I replied dryly. “I don’t think he travels with common folk.”
She frowned. “He was always polite. Charming, even. I remember once a woman behind him had a baby who wouldn’t stop crying, no matter what she did.”
“Did he complain?”
She shook her head with a small smile. “No, that was the nice part. Others grumbled, but he stood and took the baby, rocking her while he talked to the mother. She fell asleep in his arms, quite content. He said he learned with his daughter that the sound of his voice in her ear relaxed her.”
I picked up my wine and drained it.
“Fuck. That was the wrong story to share, wasn’t it?” She grimaced.
“No, it’s fine. He adores his kids—that’s obvious.”
“But you want to know why he didn’t adore you,” she stated.
“Yes.”
She sat forward, looking serious. “Unless you give him a chance and get to know him, you’ll never find out, kiddo.”
“I know. I just need a little time.”
“Understandable.” Then she grinned. “As far as genetics go, you sure hit the jackpot. The pictures you have of your mom, she was gorgeous, and Mr. VanRyan, well—” she fanned herself “—I often had fantasies about that man. Talk about a DILF.”
I gaped at her then shook my head as I laughed. “Eww. That is my so-called father you’re talking about.”
“My lady bits didn’t know it was back then. Not sure they would have cared either. That man was fine.” She studied me. “You have his eyes.”
“I know.”
She held up her hands. “Okay, enough. I get it.”
I poured the last of the wine into our glasses. “What about you? You said you had news as well.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Something in her tone made me pause. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been offered a job.”
“Oh?”
“In Europe.”
“Wow. Um, that’s awesome?”
She smiled, understanding my hesitance. “I accepted, so I’m moving. My base will be in Italy.”
“Joyce—that’s your dream!”
“I know. It happened out of the blue. That little tour company I love so much. I’ve been on so many of their trips. And I’ve gotten to know them so well, they offered it to me and I had to say yes.”
I reached across the table and clasped her hand. “Of course you did.”
“So, I’m sorry, but I’m moving out.”
I looked around the little living room. It wasn’t much, but it was the only place I could afford, and I needed a roommate to stay.
“I’ll find someone.”
“I’ll pay my share until you do. I won’t leave you in the lurch. And all I’m taking is my personal stuff. The rest you can have or throw out if you don’t want it.”
“We’ll figure something out.” I smiled sadly. “I’ll miss you. Even though you were always away a lot, I knew you’d show up eventually.”
“You can come and visit. I already have a place I’m sharing with two other girls. It’s a little villa outside of town with lots of space.”
“Sounds amazing.” I shoved aside my melancholy about her leaving. “Tell me all about it.”
My phone chimed around eleven, and I picked it up off the nightstand, smiling at the sound of the ringtone Luc had changed his number to. The Last of the Mohicans was one of my favorite movies, and he’d linked it to his name.