Page 123 of Sloane

His body language shifted, and I knew what was coming next.

“Do you think Sloane could meet her?”

“I don’t see why that’s necessary. He made his choice. I’ve accepted it; he should, too.”

“Would you believe me if I told you he didn’t know about her until an hour ago?”

“Nope. I know he got the letter. I sent it certified.”

God, I was glad I’d followed Tam’s advice and done that.

“He got it. But he never opened it. I swear to you, he didn’t. I just saw him open it once you went upstairs.”

He hadn’t known about her?

I felt the blood drain from my face, like it had when I’d first seen Sloane standing in the family room. So, I was surprised I was able to come up with a snappy comeback.

“So, do you think if the courts sent him a certified letter, they’d accept ‘I didn’t open it’ as a defense for not responding?”

“No, probably not.”

“No. And neither do I.”

“Ash—”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Ryan. I did the right thing and told him about Millie. It’s not my problem he chose not to open the letter. The letter I had to muster up the courage to send once he sent back all my letters and refused to take my call, I might add.”

“He sent your letters back?”

“Yeah, dozens of them. Unopened. He couldn’t even be bothered to read what I’d had to say. So, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to learn he didn’t bother opening the last one I sent.”

“He wasn’t in a good place…”

“So? Neither was I. But I put my big girl panties on and womaned up. Just like I’m going to do now until Travis can find someone to replace me. I’ll be a professional and help with his therapy and getting him ready to transition to live independently. But as far as our history together goes, it’s just that. History. And seeing Millie is out of the question.”

I must have been worked up because I hadn’t even heard Sloane make his way to the kitchen until I heard his deep voice say, “She’s my daughter, too. You even said so in your letter.”

Spinning around, I saw him standing a foot from the kitchen island with his hands on his walker. It was a shock to see him so close. His visible battle wounds reminded me of the hell he’d been through.

Part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him in a comforting hug.

But then I remembered he didn’t want anything to do with me. At least not like that. Not anymore.

“I was just trying to get money from you,” I shot back. “She’s not yours.”

The corner of his mouth turned up, and he moved his walker closer.

“Oh yeah? Whose is she then?”

“A guy I was seeing. A doctor from the VA.”

He nodded his head slowly, that goddamn grin still on his face revealing his dimple.

“And a DNA test would support that?”

I swallowed hard but didn’t break my gaze from his.

“Absolutely.”

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