Page 78 of Silver Fox's Secret Triplets
"Then I'll have to live with that. But I have to try."
She nodded slowly, though I could see the worry in her eyes. "I'm meeting him tomorrow at the park. The one near the hospital."
"Okay."
"Do you think—" She hesitated, then started again. "Do you think you should come with me?"
The question stopped me cold. I'd been assuming I would go, that facing Bill together would be the next step in moving forward. But now, looking at Ivy's uncertain expression, I wondered if I'd been wrong.
"Do you want me to come?"
"I don't know." Her honesty was both refreshing and troubling. "Part of me does. But part of me thinks it might make things worse."
I thought about Nick's words, about the way Bill had looked at me the night he'd discovered the truth about the triplets. Everything I'd ever done seemed wrong in his eyes, and I wasn't sure my presence would help bridge that gap.
"Maybe you're right," I said, though the words felt heavy. "Maybe I should let you talk to him first."
But even as I said it, I couldn't shake the feeling that staying away might be just another form of running.
31
IVY
When I got to the park, I found Dad sitting on the same bench where he used to read me stories when I was seven. Every time I saw him he looked more tired and weary. Mom's diagnosis really weighed on him, and it was evident in his posture and the dark circles under his eyes.
"Thank you for coming," he said as I settled beside him.
We sat in awkward silence for a moment, watching a young mother push her toddler on the swings. The child's carefree laughter echoed across the playground.
"I've been thinking about what you said," he began, his voice careful. "About Duncan. About the children. About all of it."
My heart began to race, but I kept my expression neutral. "And?"
"I'm not ready to accept everything. I won't lie to you about that." He turned to face me more fully. "But I don't want to lose you. Or them. I can't lose any more of my family."
The raw pain in his voice caught me off guard. This was the man who had built an empire through sheer determination, who had never let emotion interfere with business decisions. Butsitting here, he looked like nothing more than a father who was scared of losing his daughter.
"You're not going to lose us, Dad."
"Aren't I?" He ran a hand through his graying hair. "Ivy, I've made so many mistakes. With you, with Duncan, with how I handled everything when you were growing up. I was so focused on protecting you that I forgot to trust you."
"You were doing what you thought was best."
"Was I? Or was I just trying to control everything because I was afraid of what might happen if I didn't?"
I thought about all the times he'd made decisions for me, all the ways he'd tried to shape my life according to his vision of what was safe and appropriate.
"Maybe both," I said finally.
He nodded, accepting the honesty. "When I made Duncan promise to stay away from you, I thought I was protecting you from getting hurt. From the kind of scandal that had already damaged his reputation once."
"I know."
"But I didn't account for the fact that you might want to make your own choices. Even if they were risky ones."
"Especially the risky ones," I said and I couldn't hide my grin.
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You always were stubborn."
