Page 155 of Into These Eyes
The background noise vanishes. Gavin and I stare at each other for at least twenty seconds. “Mr. Lake?”
A long exhale finally comes through the speaker, followed by an emotionally cracked voice. “Mattie’s daughter?”
“Yes,” I say gently. “Mattie’s daughter.”
This time we hear a shuddering intake of breath, and another long silence before he says, “Then I guess you’d better call me Lach. What can I do for you, Mattie’s daughter?”
I grin. “Well, then, you’d better call me Jamie, since I think you know Mattie had more than one daughter.”
“Anika,” he murmurs, the brutal pain of that one word filling the room.
“We’ve only just discovered the truth, so we’re still a bit shellshocked.” When he’s silent again, I jump in. “Thank you, Lach. For not taking her away from me.”
Sniffling seeps through the speaker. I don’t miss the brief surprise in Gavin’s eyes before he shuts it down.
“… all such a mess,” Lach says, “I couldn’t do that. Mattie always raved about what a wonderful daughter you were. I knew Anika would be raised right by you.”
Now it’s my turn to strangle back tears. After a moment, I tell him, “She wants to meet you.”
This time an actual sob erupts from the phone. Gavin’s jaw tenses, and I can’t tell if his father’s emotions are pissing him off, or getting under his skin in all the right ways.
When the sound of Lach blowing his nose blasts into the room, I almost drop the phone.
“Goddamn it,” he grumbles. “I’d love that.”
“Okay … And Lach? There’s something else.”
There’s a brief hesitation before he says, “Go on.”
My eyes bore into Gavin’s. “It’s about your son.”
Another large sniffle fills the room.
“Did you know he’s out of prison?” I ask.
“No, I … no.” I get the impression he can’t talk at all for a long moment. Finally, he says, “I’d like to say that’s good news, but I’m sure you’d disagree.”
I tilt my head, watching Gavin’s eyes widen a little at the telling statement.
“I don’t disagree with you at all, Lach. That’s something else that’s recently been brought to light. He’s innocent.”
“I know,” he says without hesitation. “It took me a long time to realise that. By then, it was too late to tell him I’d made the biggest mistake of my life.” He pauses again, letting muffled sobs reach us. After a nose blow, he asks, “How did you find out?”
“There’s a lot we need to talk about. We’d love to meet with you tomorrow.” I say, deliberately being evasive about whoweis. I don’t want to promise this man a reunion with his son as well. It’s not my call to make.
After arranging a time and place to meet, I hang up, my eyes still locked with Gavin’s. For once, I can’t read him.
Cautiously, I ask, “What do you think? He seemed sincere.”
“Easy to fake it when no one can see your face.” He sounds harsh, stuck in his pain.
“True, but do you think he had a reason to fake it? He didn’t know you were listening. He doesn’t know how I feel about you.”
Avoiding my eyes, he runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “I can’t just flip a switch and change my mind. It’s not that easy.”
I step between his spread legs. Tentatively, I place a hand over the fist resting on his thigh, suddenly afraid he might reject my touch. Doubt squeezes my chest. Am I interfering, applying pressure where it’s not wanted? How can I know when I’ve never been in a relationship like this? But I refuse to clam up. All that matters is communication, and if he wants me to stop, he only has to say so.
“You forget, only a few weeks ago, I had to flip that switch,” I remind him. “It wasn’t easy, but I’m so glad I did.”
