Page 63 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“If I…we…tell her,” Jade said, “she’s going to want to see you—on a regular basis. Probably more than that in the beginning as she’ll be totally obsessed with the whole idea. You don’t want to be a father, remember?”
“You keep saying that, but it’s…” He swallowed and looked away. “It’s not that I don’t want to be a father. It’s just that I’m not sure I’d be a very good one.”
Jade stood and paced from one end of the room to the other. “Well, then that’s something that you need to decide, because once we tell her, there’s no going back.”
“I know. I know.” He stood, too. “When you confirmed my suspicions that she was mine, my first reaction was joy. My second was absolute terror,” he said. “I might as well admit it since I’m coming clean on everything.”
“Take some time and think about it,” Jade said. “A lot of time if necessary. It’s not a decision to be made lightly and not one that has to be made immediately.”
Bryce walked across the room and took her into his arms, noting how right she felt there. He kissed the top of her head and stepped back. “Thank you for not hating me.”
“I could never hate you, Bryce.” Her gaze clung to his, and he knew that she was worried. He also knew he’d take the time to think about what being Mia’s father would entail before jumping feetfirst into the deep end. Because Jade was right. Once they told Mia, there’d be no going back. He’d be a father—in every way that counted. Which meant he’d be seeing Jade a lot. The thought didn’t bother him. Not at all.
THIRTEEN
Bryce stood in front of the mantel, looking at the picture of Jade and Mia. Mia. His daughter. Hisdaughter. A person, with thoughts and feelings and her whole life ahead of her. She was a part of him, and already he wanted to know everything about her. There was no way he could just walk away. From either of them.
He raked a hand over his head, his decision made. Not that it had been much of a decision. The moment Jade had said Mia was his, he was already making plans to spend time with her. And Jade. Assuming tonight went like it was supposed to.
Just letting you know that all is well right now, Jade texted.In position and waiting.
While he appreciated the update, Bryce wasn’t happy that Jade planned to participate in the sting. Not because he thought she wasn’t capable, but because she’d been injured, and one day off wasn’t enough recovery time. If her job didn’t require her putting her life on the line, that would be one thing, but it did, and she needed to be alert and on top of things.
However, he’d been unable to talk her out of going, so he’d keep himself busy while waiting to hear if she would finally be safe and Frank’s killer was in custody.
He dialed Lisa’s number.
“Hello?”
“It’s Bryce, Lisa. How are you doing?”
“I’m…not good.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s not just about Frank’s death. I found his journal. He left it here last weekend when he stayed with us.”
“He left his journal behind?”
“Trust me, I was incredibly surprised. He would only have forgotten to grab it if he was distracted. Which he was.”
“You’re not the first person to say that. Tony Swift, the owner of the shooting range, said Frank had been in a lot lately and seemed to have something on his mind.”
“Exactly. I left him a message that I had it, but he never called me back. I’d put it in the drawer of the nightstand in the room he uses. With all of the craziness of the last few days, I’d forgotten about it. George went in there a little while ago and found it.” She cleared her throat. “I…ah…opened it up and read a few pages.” She paused. “Bryce, you spoke to Frank a lot since coming home. Did he ever say anything about calling off the wedding?”
Bryce stilled. “No. Why?”
“It’s one of his last entries. He said he was marrying Heather for the wrong reasons and was going to talk to her about calling it off. I think that might be what had him so preoccupied over the last few weeks.”
“It could be, but he didn’t say a word to me.”
“He wouldn’t unless he’d talked to Heather first.”
“Of course not.” Nowheneeded to talk to Heather. “I don’t think Heather knows, either. She hasn’t said anything. Certainly not to Jade. I’m pretty sure she would have told me. Did Frank saywhyhe wanted to call it off? Other than that he was marrying her for the wrong reasons?”
“I don’t know. I felt so guilty reading it that I shut it.”
“This could be important. I need you to read through it and tell me if there’s anything in there about the investigation he was doing.”
