Page 68 of Feels Like Falling
ELLISON: XOXO
“Ellison says you’re her favorite.”
“See? A little effort goes a long way,” he says with a smirk, and I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah.” Dropping a kiss on the top of his head, I squeeze his shoulder. “Love you, Grandad.”
“Love you too, my boy. Love you too.”
* * *
It tookme a while to gather up all the gear for the lake and get it into the back of the truck. With the cooler stocked with drinks and sandwiches from The Backyard, I make a split-second decision to swing by the Kettle and Kiln for a couple of iced coffees.
I have a few minutes before I need to head to Ellison’s, so I pull a U-turn and head toward the shop. It’s still pretty early, but the lot is surprisingly full as I park and hop out. With a spring in my step, I make my way toward the door, my body feeling lighter than it has in weeks.
Images of Ellison in a bikini flash through my mind as I take a step inside and inhale the rich coffee aroma. I wave my hand in greeting at Karina who nods as she hustles behind the counter making coffees and filling orders like the magician she is.
A woman at the table to my right laughs and shakes her head, her glasses catching the light at just the right angle to grab my attention. The line moves forward, giving me a better view of her face, her name easily coming to me now that we have an interview scheduled for next week.
I’m just about to look away when the man she’s sitting with looks up, his eyes locking on mine, a mixture of irritation and fear in them.
His eyes.
No fucking way.
Arden must notice the shift in her tablemate’s demeanor because she looks up at him, her lips tipping down as her gaze follows his until it lands on me.
Coffee forgotten, I stalk my way across the room, standing every inch of my six-foot-three frame, towering over Evan Fucking Mills as he sits across from a woman who looked familiar to me but I couldn’t previously figure out why.
A woman who has the same eyes as her father—and Ellison.
She has a sister?
“All the shit you put her through and you were hiding a god damnfamily,”I seethe, my voice low and menacing as I make the obvious connection. “You’re a fucking disgrace.” I snort but it lacks all humor. “And to think I’ve been striving to earn your respect all these years. You can go to hell.”
Belatedly I can hear him excuse himself from the table as I push out the door and into the parking lot, sucking in a lungful of air as I will my head to stop spinning.
“Montana, stop.” His voice is close and I whip around fast enough to force him to take a step back.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve?—”
“It’s not what it looks like.” My eyebrows are somewhere in my hairline, and Evan notices because he holds his hands up and adds, “Okay, it’s notexactlywhat it looks like.”
“She has your eyes. Ellison’s eyes.” My voice breaks and I don’t even care. “How could you do that to her?”
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know any of it. Arden contacted me a couple of months ago after she’d taken the job at theBlackstone Gazette. Her mother disclosed information to her that Sherri Ann had been involved in forcibly paying off and covering up the pregnancy. It’s messy, but I didn’t cheat on either of them. Arden asked for a paternity test. We’re waiting for the results to confirm,”—he swallows—“that she’s my daughter.”
“That’s some story.”
“I wish it was sensationalized but it’s not. I’m living in some god damn daytime movie, and if I screw up evenonething, my entire world is going to come crashing down around me. I’ll lose everything.”
“Always so concerned with money—with yourimage.” I spit the last word out like a curse, because that’s what it is.
“It’s not like that.”
“Bullshit! Ellison’s whole life you’ve waffled between indifference, her having to earn your affection, and downright cruelty.”
“You don’t understand…”
