Page 9 of Coveted Justice

“He cheated on my mother. He was with another woman and he got her pregnant. That’s bigger than an oops, I backed into someone else’s car at the supermarket, or I forgot to tip the pizza delivery guy.”

“Did he know she was pregnant?”

To Tanner, it would make a great deal of difference if Greg had known and done nothing. A man needed to stand up and acknowledge his mistakes.

“No, he says he didn’t. I guess the woman had a health scare and she admitted to her daughter that my dad was her father. The daughter came looking for him. They’ve met several times now and are establishing a relationship. That’s how he described it. They’re establishing a relationship. Because he’s her father. He used to be my father.”

“He still is.”

“It’s not the same.”

“I know and I wish there was something I could say to make this all better for you.”

She scrubbed at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Can you go back in time so that I can tell my dad that we can talk later instead of tonight?”

“No, but you’d only be putting off the inevitable. Just what did Greg tell you? Were he and your mother separated at the time? Who was this woman?”

“Dad went to a medical convention in Dallas. He met a woman doctor there. I don’t think I need to be more specific as to what happened because she had a baby nine months later.”

“He never saw her again?”

“He says he didn’t but I’m not sure if I can believe him. I’m not sure I can believe anything right now. I’m so…disillusioned.”

If there was one person on this planet that Maddie idolized and adored, it was Greg. She’d placed him on a pedestal as a child and he hadn’t fallen when she’d grown up.

Until now. This had to be a nasty realization for her. Her only surviving parent wasn’t perfect. Tanner had also had that sudden moment when he realized that his parents didn’t know everything. Except that he had been in his mid-twenties. His parents had been good, down-to-earth, and wise people but perfection they were not.

No one is perfect.

Poor Maddie was getting this lesson rather late in life.

“He screwed up,” Tanner agreed. “But he didn’t make a habit of it. He made a mistake and I’m sure that he’s regretted it greatly. He loves you, honey. That much I know for sure. He thinks the sun rises and sets on you. You and Amanda, of course.”

“He cheated,” she repeated. “How am I supposed to get over that?”

“You need to give yourself more time than a few hours. He only told you tonight. Of course, it’s going to be a shock to the system.”

“I’m angry with him,” she whispered as if ashamed to say it. “I’m so mad at him. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with this anger. I don’t even want to look at him right now.”

“Then don’t. You don’t have to talk to him for awhile. Take a break from one another and see how you feel in a week or a month. Maybe longer. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do.”

Sighing, she shook her head. “He wants me to meet her. He wants us to get along and become friends. Sisters.”

“You’re not interested in meeting her? It’s not her fault what happened. She’s just an innocent bystander like you.”

“I don’t know how I feel,” Maddie confessed. “If you’re asking me right at this moment if I want to meet her, the answer is no. Tomorrow? I have no idea. She’d be a constant reminder of how my dad let my mother down. And yes, I know it’s not her fault. I just…”

“Want to forget Greg ever said anything to you about this? You think if you don’t meet her this might be a little less real?”

“When you say it like that, I sound delusional and a tad pathetic.”

“You couldn’t be pathetic if you tried.”

“But delusional? That’s a possibility,” Maddie said in a teasing tone.

He was happy to see her lighten up and start to smile. She wasn’t the type to let life get her down too much. She was far too strong.

“Only in the nicest sense. We can all delude ourselves at times, if only to ignore something until we’re ready to deal with it.”

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