“I didn’t know if you would care, but you’re still his daughter, Sam.”
“Technically.” I rolled my eyes.
“You still matter to him.” We stayed on the line for a few more seconds. The kind of silence that comes from two people related by blood and not much else.
“I have to go,” I said. “Thanks for the call.”
“Of course. Take care,” Naomi said softly.
I hung up just as Rose came over, with a warm crepe in hand. Her eyes were curious, but cautious. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. She handed me the first bite without asking, and we kept walking.
We cut across a quiet street lined with pâtisseries and designer storefronts, the crisp afternoon air pressing against our coats as we walked towardGaleries Lafayette. Rose was unusually quiet, letting me process in the lull between bites of crepe and cobblestones.
Finally, I said, “Naomi just told me my Dad’s sick.” She stopped mid-step. “What?” I nodded, barely looking up. “Something with his liver, apparently. That’s why he’s stepping down.” Her expression softened immediately, the playful glint from earlier gone. “Damn.”
“Yeah.” We kept walking, the sound of traffic and distant church bells threading through the quiet. Paris was moving on, like nothing had shifted in my orbit. “I know he’s here,” I added after a beat. “Somewhere. Having lunch. In a restaurant where the bill will probably be higher than our rent.”
Rose glanced over. “Do you want to see him?” I didn’t answer right away. We passed a florist, the scent of fresh lavender and eucalyptus wafting out in waves. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I should call. Or wait until I’m back in New York. Or... not do anything at all.”
Rose tilted her head. “Okay. So, what’s the real question?”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not asking if you should call him,” she said gently. “You’re asking if calling him makes you care.” My chest tightened. Because she was right. I didn’t want to care. I’d built an entire life to prove I didn’t. I’d taken a job that flew me thousands of milesaway from boardrooms and quarterly earnings and all things Hayes.
But now my father, distant, driven, and difficult, washere. In the same city. Possibly dying, and I didn’t know what to do with that. “I just don’t want to regret not doing it,” I murmured. “But I also don’t want to play the daughter card only when it matters, like now that he’s sick.”
Rose linked her arm through mine. “Then don’t do it for him. Do it for you. Call him, or don’t. But whatever you decide, just make sure it’s by choice, not out of obligation.”
We reached the edge of the shopping plaza, glass walls gleaming in the late afternoon light. Tourists milled around the entrance, their bags swinging with the promise of retail therapy and distraction.
“I could really use a new pair of sunglasses,” I said, my voice lighter but still far off. “And maybe a nice coat,”
“For when you accidentally bump into your father’s new CEO,” Rose said, and I laughed, the tension loosening just a little.
“Let’s go spend money we don’t have,” I said.
“Now that’s the Sam I know. Although you do have it, you just don’t use it.” I rolled my eyes at her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
theo
The clinkof ice in lowball glasses and the hum of jazz from a Bluetooth speaker filled the hotel bar with a lazy kind of charm.
I’d claimed a seat at the bar, nursing a whiskey, half-watching a French rugby match I didn’t quite understand. The commentary was way too fast for me to get a hold of any French I actually know.
It was impossible to keep up with.
After my corporate lunch, I needed the quiet. I needed to unwind and just get a drink, and probably a late-night snack. But then I saw heragain. She was across the room with her friend Rose, one guy that seems like the kind of person who laughed too loudly and probably flirted with flight attendants for sport, and an older man I recognized from the other night.
She looked relaxed, animated, radiant in the dim light. For a second, I let myself watch her.
Just a second too long. There’s nothing weird about it.
I think.
That was until she saw me. She crossed the room with that effortless confidence that could silence a crowd. “1A, twice in one day,” she said, voice laced with amusement. “Hey, Sam.”
