“Did she tell you why she was skittish around men?” he asked.
Mitch shook his head.
“No. She just told me that she liked older men. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m definitely older.”
Oh, they noticed.
Because he’d been honest, they were honest.
“We are getting forensics. When was the last time you had sex with Megan, and was it with a condom?” he asked. “We have to cover our bases.”
The man glanced over at Molly, who was helping seat customers.
“I like bare. She was on protection. As for the when, it was earlier that day, in my office. She came in before everyone else, we had sex in there, and then, she went home a few hours later,” he said. “You can have my DNA,” he offered. “I’ll help howeverI can. I’m devastated. It’s getting hard to not tell everyone. How am I going to go on?”
Gene didn’t have an answer for that.
But Ethan did.
“Lean into your daughter. She looks like someone who can help you get through it. She’s not going to hate you for falling for someone her age. She’s going to hate you for not telling her. Then, she’ll wonder what else you’re not telling her.”
That was a good point.
“Thanks for that. I’m going to do that. We’re going to have a little wake here in a couple days for Megs. I’ll tell her before so she’s aware.”
That was probably a good idea. If Megan told anyone about their relationship, that cat would be out of the bag.
Ethan was sitting there, thinking about what Mitch had said about her liking older men, and that made him ponder the principal.
He was older than Ivey, too.
Mitch wiped his eyes, making sure to keep his back to his daughter, who was walking around the pub as she was seating customers.
“Wait.”
They both paused.
“What?” Gene asked.
“I did say something to her once about us, and she hated calling me her boyfriend. She told me that men couldn’t be trusted.”
Gene lifted a brow.
“I figured it was some douchey boyfriend who knocked her around that made her feel like that. That’s why I was protective of her, too.”
Ethan was making notes.
“Thanks for your honesty,” Gene admitted. “We appreciate it.”
He needed to know.
“She didn’t have family. Is there a way I can get her body so I can give her a burial and that wake I mentioned?”
Ethan slipped him his business card.
“Give us a few days to handle this, and we’ll notify our ME that you’re the point of contact to claim her.”
He took the card and nodded.
