“I do. My new family is great.” He stared straight ahead as if he hadn’t dropped a bombshell.
“New family?” She asked gently, not wanting to belittle his expression of trust.
“Yeah. It’s not common knowledge. So don’t go blabbing it around. Robert Flint is my father. He had a relationship with my mother after his first wife died. I didn’t know anything about him. Mom told me he was dead.”
She reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “It must have been difficult to learn she kept the truth from you. Is that why you moved here?” A betrayal of that magnitude would be difficult to get over. He seemed to be handling it okay. “How did you find out?”
“A deathbed confession. Since I’d been drummed out of the service, I decided to sell everything and move out here. I was going to watch him. See if Robert was an honorable man. See if he was worthy of being my father.”
“And?”
“He’s a great guy. Strong family values. Moral. Polite. He’s okay. I’m slowly coming to terms with his agreement to stay out of my life. I don’t understand it, but I can’t change the past and neither can he. Best we can do is move forward.”
“You’re working on the ranch now. How’s that going?” She’d heard more than a few grumbles from Candice about her brothers’ stubborn resistance and how all of them were trying to get along, except Ken.
“Better than I thought it might. I think the results of the paternity test will put some minds at ease. I don’t need the test. Neither does Robert. But for the sake of everyone else’s sanity, we went to the city and had it done. Could be weeks until we get results.
“You and Robert look remarkably similar. Especially around the eyes. If you shaved off your beard, the entire town would realize you’re related as soon as they saw you and him, or you and your brothers together.”
“I think I’ll keep the beard.” He laughed. “Gossip finds a way quickly enough on its own. We’ve agreed to keep it quiet for now. But, in the interest of honesty in my relationship with you, I thought you should know.”
“Your trust means a lot to me.” Was this a sign that their relationship was headed to more than friendship? Family secrets, talk about kids. They’d only kissed once. A sweet kiss which knocked her socks off. Ever since, she’d been dreaming of kissing him again. Of diving into a physical relationship with him.
She jumped to her feet. “I better check on the debugging program. I have several to run, to be sure you’re clean.”
“I am clean. I’ve been tested, though it’s been longer than I care to remember since I was with my fiancé.”
She whirled around to look at him. He winked. She coughed in surprise. “What? Oh. I mean good to know, but that isn’t what I meant. I’ll just go check on the program.” She rushed inside, her face hot with chagrin and desire. Ira Castillo sure knew how to hit for maximum effect.
She wanted to further their relationship. She was ready to take things to a more physical place. It seemed he was ready too. He seemed to accept her waitressing and after her blowup had backed down on her need for a real career. But how could she advance things with him without telling him the truth about her secret employment. Being an online spy-hacker wasn’t an easy confession. Not even if she were allowed to share the information.
