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I gulp. All of a sudden this is real. I may come face-to-face with half of my genetic makeup. Am I ready for this?
“Shouldn’t… Shouldn’t Donny be with us?”
“Donny’s halfway to Denver by now. You wanted this information. What did you plan to do with it, if not confront the man?”
I don’t reply.
“I get it, Dale,” Dad says. “If you want, I’ll go see him myself and pay him off handsomely to leave you the hell alone.”
I’m tempted to take Dad up on his offer. Even if he is my biological father, I’ve never met him, and I’ve done without him for thirty years. Going any further on any of this will only upend my life.
“No, Dad,” I finally say. “You taught me never to take the easy way out.”
“You went through more before your eleventh birthday than anyone should have to,” Dad says. “If you want to take the easy way out once in a while, give yourself a break.”
Again, I’m tempted.
But—
I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If I don’t see him, I’ll always wonder. Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ashley
I mean to heed Jade’s advice. I do.
But somehow I find myself walking, though not running, the cobblestone pathway to Dale’s home.
Once I reach the guesthouse, I walk around to the front door, lift my hand…and then hesitate, fist in the air.
Just knock already. Geez, Ashley.
I knock.
Dale’s dog, Penny, appears in the window by the door. She barks twice and then just pants, seeming to smile.
“Hi, there, sweetie,” I say through the door. I knock again.
No one answers.
Is he actually not home on a Sunday morning? That doesn’t make any sense. I walk around to the back deck and to the sliding glass doors. I knock again. Penny appears once more.
Of course! The vineyards. Dale must have spent the night in the vineyards. If he did, the dog probably needs to go out. I place my hand on the sliding glass door handle, push, and, to my utter surprise, it slides open.
I walk into Dale’s kitchen before I think about my actions.
The dog needs to go out, so I’m just lending a helping hand. Right?
“Come here, Penny.”
She trots to me and licks my hand, and then she runs out the back door. I peruse the kitchen. Where is her food? She probably hasn’t eaten yet this morning. Her water bowl sits on the floor. It’s full. I kneel down and dip a finger in the liquid. Pretty cold.
Uh-oh.
That means Dale was here this morning and filled up her water.
I basically just broke into his house.
I need to fix this now.
Curiosity rails through me. I’m in Dale’s house. I can look around, maybe figure out what truly makes him tick.
So tempting…but no. He made it clear he doesn’t want me hanging around his place.
I’m going to be working with this man.
Not only that, I’m interested in him. Really interested. He’ll never want me again if he finds out what I’ve done.
I walk to the still-open sliding glass door. “Penny, come back in!”
She’s in the far end of the yard, doing a number two. I look away. Got to give her some privacy, after all. Probably a good thing I showed up. Otherwise, Dale might come home to dog poop in his house.
I look around his kitchen.
Yeah, I’ve been here before, and I’m impressed. This house is called a guesthouse, but it’s nearly as big as the main house. At least it appears to be from the kitchen.
Without thinking, I open the refrigerator. It’s stocked with bacon, eggs, deli meats, bread, and a pitcher of orange juice. Will he mind? I’m a little thirsty from the walk over.
I close the refrigerator quickly. If I want juice, I can have juice at the main house. I have no business here. If Dale returns and finds me…
God, he’ll be pissed, and rightfully so.
I quickly walk outside. “Penny! Come!”
When she doesn’t appear, I dart my gaze to the area where she was doing her business. Hmm. The fenced area isn’t overly big, but there are a few little alcoves that aren’t visible from the deck. I walk down the stairs and search the yard, my heart beginning to race.
“Come on, sweetie. Come on, Penny!”
After I search the whole yard and she’s nowhere in sight, my heart drops into my gut. I quickly scan the fence. It’s secure. Then the—
The gate! It’s open!
My skin turns to ice. I didn’t latch it when I came around to the back, and now Dale’s precious dog is gone!
I run out to the front. “Penny! Penny!”
She’s nowhere. My God, she wasn’t outside for long. Where is she?
My heart is beating triple time.
Dale will never forgive me. Not in a million years. And it’ll be longer than that before I’ll forgive myself.
I had no business going into Dale’s house.
