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“Why don’t we go out for dinner tonight? I can answer any questions you have about Warren or the family. The more you know about him, the easier it will be to make a decision.” The way he figured it, the more time he spent with her, the more time he’d have to sway her decision. Once he set up the meeting between her and Warren, he could wash his hands of the situation.
He was a wealthy politician who sent others to do his errands. What more did she need to know? If he was that anxious to meet her, the least he could do was come himself. Yet, she couldn’t complain about his choice of messenger.
In fact, Callie doubted any woman would complain about finding Dylan Talbot on their doorstep. And as tempting as most would find his offer for dinner, she had to refuse. Not only did she have work to complete, but she didn’t need Warren Sherbrooke’s messenger trying to force her to make a decision she wasn’t ready to make. Even if the messenger was drop-dead gorgeous.
If and when she decided to meet her father, it would be when she felt ready. While she didn’t know when that would be, she knew it wasn’t this weekend.
“I appreciate the offer, Mr. Talbot—” Before she could complete her sentence, Dylan interrupted.
“Please call me Dylan.”
Uncomfortable with calling him by his first name, Callie ignored the interruption and continued. “Tonight isn’t a good night. I have a lot of work to do.” She maintained eye contact as she spoke, but it wasn’t easy. She’d always found it difficult to lie to someone while looking them right in the face. This fact had always made it nearly impossible for her to lie to her mother. Evidently, her mother hadn’t shared the same problem.
Dylan raised an eyebrow, suggesting he didn’t believe her, but otherwise didn’t comment.
I’m not really lying. There are things I need to finish tonight. “Actually, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave, so I can get back to work.”
“Since you have so much to do, I won’t keep you any longer tonight, but I’ll be in touch.”
His tone remained polite, but she suspected he was being a bit sarcastic. Not that she cared at the moment. He planned to leave, and that was all that mattered.
“Have a nice evening, Miss Taylor.” Dylan walked back to the kitchen door.
“You too. Have a safe drive back to Boston.” Just because she wanted him as far away as possible didn’t mean she had to be rude.
Once Dylan left her apartment, she stood and paced between the table and the counter. In general, strangers made her uncomfortable, but Dylan Talbot gave the word uncomfortable a whole new definition. Usually, after meeting with a person a few times, she felt at ease with them. In this case though, Callie suspected she could spend a month with him and still be uneasy.
She pushed Dylan Talbot and his lovely English accent from her thoughts. Not an easy task. She’d always loved the sound of an English accent, regardless of the person speaking.
So Warren Sherbrooke wants to meet me. She’d never expected that, but now that she found herself confronted with the fact, she wished she had someone to talk to. Another person’s opinion mig
ht help her sort some of this out. Unfortunately, her closest friend, Lauren, wasn’t around. She’d gone to Cape Cod to visit family for the weekend. Who else could she trust? She didn’t want the world finding out about the situation. Right away, Callie thought of Helen Lee. The woman already knew the truth about her father. She was the perfect choice.
She pulled up Helen’s number in her contact list and hit call. “Mrs. Lee, it’s Callie,” she said when the other woman answered.
“What have I told you about that, Callie? It’s Helen. How are you doing? You’ve been on my mind.”
How had she been? Confused? Hurt? Shocked? “Still a little in shock.” Callie finally settled on. “You said if I needed to talk again, I could call.”
“I’ll help in any way I can. You know that,” Helen answered in her soft motherly voice.
“It’s about my father. I’m still not sure I want to meet him. Yeah, he’s my father, but. . . it’s just so strange, you know? At first, I didn’t want to contact him because I thought he would deny I’m his daughter, but he sent someone here today to set up a meeting with me.”
“That’s a good sign. So when are you meeting Warren?” Helen’s voice took on an upbeat tone. “He seemed like a great man when I knew him, but I was a little worried he wouldn’t believe Ruth’s letter after all these years.”
“Even if he does believe Mom’s letter, that doesn’t mean he’ll accept me.”
Helen made a tsking sound. “Why wouldn’t he, Callie? You are a wonderful woman. He should be proud to call you his daughter.”
Although she didn’t know more than what the media said about the man, she did know he was one of the richest men in America. “I doubt he has many school teachers in the family,” Callie said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. She knew from her personal experiences in high school that the wealthy often looked down on those without huge bank accounts matching their own.
“Ruth always only had good things to say about him, and like I said, when I knew him, he seemed like a great man. If I were you, I would give him a chance. What is the worst that could happen?”
Callie had other reasons for not wanting to meet him, but she didn’t want to share them with Helen or anyone else. At some level, she felt if she never met him face to face, she could almost convince herself that nothing had changed. Somehow, ignoring the truth made it easier to keep at bay the anger she felt toward her mother for lying.
Callie had considered her mom more than just a parent. She’d thought of her as a friend too. She never doubted her mother felt the same way. At least not until several days ago.
“So you really think I should meet with him?” Callie asked instead of telling Helen the whole truth.
