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“Charlie has been staying here,” Lila said suddenly, wondering why she felt it was so important to tell Bob.
“I know. That’s really why I’m here. The thing has happened that we never imagined in a million years. We thought maybe your relationship with him would run its course. That was our hope.”
“Dad, what’s the big deal? So he’s a little older than I am. I know you had some legal issues with the Saints, too.”
“Are you planning on marrying him?”
“It’s too soon,” she said. “He asked, though. Why would it matter to you whom I marry as long as the guy isn’t a murderer?”
“I’ll just come out and tell you. You’re Mike Saint’s daughter, Lila. In the state of California it’s illegal to marry your uncle, and Charlie Saint is your uncle.”
Lila stood as still as a statue while Bob Conner explained the situation without being asked. She didn’t want to know the details necessarily. The big question had been answered. The reason Bob Conner had never showed her affection was because he didn’t love her. She wasn’t his child. As improbable as it seemed, she was Big Mike’s daughter.
“Elizabeth got pregnant with you, and I was in love with her and didn’t care. She didn’t try to pass you off as my baby. But we never told a soul. I have wondered if she told Mike, however. That might come out now that you know the truth.
“Lila, you can’t legally even cohabitate with Charlie because sexual intercourse between the two of you would be a felony. Chances are no one would find out, but if they did, you could both go to jail for up to three years.”
Blanching, it was the most provocative thing her father had ever said to her.
“We haven’t had sex,” she blurted out. “The guy practically just got out of the hospital.”
“You’d be having sex with your uncle.”
“Dad, I don’t believe you,” Lila said, her voice shaking. “In the first place, I look exactly like you! The Saints have black hair and dark eyes. My hair is blond. I have green eyes. Mom’s eyes are brown. Yours are green.”
He pushed away from the table as he finished off the coffee. “I’ll leave now. I’m not going to argue about this. If you want, take a DNA test. There’s no point in saying more until the results come back.”
“Why didn’t you take one?”
“DNA testing for the public is relatively new, Lila. I never had the need for it.”
She didn’t say anything, waiting for him to leave. He paused at the door. “What did you think I was going to say to you today?”
“I thought you were going to apologize for abusing me. That I had repressed the memory.”
“No, no abuse from me. I was actually afraid of you, if you must know. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
“Dad, just go, please?”
He opened the door and looked at her one more time. “You do look like me. But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Whatever, Dad.”
“Believe it or not, I did love you. I do love you. You’re my daughter, no matter what. I want to kill Mike Saint, but other than that…” He paused again, but didn’t linger. The look on her face told him all he needed to know.
She sat at the table with a cup of coffee in front of her that had long grown cold. The visit from her father precluded thinking about getting an extra day to work at the Safari Park.
The only thing on her mind was Charlie Saint. She was in love with him. Now that he was off all the drugs that had interfered with them having sex, he was raring to go. They’d planned on having a romantic evening that very night. In the morning when he’d come out of the shower, he had an impressive erection. She was still sleeping, the pillow over her head, and woke up when he tapped on her shoulder.
“Look at this thing!”
She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. When she saw what he was referring to, she pulled the sheets back. “Get in here, now.”
But he barked out a laugh. “We don’t have time. Get ready for me tonight,” he said, grabbing a hold of it and pointing it toward her. “My goal is to make you yodel.”
So of course, with that on her mind, she now had this information from her father, which seemed incredulous. Taking the dogs out to make up for their aborted walk earlier, she decided then she was going to get a DNA test and find out for sure. Thinking that her parents had lived with this information and just accepted it instead of trying to resolve it for thirty-four years was astonishing. No wonder her mother drank.
Then she thought of Charlie. She had to tell him as soon as she could. They’d decided that she wouldn’t call him at work unless it was an emergency, and although this was shocking, and important, and possibly life changing, it wasn’t an emergency.
