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Chapter 7
Dressed in a waterproof slicker and Wellingtons, Lila Conner mucked out corrals in the rain at the Safari Park for the second time that week. It was a grubby job, but someone had to do it, and she liked being outside doing mindless work. Today the corral she worked in was the habitat of Bess, the rhinoceros. Bess was out on the range, getting some exercise, so the workers could clean up after her safely.
The anticipation of going home later and logging on to the DNA site had her on edge. She was so excited, knowing in her heart that Bob was her father so that she could move on with Charlie. They’d almost had sex that night on the couch, but he had a change of heart right before the deed was done.
“I can’t be this selfish, can I?”
“Please, be selfish,” she moaned.
He flopped down alongside her. “Move over, please. I want to wait until we’re sure about all this so we don’t have any regrets.”
“You’ll just be old Uncle Charlie.”
“Oh God,” he spit out, laughing. “Please, no.”
So while she scooped up rhino poop with her snow shovel, she fantasized about getting Charlie into bed right away. Overthinking was the enemy. They just needed to do it. So far, at his direction, they’d interrupted when the impulse struck and they’d abandoned all decorum, ready to have sex without further ado. She decided the way to do it was to be naked before anything was attempted. The cease and desist usually occurred when she pushed away to take off her clothes, giving him time to think. Not tonight. Of course, this was based on whether or not she got the news she hoped for from the DNA site.
“Oh, please,” she mumbled, a heavy scoop of rhino poop ready to heave. “Let old grouchy Bob be my dad.”
On the way home that afternoon, the knocking of her heart against her chest started to make her feel ill. She was just frightened. What if she was Big Mike’s daughter? That would mean she had a house full of brothers and sisters-in-law. It would mean she’d have a stepmother who would probably hate her.
But what about her own feelings? How would she ever amend the slight done by her mother? It just didn’t seem possible.
“Why are you wasting energy on those thoughts? Wait until you see the proof.”
Once she got home, she purposely dragged her feet, first toileting the dogs, who were thrilled to see her, then showering to remove the pungent smell of rhino poop from her hair. When everything was perfect, including a large glass of red wine, she moved the mouse on her computer to get the screen to come alive.
“Here we go. Ready or not.”
The screen popped up and she logged on with the intake number that had come in the package. A few seconds of delay and there it was. First the explanation, that there were only two probabilities: 0% and 99.999%. Zero would mean she wasn’t Bob’s child, and the other was obviously a yes. Clicking on Find Out Your Results, her heart did a thump.
99.999%
Without thinking further, she called her parents’ landline, and Elizabeth answered.
“Can I speak to Dad?”
“Do you have news?”
“Just put my father on the line,” Lila said, angry that her mother was even involved. It was her fault.
“Hi, this is Bob,” his voice said.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Did you get your results?”
“Hi, Dad,” she repeated.
Silence, but she thought she heard a sniff or two.
“Hi, daughter,” he said, trying not to think of stupidity, or lost time, or all the dumb things he blamed himself for.
“Let Mom know.”
“Okay, will do. Talk later?”
“Yes.”
