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His eyes flashed. “Because she’s my daughter, and you’re my past.”
Nikki played Barbies with Emma, started dinner and then dashed to work, leaving her mother in charge. Roberta Reardon wasn’t incompetent. She was merely fragile. As Nikki poured coffee and took orders—because one of her best waitresses was out—she chatted with regulars. Half of her brain was occupied, trying to cope with the ramifications of the email she had seen on her phone just before she left the house.
It was from Black Crescent Hedge Fund—from Joshua Lowell, in particular. As he had promised, the attachment to the email was a very official-looking document. Beginning January first, Nikki and her mother would both be receiving checks for ten thousand dollars a month for a period of ten years.
The math was staggering. In the first twelve months alone, the two women together would have just shy of a quarter of a million dollars. There would be money for her mom to have almost anything she wanted, within reason. Nikki would be able to quit her job and spend these last precious months before kindergarten with Emma.
They would have financial freedom.
Why did the prospect seem so threatening? Perhaps because Nikki knew what it felt like to lose everything. She was superstitious about this extraordinary windfall. It was great that Black Crescent had recovered enough to restore much of what was lost. But Nikki’s father had participated in the con, the scam.
She felt guilty.
It was late when Nikki got home, so her mom was sleeping over. That was often their pattern. Even though Roberta spent a lot of time with Emma, it was healthier for the two grown women to maintain separate residences. That hadn’t always been possible in the beginning. Back when their lives had fallen apart, and Nikki had barely been an adult, they had needed to save every penny.
Eventually, things had changed.
And now, they were about to change again.
Nikki wanted desperately to go to bed, but she knew she would toss and turn if she didn’t tell her mother what was about to happen. “Mom,” she said. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Her mother raised an eyebrow. “So serious, sweetheart. What’s up?”
“I had lunch with Joshua and Jake Lowell today.”
Her mother paled. “Oh?”
“I found out about the emails. Your emails. And I apologized to Joshua.”
Roberta Reardon went on the attack. “Well, I won’t apologize for wanting to protect my daughter and granddaughter. Joshua Lowell is a scoundrel. He should be supporting his baby girl.”
“Mom...” Nikki rubbed her temple, where a sledgehammer pounded. “Joshua is not Emma’s father.”
“Of course he is. Don’t try to cover for him. You told me the truth.”
“I lied.”
Roberta Reardon stared at her daughter. “I don’t understand.”
“You kept badgering me when I lost my job. Trying to get me to ask Emma’s father for child support. I didn’t want you to know the truth, so I finally told you what you wanted to hear. I never dreamed you would try to blackmail him.”
Her mother was visibly offended. “It wasn’t blackmail. I never asked for money. I just wanted him to know he had a child.”
“But he didn’t.”
“So, who is the father?”
Nikki felt her face heat. She was a grown woman, but this wasn’t an easy topic to talk about with her mother. “Jake,” she said quietly. “Jake Lowell. Not Joshua.”
Roberta put her hands to her cheeks. “Well, that makes a lot more sense. You always did love that boy. He left Falling Brook, though. He’s never been back. Right?”
“That’s true. But about five years ago I ran into him when I was working at the casino in Atlantic City.”
Her mother looked shocked. “A one-night stand? Oh, Nikki.”
“I couldn’t resist him, Mom. I made a mistake. But trust me, Jake hasn’t changed. He’s still the proverbial rolling stone. I can’t risk being with a man like that.”
She was strong. She could let Jake come over, let him spend time with Emma, but Nikki wouldn’t risk her heart. She wouldn’t give in to sexual attraction. Not this time. The stakes were too high.
