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“He said he knew your mother, they spent a summer together, but when he returned from a tour, she had married someone else. He assumed it had been a one-sided love affair and moved on. Then he received a letter from your grandmother detailing how your mom had been pregnant when she got married and included a baby picture of you. Maddox said he knew you were his.” Finn gripped her hands that shook.
“I don’t understand. Why would he want to track down my grandmother now, years after she wrote to him?”
“He wants to track you down. He’s been trying to ever since he received the letter.”
“He wants to find me?”
“I think we better get you something to eat and check into the hotel. Then you can figure out what you’re going to do when Mr. Maddox reaches out to you.”
“What if I don’t want him to know? Maybe I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“I can’t help you hide from this. I don’t want to hurt you, but the man deserves to know his child is alive, safe, and brilliant. It’s not his fault he was cut out of your life. But that doesn’t mean you have to agree to have any kind of relationship with him. It’s up to you.”
Hailey couldn’t comprehend what she had just heard. Not only did she have a living father, but he was a successful man that had served his country for twenty years and when given the information, searched for her. No one had ever wanted her beside her grandmother and Finn. How could any of this be real?
*
Discovering Finn’s caseinvolved searching for her put a big damper on their romantic getaway, and they drove back to Alexandria first thing the next morning. It was as if someone had instantly constructed a huge brick wall between them. She was restless and annoyed with him, or the situation, or both. The car ride was quiet and awkward. Then once they arrived at her place, she just wanted to be alone.
“I realize this isn’t your fault, but I just need time to get my thoughts in order,” she said, still sitting in the passenger seat.
“I understand,” he said.
She avoided looking in his eyes as she collected her bag. His tenderness wasn’t what she wanted right now. She wanted to punch something. The realization that someone like Maddox could be her biological father, and he might have wanted her, left her feeling angry with her mother and grandmother for never telling her about him. At the same time, she didn’t think she had the capacity to start over with a parent at this age. All those years, wishing someone wanted her or would save her had turned her heart to stone.
“I just have one request,” she said. “Can you wait to tell Maddox until after the partners announce who they’re selecting for junior partner?” Hailey asked, fighting the emotions that were building up inside.
“Why?”
“Because Baxter is friends with Maddox, and I don’t want it to sway his vote. I want to know if I earned this partnership on my own.”
Finn nodded. “Okay, I’ll inform Maddox after they announce who the new junior partner is tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
His hand reached for hers, but she turned to open her door and got out. If he touched her, she would fall apart, and then she wouldn’t have the space she needed to think.
Finn got out of the car and pulled her bag from the trunk. Thoughtful and chivalrous as always, he walked her to the door of her building.
“I’ll see you in the morning then?” he asked and kissed her cheek.
Holding back tears, she nodded and accepted the bag from him before escaping inside and running up her stairs.
As soon as she was in her apartment, the big fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and even though she craved the ability to turn to Finn and let him help her, she was too used to dealing with life’s curveballs alone. And this was the biggest one yet.
Chapter Seventeen
Finn
Although it tookevery ounce of his strength to drive away from Hailey, it was clear she needed to be alone. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to learn you might have a parent that never knew about you, and one that could have protected you from all the horrible things you went through in life. If he had to guess, she was in flight mode and would run scared. But he didn’t know where that would leave him.
The next morning, one of Baxter’s assistants greeted him as soon as he arrived at his desk and told him to be in the conference room at nine a.m. Hailey was already in her office, but he knew she wanted to maintain the professional lines, so he didn’t invade her space. Instead he texted her.
Good morning, I hope you got a good night’s sleep. I think you’re about to get a big caseload dumped on you.
We’ll see.
Each of the ten senior partners were in the conference room waiting for them when they arrived, and there was a large spread of breakfast items on the conference table like a celebratory feast, along with a champagne tower and coffee in silver carafes.
