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“That’s her.”
Marcus whistles.
“Wow. I knew that was here in Cleveland, but I wasn’t expecting you to run into her again.”
“Neither was I.”
“Did you not realize it was her from the studio?”
“It’s under her coworker’s name. And I didn’t get Elle’s last name, anyway. But it was her.”
“So why did you stalk her back to her house and confront her?” Marcus demands. “And in front of that guy who looked like he was going to deck you.”
“I had to talk to her,” I protest. “After she practically ran out on me and vanished, don’t you think I deserve an explanation?”
“Didn’t she leave a note? I thought she did.”
“That meant nothing. Especially if she vanished from her job as well. And there’s more that I didn’t tell you.” I shift on my stool. Why am I feel nervous about telling Marcus about this? “She had a kid. A daughter.”
“She’s got a child?”
“She’s five years old.”
I see when the penny drops. Marcus’ eyes widen and his mouth drops open.
“What? You think that this kid could be yours?”
“There’s a possibility that this is my daughter.”
“That explains why you were saying you wanted a DNA test.” Marcus whistles and shakes his head. “Shit, you’ve put yourself into a big fucking mess.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Marcus. Beyond finding out if this kid is mine, I don’t know what to do.” I absently turn my glass around and around on the bar. “It’s been going around in my head ever since. I’m just stuck, Marcus. What if this kid is actually mine? I missed out on a lot of time with her. I feel like a failure.”
“You might not even be the father, Luke. It could be just a coincidence.”
“I know it. In my gut, I know I’m the father.”
“What did Elle say about it? Presumably, she said otherwise because you wouldn’t have asked for a DNA test.”
“She didn’t really deny it. She just said that it was her choice.”
“That’s it? It was her choice to keep it from you?” Marcus snorts. “That sounds like a cop out.”
“For what, though? I didn’t do anything bad to her six years ago.”
“Maybe it’s a part of her life she wanted to erase, and you’ve brought it all back for her. There is that possibility.”
I didn’t think that our night together was something she wanted to forget. Then again, I remember that she had been going through a lot of pain with her family back then. Maybe the sex we had was a painful reminder. I don’t like that.
“What are you going to do?” Marcus asks. “Are you going to get this DNA test?”
“I am. I want to know the truth.” I follow a trickle of condensation down the outside of my glass with my finger. “I might stay in Ohio for a while longer. If this child is mine, I want to get to know her. I can’t do that from my home in another state. I should stay close to get to know the kid. Make up for the five years that I wasn’t there.”
Marcus nods.
“I won’t argue if you want to do that. You deserve to do that, after all.”
“You’re not going to struggle at the office without me around?”
