Chapter 5 Noah
Chapter Five
NOAH
When Nick asked Tex to search for me, it pinged the several branches at once. It was originally a mission Nick had declined, wanting to steer clear of any DeMarchis connection. But they realised he was after me, and the DOD used that mission to drag him in.
Of course, with Jared running more searches, finding me was a piece of cake.
Apparently, getting me and Everly to meet was a lot harder.
She was meant to be at the Holiday Party Nick hosted a few weeks back.
But her mother was rushed to the hospital.
That was also what kept her and Skylar away every weekend since.
He was sure that I would meet her at the Company Picnic, but Everly had a meeting with her manager and Skylar had come with Bex. The two women were housemates of sorts from what I understood.
I was still irritated with Nick for not preparing either of us fully. And there was a big part of me annoyed at Everly for keeping my daughter from me for so long. Even though he had no way of contacting me. At least until she met the Salingers.
She was surrounded by friends who had the skills and the contacts to find me. So, why hadn’t she asked them?
Did she think I wouldn’t make a good dad?
Though, I wasn’t nearly as broken all those years ago.
She left the music business to raise our daughter.
Why? Did she know who my parents were and wanted our kid as far from that as possible?
I wouldn’t blame her if that was the case.
Still, from what I could understand she made no effort to find me. And I needed the answers to that.
I stepped out of Nick’s car as soon as we stopped behind the silver sedan. I lifted my sunglasses and hooked them on my collar. I wanted her to see my face, to know it was me.
The moment I laid eyes on her my resolve melted.
She was as beautiful as the night I met her.
Yeah, she was a little older and a little fuller.
The blonde hair was cut above her shoulders but those turquoise eyes still sparkled and that pout still had heat running through my veins.
Her black and white striped dress appeared to be knitted to those curves that haunted my dreams –the good ones.
The denim jacket covered her chest, but I didn’t need to see her breasts to remember them.
Then there were those fucking boots. I was sure they were the same ones from the night we met.
And yeah, I could still picture them crossed at the small of my back.
Then there was that breathy way she said my name when she first recognized me. That sound brought back so many memories, all the blood rushed straight to my groin.
However, that was not what we needed. We needed to talk about Skylar.
She was the priority. I needed to face that responsibility and, if possible, make up for lost time.
Other than that, I had nothing else to offer.
I wasn’t even sure what I could offer a kid other than financial support.
I was a broken man who still had nightmares.
I had seen and caused so much darkness, there was no way I could let that touch Everly or Skylar.
With quick goodbyes all around, including to the douche who was waiting with her, I helped Everly into the Escalade. I took a few moments as I rounded the car to calm down. There was no need to be nervous.
Everly sat up straight in the car. Her shoulders were stiff, and that pout had all but disappeared. She glared at me and quickly looked away, her gaze fixed on something out the front window. “You didn’t have to be so rude.”
I started the car and eased my way back onto the road. A quick wave to everyone else and we were back on Highway 1.
My gaze snapped to her as I replayed the last several minutes in my mind. “When was I rude?”
“You were abrupt with Trey.” She turned to me, even that scowl was a turn on. “He was just being nice, waiting with me until Bex arrived. There was no need for you and Nick to even be here. And how are you here, anyway?”
Something occurred to me, and I needed to deal with it before I got to the rest of her questions. “Who is that guy? Are you with him? Interested?”
I didn’t need to ask if that asshole was interested in her. He didn’t hide shit. Judging by the way his gaze followed Everly, he was more than interested. Not to mention the glare he gave me as she got into the car, told me he was not happy with how things had turned out.
“What? No. Not that it is any of your business.” The adorable frown made me want to grin, but I knew better. “He was just being nice. And please don’t go all peacock on him. From what I could gather, he’s going to be working with you.”
Yeah. There was that.
“First, he needs to get hired. And Nick hired me as the new team leader. So, I get a say.”
“You’re going to be an asshole, aren’t you.” I didn’t bother answering her and she repeated her question from earlier. “How are you here?”
“One of your friends asked Nick if his contacts could find me.”
“And you know why?”
I nodded. “I actually met Skylar before Nick said anything. She’s beautiful, Ev.”
That small smile peeking through betrayed her irritation as she rolled her eyes. “That’s a little self-serving. She looks just like you.”
“Maybe.” Skylar had my features right down to the gold flecks in her eyes. “But her smile lights up a room, the same as yours.”
She folded her arms and stared out of the window. She let out a little huff. “Okay, then.”
Her scowl and tight jaw confused me. I did nothing wrong, so I had no idea what her problem was.
“Babe, are you pissed at me?”
“Yes. No.” Once again those sparkling eyes were on me. “I don’t know. I’m just… I’m irritated, Noah. My friends went behind my back. It's not like I hadn’t considered asking for Salinger help myself.”
“Why didn’t you? You must’ve known what they do?” I chanced a look at her, and her eyes were still glued to the nothingness in front of us. When she did not answer, I assumed she was still pissed off. Not only was she still and silent, she barely even blinked.
The long, exaggerated exhale had me looking at her. “Can we go somewhere and talk about this?”
I gave her a smile and turned back to the road. “Sure, do you have anywhere in mind? You know the area better than I do.”
“Drive back to Marina De Ferrier, I know an excellent diner in town.” Her shoulders relaxed and she sat back in her seat. She still kept her eyes in front of her though.
There was no denying the tension in the car. She was annoyed at being blindsided and I wasn’t much better. There wasn’t really anyone to blame. At least, we agreed that Nick was an asshole, not that it would bother him. But I was grateful to him. Because of him I would get to know my daughter.
Not that I had much to offer her, but I would not be an absentee dad. Yeah, my job meant I would be away from time to time, but not in the same way my dad had prioritized work.
I would of course provide for her financially, and I would speak to my parents about ceding my trust fund over to her. I also needed to make sure that she was the beneficiary of my VA benefits. Those were things I could do.
I also needed to protect her from myself. There would be times she would sleep at my place, wherever that was. I needed her to be prepared for my nightmares and know never to wake me.
Following Everly’s directions once we were back in town, the Escalade wound around the coastal road that led us to Bowzer’s. The turquoise neon sign had been up for more than a few years. The S at the end was about to fall off at any moment.
By the time I stepped out of the Escalade and walked around to open for her, Everly was already out. I closed the door and without thinking grabbed her hand as we walked inside.
A bell tinkled overhead as I stepped into nineteen-sixty-five. Actually, no. That wasn’t accurate. I stepped into nineteen-eighty-four pretending to be the sixties.
A young girl in a yellow plaid shirt appeared. With her red hair in a ponytail and a bright smile she couldn’t be more than sixteen or seventeen.
Everly smiled at the girl. “A booth at the back please, Shiloh.”
The girl nodded and walked ahead of us. “How come you're not at the picnic?”
We walked around some tables and to the far end of the restaurant. The black and white floor tiles were clean and well maintained. The vinyl upholstery was all a little dated, but something told me it all added to the feel of the place.
“I had a few meetings in San Diego, and then this quick catch-up with my friend.” She gave me a quick look, willing me not to contradict her. “I’ll pop in a little later to hug Sky, but she’s sleeping at your place tonight.”
“Yeah. We’re inducting her and Grace into the pancake club in the morning. It’s Katerina’s birthday tomorrow.”
I gave Everly a frown and mouthed the pancake club?
As soon as the girl took our order and left, Everly turned to me. “Grace and Skylar are best friends. And Grace and Shiloh and a few other girls, including Katerina, live in a group home.”
“And Skylar will be staying there tonight?”
“Yes. Now what did you want to know.”
Okay then. I guessed my daughter’s sleeping arrangements for the evening were not up for discussion. It took me a moment to calm down and not sound as if I was accusing her of anything. “Why didn’t you ask the Salingers for help?”
She twisted in her seat to face me. It took several moments before she answered. “It's not an easy thing to admit that you don’t know who the father of your kid is. I mean we didn’t even exchange last names.”
I paused as Shiloh brought our drinks and burgers. As soon as she was out of earshot, I leaned forward. “Everly, those men, that family, will not judge you.”
“I know. I know that in my head. But it wasn’t always like that.”
I hated that she felt that way. “Did your friends and family judge you when you found out you were pregnant and didn’t know how to contact the father.”
“Not my friends. But my parents were hell. They blamed it on the industry.” Something dark crossed her face.
“Is that why you left?” I had looked for her online often over the years, and she never did anything after her debut album.
She nodded but didn’t meet my eyes. “I knew I needed to be there for her no matter what. And my career took a bit of a pivot.”
Everly didn’t elaborate and I didn’t push. Instead, I asked the one thing I wanted since I found out I had a daughter. “When can I tell her that she’s my daughter?”
“Let’s take tonight. We can go back to the picnic. Someone pelts me with a water gun, and Sky can go to her sleepover. Tomorrow we will change her world.”