Taylor’s Father

Chapter 20

TATE

Nervous as fuck didn’t even begin to describe how I felt as I stood outside Blair’s hotel room.

Not only was I petrified of someone catching me with her, I had no idea what I could say that would properly sum up the tornado of emotions inside me.

I’d made it through the reception by the skin of my teeth.

Leah suspected something was up with me, but I had no idea how to explain it.

I’d hardly believe it myself if I wasn’t living it.

From the moment I’d spotted Blair in that receiving line, my head and my body had been operating on two separate planes.

I looked around again to make sure the hallway was empty.

Then I knocked. I swear I could hear my heart beating.

When Blair opened, I nearly fell back from the sheer impact of seeing her. She had wet hair and wore a T-shirt, like not a moment had passed since our amazing time together at the resort four years ago.

“Come in.” She waved, quickly ushering me past the door.

The moment it closed behind us, my nerves settled a notch, because at least no one could see us together now. We were finally alone. That was half the battle tonight.

I took a moment to just look at her as she took a seat on the bed.

Earlier I’d thought she looked a bit older than I remembered, but the fresh-faced woman in front of me looked exactly like the Blair I’d known and loved four years ago.

So instantly taken by her, I almost forgot what I’d come here for.

But when she cleared her throat, I snapped out of it.

“I’m not sure where to begin,” I told her, feeling frozen in place, just inside her hotel room.

“I know.” She looked down at her feet.

“I’ve imagined reuniting with you so many ways, but none of them was like this.”

Blair looked up at me. “How did this happen, Tate?” Her voice shook. “Or should I say Theodore…”

My stomach sank. Does she think I did this on purpose?

Her gaze returned to the floor again.

“Blair, look at me.” I waited until her eyes met mine.

“I was not deceiving you. I had no idea you knew my son. Tate is my name. When I was in the military, all of my buddies called me Tate, and it stuck after I left. I prefer it to Theodore, which I’ve never liked.

My mother can attest to that. Taylor doesn’t know me as Tate because my family calls me Teddy.

But Tate is the name I use for myself. It’s what I share when I meet someone new. ”

She shook her head. “I’ve talked to Taylor about you as Tate, and he never flinched.”

My eyes widened. “You’ve spoken to Taylor about me?”

She nodded.

Blood drained from my face. Not sure why that seemed so shocking. If they were close and she’d had no idea who I was, that made sense.

“He never seemed suspicious,” she said.

I exhaled. “That doesn’t surprise me. He called me Theodore out of spite for several years…” I swallowed. “But now he calls me Dad.” I got a little choked up, thinking about how far Taylor and I had come, only to have our relationship potentially destroyed now. But maybe it doesn’t have to be.

As if she’d read my mind, Blair shook her head. “He can’t know about this.”

Relief washed over me. “I agree. I don’t plan to tell him, if you don’t. There’s no reason he has to know.”

She hugged her arms, seeming conflicted, which worried me. Could I trust her with this? She had to understand that nothing good could come from him knowing about us.

“I want to make something clear, Blair.”

“Okay…”

“Not telling Taylor has nothing to do with feeling ashamed of our time together. It doesn’t change what we experienced. It’s only because I don’t know if he can handle it. Taylor’s very fragile. He’s—”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” she said, almost defensively. “He’s my best friend. And I completely agree that he wouldn’t understand.” Her eyes watered.

Fuck. I’d never ached to reach out and hold someone more in my life. Now more than ever, though, I needed to stay in my lane. But I still needed answers. After a long moment of silence, I had to ask. “How come you never called me?”

That question had come from the part of me that was still just Tate, not Taylor’s father.

She sniffled. “Does that matter now?”

It would always matter to me. Because as much as I’d hoped she wouldn’t need to call, I’d also sure as fuck hoped she would. Every damn time the phone rang for the past four years, my heart had filled with hope. I’d been so sure she’d reach out, even if just to say hello.

I looked away, but then back at her. “I always thought I’d hear from you at least once.”

She closed her eyes, and a tear finally fell.

“Hey…” I stepped forward, unable to stop myself from wiping the teardrop with my thumb. It took everything in me not to take her in my arms. But that wasn’t where we were right now. “What’s wrong?” I whispered.

Her voice trembled. “It wasn’t my choice not to call you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

She looked up at me. “I was robbed on my way home from that trip. While I was waiting at the train station, someone took the bag that had my phone in it.”

It felt like I’d been punched in the chest. “Are you serious?”

Blair nodded. “I was devastated, and it took me a long time to come to terms with it. I filed a police report and constantly checked in with the authorities near where it happened, but they never found my belongings. I lost everything—my wallet, my phone, all my contacts.” She wiped her eyes.

“But the only thing that mattered was your number and the photos I’d taken.

” She shook her head. “I lost you that day.”

I let out a long breath, countless emotions swirling through me. “I can’t believe that happened.”

“You think I’m lying?”

I shook my head. “Of course not. That’s not what I meant. I just assumed you’d chosen not to contact me. I never imagined that you had no choice. That’s some really bad luck.

She laughed angrily. “Well, I would say this twist of fate is a lot worse than that.”

I stopped myself from wiping her tears again and tried to organize my thoughts.

“I wished every day that I had gotten your last name,” I told her.

“But I also thought maybe you didn’t want to talk to me because you never called.

Through the years, I think I’d sort of accepted it.

But now that I know you lost my number…” I shook my head.

“It sets me back mentally. I don’t know how to feel right now.

” I exhaled. “Everything I thought I knew about this situation was wrong.”

She straightened her back. “After what we found out today, though, none of that matters anymore. Does it?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. If only it were that simple. “You’ll always matter to me, Blair. This doesn’t change how I feel about you, even if it changes what I can say or do about it.” I paced, still trying to sort through all of this. “I have questions.”

She crossed her arms as she watched me pace. “Okay…”

“Back when we first met, and you said a friend had gifted you the trip… That was Taylor.”

“Yes. It was the only way I could’ve afforded it.”

I nodded. “When you told me that, it struck me as a little weird, but I didn’t want to insult you by questioning how you had a friend who could afford it, I guess. But it makes sense now that it was him.”

She raised her voice. “Why didn’t you tell me your family owned the resort? If you had, I would’ve surely put two and two together.”

“I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about me.

” I threw my hands in the air. “I’ve never lived off of my parents’ money.

Never took a dime from them, and I wasn’t in the habit of flaunting that connection.

” I closed my eyes and blew out a breath.

“But you’re right. I absolutely should’ve told you, and I regret how I handled it. ”

Even as I spoke, I wasn’t sure those words were true. Because if I’d told her, she would’ve figured out who I was. And we never would’ve been together. Even now, I wouldn’t change anything about that. Fucked up or not, I’d always cherish the time we had.

Blair’s face reddened. “You accused me of being deceitful on that trip, yet it seems you were the one keeping the most secrets—not telling me your parents owned the place, giving me your nickname…”

“It is my name, just not the one my family uses,” I insisted. “Please stop thinking I tried to deceive you.” I stopped pacing to look her in the eyes. “I’ve thought about you every day, Blair.”

She turned to me, her expression softening. “I’ve thought about you, too.”

My chest constricted, and once again I had to stop myself from stepping forward to hold her. “Where do we go from here?”

Her face was strained. “I don’t think we go anywhere.”

I knew that made sense, yet the old feelings for her came flooding back. I didn’t want to hear it. “This is it?” I finally said. “We’re just gonna pretend we don’t exist to each other? That doesn’t work for me.”

“Pretending you don’t exist isn’t an option,” she murmured.

I let out a long breath. “I don’t have all the answers tonight.

I’m still absorbing this, grappling with the fact that I may have inadvertently sabotaged my relationship with my son by sleeping with one of his best friends.

” I paused. “But also…seeing you again is a fucking dream come true.” I shook my head, nearly overcome with emotion.

Blair blushed and looked away. “Where does your date think you are right now? Is she your girlfriend?”

“Helping my parents with something in their suite.” I swallowed. Leah hadn’t entered my mind once since I’d come to this hotel room. “She and I only started dating a couple of months ago. She’s a good person.”

“Well, that’s great,” Blair said almost bitterly. “I’m happy for you.”

I stared at her a moment. Something else was going on here. Blair was…different.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“Is everything okay with you? I mean, outside of this situation?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted, her blush deepening.

“Where are you living now?” I asked.

“North of Boston. About an hour from here. My parents moved from Western Mass to the Boston area when my father switched jobs, so I followed. I don’t live with them, though.

The move meant I also now live closer to Taylor.

” She paused. “He mentioned that his father had moved here, too. You left Texas?”

I nodded. “It was time, yeah. I wanted to be closer to him and the rest of my family. I’ve been garnering a lot of business here, too.”

“You’re still doing the home building?” she asked.

“Yeah. But less manual labor up here and more management. It’s like starting over in a way, but it was the right decision.”

My phone chimed with a text. Leah was wondering why I was taking so long.

Blair looked at my phone. “You need to get back?”

Nodding, I exhaled.

“What does she think you’re doing for your parents?”

“I told her my mother needed help with something broken in her room. I didn’t want to lie, but…”

“I get it. We have no choice but to lie right now.”

I took a deep breath and stepped toward the door, but I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. “Can I have your number?” I asked, turning back. “I think we need to continue this conversation—maybe when Taylor and Juliana are out of town, so there’s no chance of them seeing us together.”

To my relief, she nodded and didn’t try to convince me that talking was a bad idea.

I handed her my phone, and she entered her contact info.

I watched as she typed in her last name: Moynihan.

Even though Taylor had uttered it once earlier, there was something particularly profound about her finally giving it to me.

I looked down at her name when she returned my phone. “Thank you.”

I sent her a text so she’d have my number.

Blair rubbed her arms as her phone chimed. “You’d better go.”

No part of me wanted to go back out into the world. I couldn’t fathom how I was supposed to just go on with my life after this. But in the end, I forced myself to leave. “Talk to you soon, Blair.”

As she nodded, I quietly slipped out her door, making sure to look both ways before walking down the hall. It felt like I was outside of myself as I entered the elevator.

When I returned to my room, Leah was understandably annoyed.

“That took long enough,” she said.

“Yeah.” I loosened my tie. “Sorry about that.”

“I was hoping we could have a little fun before you get out of that tux.”

The last thing I wanted right now was sex. I could barely think straight. As shitty as it was, I had to pile an excuse on top of my lie.

“It’s been a long day.” I sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m beat.”

“Okay…” She frowned.

“Gonna get cleaned up for bed,” I said, barely able to look her in the eye.

In the shower, I let the water wash over me as I thought about Blair. Something had changed in her—more than just shock about this latest turn of events. She was different. I needed to know what life had been like for her these past four years.

At the age she’d been when I met her, four years was a damn long time.

She could’ve experienced any number of things.

Had she fallen in love? Was she a nurse now?

She’d mentioned speaking to Taylor about the man she’d met at the resort.

Had she told him everything? The list of questions in my head seemed endless.

And it would likely be a long while before I got the chance to ask.