Chapter 35
Thirty-five
The next morning, after another late start thanks to their newly discovered, never-satisfied hunger for each other, Kenzie walked into the library.
As she juggled her laptop and briefcase, she came to an abrupt stop when she heard voices and peeped around the corner to find Vera and two other women in deep conversation as they leaned over what appeared to be blueprints.
Kenzie quietly backed away so as not to disturb them and glanced at her watch. Damn. She had five minutes to set up for her meeting. She headed back down the hallway, and her eyes fell on the door to Callum’s den.
She really didn’t want to set up in her bedroom; she needed to present a professional image to her clients, and as beautiful as her bedroom was, it was still a bedroom, and there was no desk to work on.
She lifted her hand and gave a timid knock, before cautiously opening the door and peering inside. It was thankfully empty.
Biting her lip, she carefully deposited her laptop and bag onto the large desk and looked around. Technically, she didn’t think there’d be an issue using the office—Vera had offered her the use of it the other day—but it definitely was not her first choice.
There was a heaviness about the room she didn’t feel comfortable with. But she didn’t have time to go in search of a better option, so she quickly set up and managed to smooth her hair down moments before the meeting connected and her clients came up on the screen.
An hour later, Kenzie disconnected from the meeting and began finalising her notes, feeling a spark of excitement as she jotted down some of the ideas she had to put together in the detailed plan for the bride-to-be.
She always loved the initial planning stage—brainstorming the ideas and themes the clients were envisioning and bringing them to life.
She itched to be back in her own office, where she had access to her inspiration boards with fabric swatches and colour palettes.
Since she wasn’t supposed to have been away this long, she hadn’t brought any of her things along, and now she regretted it.
It was only for another few days, she told herself, closing her notebook with a sigh once she’d finished her notes and starting to pack up.
She put her laptop, notebook and pen into her bag and stood up, but turned back when she heard something fall behind her.
Her bag had caught the small pile of papers that she’d carefully pushed to the other side of the desk earlier, and sent them raining to the floor.
Kenzie muttered a small oath before kneeling to gather them up, hoping they weren’t in any special order as she scooped them into a new pile and stood up.
She flicked through, looking for numbers on the bottom of the pages while trying not to actually read anything, feeling uncomfortable that she was invading Callum’s privacy.
But she stopped shuffling the pages when her daughter’s name jumped out from the page at her. What the hell?
DNA Paternity Test Report.
The page listed Ewan’s and Poppy’s names as persons participating in the test. She turned to the next page and found the heading: results of the paternity test and a chart with a table listing columns of long numbers and letters strung together.
At the bottom of the page, she found a statement of results in a box where she skimmed the scientific explanation, her gaze locking on the words towards the end stating that the alleged father is excluded as the biological father of the tested child.
Next to the statement, in a small box were the words: Probability of paternity 0%.
What the actual fuck?
Kenzie continued to stare at the document in her hands. A barrage of thoughts raced through her mind: Paternity test? When was it done? Ewan isn’t Poppy’s father? They took a sample from my daughter without permission …
That last thought snapped her out of her shock faster than a bucket of iced water over her head could have. They took a sample from my child.
How dare they do a DNA test behind her back.
Kenzie heaved her suitcase up onto the bed and began gathering her belongings. Her rage was palpable as she slammed drawers and dumped in clothing. Then she moved into Poppy’s room and did the same.
When she finished packing, she picked up both suitcases and then stopped.
Shit. She didn’t have a car. Kenzie let out a barrage of swear words, which would have earned her a mouth washed out with soap from her grandmother, and looked for something to kick.
Before she could decide between the bedframe or the antique dollhouse, Ewan came to the doorway wearing a concerned expression.
‘Are you okay? I heard banging.’
Kenzie glared at him, too angry to string together any kind of intelligent reply.
‘Kenzie?’ he asked, taking a step further into the room, his concern seeming to deepen.
‘We’re leaving. Poppy and me. Today.’
‘Why? What’s happened?’
She gave a brief, sarcastic laugh.
‘Kenzie. What’s going on?’
‘I found out what you were up to.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The stupid DNA test you did.’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ he said, taking a step closer.
‘Oh? You don’t remember giving a sample? Right,’ she snapped, turning away from him.
‘A sample for a DNA test?’ he asked doubtfully.
‘Yes, Ewan. A paternity test.’
‘I haven’t given a sample for anything,’ he denied, still looking at her with notable confusion.
For the briefest of moments, Kenzie’s anger faltered, before she recalled the name on the document.
He’s lying. It had been right there, in black and white.
She stalked across the room to her handbag and withdrew her phone, bringing up the photo she’d taken.
She wasn’t sure why she stopped to take a photo of it—maybe in case Callum denied it and tried to get rid of the evidence—but she was glad she’d thought to.
Wordlessly, she thrust the phone into his hands, standing back, arms crossed, waiting to see how he could possibly deny it now.
His frown deepened as he read what was on the screen, before his eyes flew to hers in surprise. ‘I’m not Poppy’s father?’
His accusation momentarily caught her off guard. She hadn’t been interested in that part—she’d still been furious at them for having gone behind her back.
‘Of course you’re her father,’ she shot back angrily. ‘The fact the stupid test is clearly wrong is the least of my concerns. It’s that you decided to get a DNA test without even consulting me. How dare you take a sample from my daughter without my permission.’
‘It says right here,’ he said, ignoring her accusations, pointing to the page, ‘zero per cent, Kenzie.’
‘I know what it says,’ she snapped. ‘And I’m telling you it’s wrong.’
When he continued to just stare, Kenzie’s anger switched to disbelief.
‘Science is pretty accurate nowadays,’ Ewan said with a coolness in his tone she’d never heard before, and her previous outrage suddenly turned to despair. He didn’t believe her.
Why should he? He spent a handful of hours with you five years ago. For all he knows, you could have been sleeping with other men.
But he was the only man she’d been with in well over six months at the time. She’d been too snowed under in assignments and study and general anxiety to even think about dating.
She saw a combination of emotions flitter across his face; suspicion, disbelief and, worst of all, hurt before her own emotions fought their way through to the surface. ‘I’m telling the truth, Ewan. There were no other men in my life at the time. You are the only possible person.’
‘You were pretty drunk that night.’
His accusation stung. ‘I wasn’t drunk enough to have forgotten having sex with someone, clearly,’ she added.
‘I don’t know why that result came back like that, but you believe whatever you want to believe.
I told you in the beginning that I don’t need you to be part of our lives, and I sure as hell don’t want someone who thinks it’s okay to sneak around behind my back and do some dodgy home DNA test,’ she said scathingly, nodding at the phone in his hands.
‘I didn’t have anything to do with this,’ he said, and she saw his jaw clench tightly.
‘Right. Somehow, your DNA was collected without your knowledge,’ she scoffed.
‘Where did you even get this?’
‘It was on your father’s desk in his office. I found it by mistake.’
He handed her back the phone before heading out of the room. ‘I’m going to find out what the hell’s going on,’ he muttered.