Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
What. The. Fuck.”
“I know,” Lilly whispered, burying her face in her hands.
“You told me you didn’t know who the father was!”
“I did.”
“And…Austin Fox? Hockey god Austin Fox?”
“Lower your voice, Daisy!” Lilly glanced warily around the terrace of the Sunny Umbrella, the restaurant-bar a few doors down from her workshop. Thankfully, the lunch rush was over and the place was empty.
“How did you even meet him?” Daisy hissed. “And when? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Does it matter how I ended up in bed with him?” she asked, pained. “It happened, Del exists, and…and I’m sorry I lied to you.” She rubbed her eyes. “But you would have gone to Austin’s house and beaten him up, then made me sue him for the alimony of the century.”
Daisy grimaced. “I can still do that, you know? I’m good at beating up big, strong men. Don’t you watch the news? And shit, he seriously yelled at you?”
“Yep.” She popped a French fry into her mouth, but it tasted like cardboard. A minor side effect of Austin’s outburst.
“I can’t believe Delfina went to the rink alone,” Daisy muttered, shaking her head. “Your kid is impressive.”
Yep, she was. As soon as Austin left, Lilly called the school to make sure Del was okay, not wandering around L.A. alone. Her teacher at least confirmed that she’d arrived safely at the class field trip destination: the ice rink right next to the Hawks’ arena.
That was why Del had wanted to wear her lucky pants this morning.
That was why she’d forgotten the destination of the field trip.
She’d planned it all. Lilly couldn’t help but admire Del a little for her guts, while simultaneously glancing at her watch to make sure she was home in time when she returned from school.
“So, what did Fox want from you?”
“To know if she’s really his daughter.”
Daisy squinted against the sun. “Didn’t you say earlier that you told him ten years ago?”
“Yes!” She shifted in her chair. “But he claims he didn’t know anything about her,” she whispered. For some reason, her eyes began to sting. If that was true…
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know, I…” She narrowed her eyes, thinking about the hatred in his gaze.
The rage that had seeped from every pore.
His words, how he had made it clear that he would become a part of Delfina’s life…
“Shit, I think he was telling the truth. I don’t believe he knew, Daisy,” she whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek. “But I don’t understand. I…I told him.”
“And he forgot?”
“Well, I sent him a letter.”
Her friend opened her mouth and stared at her, tucking her black hair behind her ears. “You sent him a letter? Were smoke signals too old-fashioned and unreliable for you or what?”
“There were two letters! And emails. Three of them. I sent another email with a photo after Del was born and I received a delivery confirmation, okay? He received them, but ignored them. He… Shit, what if he didn’t get them?
” She squeezed her eyes shut, a wave of nausea washing over her.
Yes, she’d been angry at Austin after their one-night stand — but never so angry as to deny him the chance to meet his daughter.
“Hey,” Daisy said warmly, putting an arm around her shoulders. “Everything will be okay.”
She sank into her best friend’s hug, but it wasn’t nearly as comforting as usual, even though she knew how special it was!
Daisy didn’t like hugging people. Lilly had met her in the fifth grade; Daisy had just lost her mother back then and had looked like she could use a friend.
So Daisy had sat next to her, offered her favorite glitter pen, and the rest was history.
But Lilly knew that she, Delfina, and now Daisy’s boyfriend, Alec, were the only people with whom Daisy had no difficulty allowing closeness, which was why her hug meant even more to her…
though, unfortunately, it still didn’t help.
I don’t want to talk to you. Right now, I just want to destroy you.
“I don’t believe it.” She laughed, her voice trembling. “God…he hates me!”
What a strange thought. For the past ten years, she’d assumed she hated him, while he was in fact completely indifferent to her. But that was definitely no longer the case.
“Well, he believes you kept his child from him,” Daisy said apologetically. “I’d think that it…um…would upset me a little too?”
“Well, I did, didn’t I?” she said, pressing her fists over her eyes. “If he really didn’t know, then…I have the last ten years of his life on my conscience!”
God, the whole situation was…awful. She felt miserable. She didn’t know how Del was doing. She was hated by the man that she actually hated. She hadn’t been able to work all day because she was so distraught. The store opening was looking less and less likely with every second.
“You didn’t want to keep Del a secret from him,” Daisy said softly.
“It won’t make any difference to him. Besides, he’s a damn millionaire, he said so himself. If he wants full custody, I don’t stand a chance. He…he…he could destroy me, Daisy! If he really wanted to, it wouldn’t be hard for him.”
She had spent all afternoon trying to suppress the latent panic his words had triggered, but she was about as successful at that as she was at forgetting Austin’s hateful glare.
“Slow down,” Daisy said firmly. “First, you don’t know what he’s going to do; maybe he just needs time to cool off.
Second, I’m a millionaire, too, and I’m on your side, so take a deep breath.
You’re not alone. Third, what do you want, Lilly?
If you had the choice…would you like to keep him out of Del’s life forever? ”
She swallowed. “No.” Out of her own? Certainly! But her daughter came first. “No, I want what’s best for Del. But I want us to take our time. To take it slow, to…”
She glanced at the screen when her phone vibrated…and froze. She had received a message from an unknown number. It was just one line, but she knew immediately who it was from.
Call me.
So either her father had accidentally deleted her number again, or Daisy was right and Austin had just needed some time to…cool down.
“Is that him?” Daisy asked, wide-eyed.
“That or his personal exorcist trying to banish me from his life. We’re about to find out,” she murmured with a sigh and dialed the number the message had come from. Lilly was too nervous to sit still, so she rose and paced as the phone rang and…
“That was quick,” a deep voice replied.
Her stomach clenched. God, that voice… “Where did you get my number?” she asked in greeting, because it wasn’t listed.
“I have ways and means. You really shouldn’t make an enemy of me,” he said dryly.
She pressed her lips together. “I don’t want to be your enemy, Austin.”
“It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wouldn’t let him provoke her.
Asshole!
“Why did you want me to call?”
Silence. Then: “You’re right, we should have talked earlier… I couldn’t think straight. The whole day was…surprising.” The last word was a growl that sent shivers down her spine because the last time that sound had come out of his throat…
She blinked and shook the – highly inappropriate! – thought out of her head. “You really didn’t know about her?” she asked, her throat dry.
“And you’re really going to keep lying?”
“I’m not lying,” she replied tonelessly. “But it doesn’t matter. It is what it is. So, you’re calling because…”
“I want to see her,” he interrupted.
“Okay.”
“You’re not saying no?” He sounded surprised.
“Of course not. I told you I would have come to you with her anyway. I won’t stand in your way if you want to be a part of her life.
” She cleared her throat. “But I want us to take it slow. She doesn’t know you.
She wants to get to know you, but she’s young and nervous and easily overwhelmed.
” Again, there was silence, and she thought she heard Austin grinding his teeth, but finally he said, “All right. What do you suggest?”
“Well, we could get together this weekend…”
“I won’t be here this weekend. I have a bunch of away games — and that’s too far off for me.”
“Fine,” she said, gritting her teeth. “What’s your counter-proposal?”
“We have our season opener here at the arena tomorrow. Come.”
She narrowed her eyes and retorted sharply, “You know what I’d say to Delfina right now? That wasn’t a sentence, honey, and could you please not speak to me in that commanding tone?”
“Well, after everything that’s happened, I’m a little speechless, honey,” he retorted aggressively. “Okay then, I would like you to come.”
“Please,” she replied tonelessly.
He ignored her. “Delfina can stop by the locker room an hour before the game…”
“You mean Delfina and I can stop by?” she corrected him immediately. “Though I don’t know if two dozen naked hockey players are the right company for my daughter.”
“She’s not your daughter. Besides, you’re not supposed to come into the locker room, you’re supposed to stop by,” he replied, annoyed. “The boys will behave themselves if I tell them to and I’ll be fully clothed.”
She almost let out a too bad just to provoke him, but stopped just in time. “All right,” she said curtly. “We can manage that.”
“Good. I’ll leave your names at the entrance so that security will let you through.”
“Okay, but are you sure an ice hockey game isn’t a bit too…” He hung up.
Lilly glared at her phone.
“Well?” Daisy asked innocently. “Good chat?”
“Yes,” she said bitterly. “We’re going to an ice hockey game tomorrow.”
Daisy’s eyebrows shot up. “We?”
“Yes! I’m not going alone. I need you to watch Delfina while I decide if I am going to take her down to the locker room that has dozens of naked, muscular, rude hockey players!”
Daisy’s lips twitched. “You do realize you’re describing the wet dream of half the women in L.A., right?”
Yep. Which was exactly why she was going to make sure, on her own, what exactly stop by the locker room meant.
When Lilly returned home two hours later and heard the doorbell ring, her palms were damp and her mouth was dry. Her mother had apparently just dropped Del off because her daughter was standing alone in the hallway.
Lilly scrutinized Delfina from head to toe, searching for any injuries — external or internal. She had no idea exactly how the encounter with her dad had gone and that made her nervous. If Austin had done or said anything…
“Hi, I’m back,” Del said meekly…looking so guilty it broke Lilly’s heart.
They had a rule that they were always honest with each other and Delfina knew how important that was to Lilly.
So it didn’t surprise her at all that her daughter looked like she’d been caught red-handed, even if she didn’t know that Lilly had already heard about the meeting with her dad.
“Hey,” she greeted her softly, took her backpack, kissed her on the top of her head. “How was your day, sweetheart?”
Del hesitated, glanced down at her hands, and then back at Lilly’s face. “I was at Mr. Fox’s,” she finally stated softly.
Relief washed over Lilly. Thank goodness she still felt uncomfortable with lies! That would probably pass once puberty hit, but until then, she would simply enjoy Del’s guilty conscience.
“Really?” she replied, forcing her voice to remain neutral. “Even though we agreed to visit him together?”
Delfina shrugged. “I wanted to see him so badly,” she whispered. “And you just kept making excuses, and… Are you angry?”
“Oh, honey. No, I’m not angry,” she said softly, crouching in front of her and peering straight into her eyes. “I just wish I could have been there for you.”
Del sniffed. “I know, but I didn’t want to wait any longer, and today we went to the ice rink that’s next to the training center.
Some boys in my class told me because they wanted to go watch after the field trip and…
I’m sorry, Mom.” She jumped into her arms and buried her face in the crook of her neck.
“I think he didn’t want me there! He kept staring at me with his mouth open and…
I think he doesn’t like me.” Her voice trembled, and Lilly pulled her close.
“That’s not true. He likes you,” she whispered. “He came by earlier and told me.” Kind of.
“Really?” Del sniffed.
“Yes! He was so happy to have seen you that he invited us to his hockey game, and we’ll be sitting in the front row.” At least, that was what the email said that she’d just received from a Lucy James. Where on earth had she gotten her email address?
“Really?” Delfina repeated, pulling away from the hug and looking at her wide-eyed. “Really, truly?”
She smiled, albeit a little uneasy. “Yes. He’d like to see you before the game, if that’s okay with you…”
“Yes, please!” She suddenly beamed.
Oh God, Del looked so happy…but if that bastard broke her heart, she’d break his damn neck!
“So, you want to go?”
Del nodded energetically. “So…you really think he likes me?” Uncertainly, she kneaded her lip between her fingers.
“I’m absolutely sure.” Someone who didn’t want anything to do with their daughter wouldn't have gotten in touch. “Uh, Del, can you promise me something?”
“What?”
“Don’t just go off on your own to some stadium to meet someone you don’t know.” She looked at her firmly. “I’m not angry, but…that wasn’t okay. You have to talk to me about stuff like that.”
She swallowed audibly and sank back into her arms. “Okay,” she whispered. “I just really wanted to see him.”
Yes. And Lilly hoped that Austin would treat her with more care than he did a puck...