And now here we stand with Cat looking like she’s about ready to pass out and Allen looking like he’s going to vomit if someone doesn’t say something fast.
So I step into action, my hand gripping Cat at her waist. “Cat… baby… this is your dad, Allen Henning. Lots to explain, but first, he never knew of your existence until I showed up on his doorstep three days ago.”
Cat’s head tilts as she looks at him, almost as if she’s afraid to ask even the first question for fear of being crushed. So he decides to take matters into his own hand and simply pulls her into his arms for a hug.
She goes willingly, her arms wrapping around his waist and her cheek pressing into his wide chest. They sway back and forth, gripping each other tightly. Cat with her eyes closed but tears still dribbling out and flowing down her cheeks. Allen with this temple resting on top of her head, his eyes also closed, and the happiest, most peaceful and serene smile gracing his lips.
I could stand there all afternoon and watch Cat just hugging her father, but she’s the first to pull back. She looks up at her dad, who gently wipes her tears and then turns her gaze to meet mine. “How? How in the world did you find him?”
“I paid your mom a visit,” I say simply, but there’s no way in hell I’ll admit I paid the woman for the information unless Cat asks me point blank.
“She’d never give that information up,” Cat says as she narrows her eyes at me. “How much did you pay her?”
Well, fuck.
I duck my head, think about lying, and then finally look back at her with a grimace. “A lot, and it was worth every penny. Let’s leave it at that.”
She nods, but I know she’s not letting it go. She’s merely deferring the discussion until she can get me alone, not wanting any unpleasantness to ruin this moment. I take the opportunity to fill her in as succinctly as I can, figuring Allen can do the rest.
“Your mom told me that she dated Allen briefly in 1990 while she lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina with a friend,” I begin.
Cat’s eyebrows jump upward. “She lived in North Carolina?”
I nod. “Briefly. Dated Allen and got pregnant. Left and went back to Vegas without telling him.”
Cat’s gaze swings back to her father’s. “You never knew about me?”
“Never,” he says fiercely. “And if I did, I would have never let you go. Never.”
Fuck… okay, that’s getting to me.
Getting to me even more to see Cat’s eyes fill up with bright, shining tears of joy. Time to lighten the mood just a bit.
“So, okay… how about you two move the party inside and get to know each other?” I say, taking Cat’s arm and turning her toward the door. I clap Allen on the shoulder and pull him along.
Cat opens the front door, steps into the foyer, and turns to welcome us both in. Allen crosses the threshold as she smiles at him with absolute eternal hope on her face. Her eyes slide to me and she motions with her hand to invite me in.
I shake my head. “Uh-uh. You two need alone time. You have lots to talk about.”
She cocks her head at me, but I don’t stick around. I nod at Cat’s father with a smile before turning to jog down the porch steps. Allen and Cat have a lot of catching up to do. I’ve come to learn a lot about this man and his family the last two days, and Cat needs to hear it all from him as well. She also needs to decide how much of her past she wants to share with him, and that’s a private matter that I don’t need to impede on.
As I reach the rental car—my mind suddenly trying to figure out if I should fly to Vegas tomorrow to get my Suburban, which means I’d incur the wrath of Pish if I don’t get my ass back to work—I hear Cat call out, “Hey… Rand… wait up?”
I turn to see her coming down the porch steps, her dad standing in the doorway with his hands tucked in his pockets, watching us carefully. I didn’t hold anything back from Allen. He knows I love the hell out of Cat.
“What’s up?” I say casually, not really knowing where Cat’s head is at. Bridger told me she left my apartment and moved back in the house. He told me all about Cat quitting her job with Callie and the police suspecting Kevin but not able to do a damn thing until they find the attacker.
Cat comes to a stop a few feet from me, looking uncertain. I hate that. I want her to feel free to jump in my arms, but she’s just been given a shock, and things between us are unstable at best. So I give her a friendly smile to encourage her to speak.
“Looks like there wasn’t a will that cut me out,” she tells me as she sticks her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and rocks on her feet nervously. “Richard called me… told me to move back in here and that Kevin was going back to Vegas.”
My gaze flicks to the large house and then back to her. “I get it… who wouldn’t want to live in that?”