Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“You mean he wasn’t a redhead?” Leif asks.
“Heavens, no.”
“Then where exactly did Kelly get the red hair?”
“Goodness, I’m not a geneticist,” Racine says.
“Whoever contacted you was not my father,” I say.
“Well of course he is,” Racine says. “Like I said, I remember his eyes. And he had answers to questions only he would know.”
“Then where did my red hair come from?” I asked. “Because we all know that yours is not red.”
“Like I said, I’m not a geneticist.”
Leif pulls his phone out, start tapping on it. “This is interesting.”
“What is?” I ask.
“Apparently two parents who do not have red hair can have a redhaired child, if they both carry the redhaired gene.”
“See? There. You see I’m not lying.” Racine smiles.
“So what?” I say. “So maybe it was my father. Who cares?”
“The good news, darling, is that he’s rich.”
“So are you, apparently” I say dryly. “Not that you ever offered me a cent of your money.”
“Darling, I never knew where you were. And then, when I found you, you refused to see me.”
I roll my eyes, shaking my head.
“But your father has more money than I could ever dream of having on my own. Not just millions. Billions.”
“Somehow I just can’t believe you,” I say.
“What’s his name, Ms. Taylor?” Reid asks. “We need his name.”
“Well, I didn’t even know until now. But his name is Smith. Forrester Smith.”
24
LEIF
Kelly goes rigid.
“Baby,” I whisper to her, “it’s not the same guy.”
“She said dark eyes,” she says.
I push my chair back. “Rock, Reid, you know all the billionaires. Have you ever heard of Forrester Smith?”
“Can’t say that I have.” Reid says.
“Me neither,” Rock says gruffly.
“All I can tell you is what he told me,” Racine says. “It’s not like I asked to see his asset statements.”
“We’ll check him out, Ms. Taylor,” Reid says.
“Thank you. Thank you very much.” She leans toward Kelly. “In the meantime, he’d like to see you, Kelly.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I say. “Something doesn’t gel here. This guy just happens to come to you after all these years? Doesn’t that seem a little too convenient?”
“I agree,” Rock says.
“He reached out to me,” Racine says. “That’s all I can tell you. I didn’t believe him at first either. When I met up with him, I recognized his eyes, and like I said, he had answers to questions only he could know.”
“When exactly did he reach out to you?” Reid asks.
“During my stay here in New York, actually. He left a message for me at my hotel, and we met up in the bar for a drink. I was as astonished as the rest of you are, I assure you. Like I said, I never knew his name.”
“Why would he even think to reach out to you?” I ask. “Did he know your name? Did he somehow know he had fathered a child?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Racine says.
“You mean you didn’t ask him?” I ask.
“Of course she didn’t ask him,” Kelly says. “As soon as she heard about the billions of dollars, she didn’t really care about the details.”
Racine blushes a little. “Kelly, of course not.”
“Yeah? Then why didn’t you ask him? Why didn’t you ask him how he knew he had fathered a child?”
“Well, perhaps he didn’t know. He didn’t bring it up. I did.”
“And all of a sudden,” I say, “this billionaire comes out of the woodwork, this billionaire you had a one-night stand with nearly thirty years ago, and you just buy it all?”
“I’m sorry,” Racine says, “but I don’t see what the big issue is here. This man is offering Kelly and me his fortune. We’d be stupid not to take it.”
“Wait a minute…” I narrow my eyes at her. “He wants to give it to both of you, doesn’t he? And he won’t give it to you without Kelly.”
She reddens further. “My goodness, do you think I’d really use my own daughter that way?”
What happens next surprises the hell out of me.
Kelly erupts into laughter. Maniacal laughter almost.
When she finally gets ahold of herself, she says, “Wow. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. Maybe ever. Thank you for that, Mom. I didn’t think there’d ever be anything in the world that I would want to thank you for, but that? It felt good.”
Racine rises. “Well, if you don’t want the money, Kelly, I suppose I should leave.”
“Do you have contact information for this man?” Reid asks.
“I do.” Racine opens her purse, takes out a business card, and hands it to Reid. “He can be reached here.”
Reid raises an eyebrow. “Uh…Ms. Taylor?”
“Yes?”
“You do realize this card says that he’s a Starbucks barista?”
“Of course I realize that.” Racine looks at her manicured fingernails. “You don’t think a billionaire can just go handing out business cards, do you?”
Reid reaches into his pocket, pulls out his wallet, extracts a card. “Here’s mine.” He hands it to her.