Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (6 page)

* * *

Reese pushed away her half-empty plate. “I’m done
now,” she said, staring at her mother, who sat across from her at the dinner table. “Are you going to tell me what’s
wrong?”

“You didn’t finish your meatloaf,” Gail said.

“Mom?”

“Why does something have to be wrong for a mother
to make a nice meal for her one and only child?”

“Because I know you didn’t cook my favorite foods
and buy a chocolate chip cheesecake, my favorite dessert,
j
ust to do something nice for me. You do nice things for
me all the time, but this feels different.”

Gail nodded. “You’re right. I want us to talk tonight.”

“We always talk.”

“Not about this.” Gail drank some lemonade. “You used to always ask about your father.”

“Yeah, and you never said much. More like nothing.
Which is why I stopped asking.”

“That’s going to change. I want to tell you about
him.”

“Why?” Reese asked, her mother’s desire to discuss
her father worrying her all the more. Horrible thoughts
filled her head. Was her mom sick? Reese tugged at a curly lock. “Why talk about him now?”

“He’s your father.”

“He’s been that for sixteen years, but it never war
ranted discussion from you.”

“Things have changed. You remind me a lot of him.”

“Is that why you didn’t like to talk about him?
Because you saw him when you looked at me?”

“No, I kept quiet because I was selfish. I wanted to be
your only parent, so I robbed you of knowledge of your
father and the opportunity to know him, and I’m sorry.”

“I always wanted to know him, but I don’t feel like I
missed out on anything. You were everything I needed,
Mom.”

“I did the best I could, but I was still wrong. I want to tell you about him now.”

“We don’t have to do this.” Reese motioned her head
toward the kitchen. “I’ll get the cheesecake.”

G
ail grabbed Reese’s hand. “We should finish talking
first,” she said. “You’re old enough to know the truth.”

“What truth? Some things are obvious. He was a
white guy. You told him you were pregnant and he
ditched you. Is that it?”

“No, that is not it, and I don’t like your tone.” Gail
released Reese’s hand and took another swallow of her
lemonade. “I don’t want you to have animosity toward
him. He did nothing wrong. If you want to be angry at
someone, be angry at me.”

“I don’t want to be angry with you. I don’t want to
talk about this. Why are we talking about this now?”

“Because it’s necessary.”

“Why? Is something wrong? Is he trying to take cus
tody of me or something?”

“No, he’s not trying to do that, but since you men
tioned custody, you should know we have made contact,
and I want you to spend some time with him.”

Reese gasped. “Whose idea was that?”

“Mine.”

Unease settled in Reese’s stomach, killing her
appetite. Something had to be wrong with her mother.
She couldn’t listen to any more of this conversation.
“May I be excused?”

“No. We’re not done.”

“I am.”

“Baby, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,
and it’s time you get to know your father. You’re getting
older, and you need to have a strong male figure in your
life.”

“Hello. Ben?”

“Ben is wonderful, but he’s not your father.”

“My father hasn’t been my father. He’s never been in
my life. How can he be a strong male figure?”

“His not being in your life isn’t his fault, Reese, it’s mine. I never told him about you.”

Like some errant arrow, the words went through
Reese’s ears and straight to her heart, stinging her soul
with disbelief and hurt.
‘I never told him about you.’
Did her mother really say that? “Why not?” she asked.

“Because getting pregnant was my idea. I wanted it to
be you and me.”

“And now you want it to be you, me, and him.”

“No, I want it to be you and him. I want you to know
your father, Reese. I think it’s time you met him.”

Norris slid off the couch and onto the floor, clutching
a throw pillow to his chest. He loved the comfort of
Dahlia’s place. It wasn’t overloaded with furniture and a
lot of stuff; it was homey and wide-open, an interesting
contrast to the Italian leather furniture and African art
that made his condo look more like a spread from an
interior-decorating magazine than a bachelor pad. But he
loved his place. It suited him. Like Dahlia’s place suited
her. Different personalities converging. Much like they did that first night.

Dahlia joined him on the floor. “What are you
thinking?”

“At this very moment? My first time here.” He smiled
brightly with the memory of their bodies twined together
on the cool surface of her hardwood floor. “Wasn’t
exactly conventional, huh?”

She chuckled. “No, it wasn’t. I usually don’t bring
home men I meet while renting a movie, but learning we
knew some of the same people and the fact you were
renting
Shrek
had me convinced you weren’t a madman.”

“Just one with questionable taste in movies.”

“You’re in touch with your fun side, there’s nothing
wrong with that. It will only help in getting to know your
daughter.”

“My daughter.”

“I’m sure she’ll warm up to you just like that.” Dahlia
snapped her fingers.

“I wonder. I’m telling you, my parents are something
else. You never wondered how Ryan and I became
friends?”

“Lara said you guys met in second grade.
Schoolmates.”

“Yes, we were, but I’m heir to a multi-million dollar fortune and I grew up in Wisconsin. That doesn’t seem
strange to you?”

“Now that I think about it . . . How did that
happen?”

“My folks. My father, Harold, grew up in Wisconsin
and believed in hard work and doing it yourself. My
mother, on the other hand, was from an old Greek family
as wealthy as my dad’s was poor. They met in New York,
where Dad was trying to make his mark in the financial
world. After meeting the daughter of Constantine
Katsoros, he didn’t have to worry about doing it himself.
He let mom’s unlimited money do it for him.”

“If they met in New York, how did you end up in
Wisconsin? You spent some time in Greece, too, right?”
“Yeah. Dad loved Mom’s money, but he didn’t want
to raise children who didn’t value a dollar. We lived in
Greece until I was seven, at which time they decided it
best that a caring staff in Wisconsin raise my brother,
sister, and me. You know, be around regular people and
establish ourselves without the aid of the Katsoros mil
lions. We didn’t want for anything material, and we took
s
ome nice trips during the summer, but Wisconsin
became home. We attended public school and grew up
like,” he made quotes with his fingers, “ ‘regular’ kids.”

“And what were your parents doing while the caring
staff took care of you and your siblings?”

“Genevieve and Harold? What else? Traveling the
world, spending money, and partying with the crème de la
crème of society. Julia, Lane, and I got to see them for a
couple of hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, but
that was about it. Now, every other year at Thanksgiving,
my parents alternate spending the holiday with each of us.
Won’t be my turn again for a couple more years.”

Dahlia shook her head, sighing. Norris could tell
what she was thinking without her saying a word. The
sad pity in her eyes said a mouthful.

“You can say it,” he said.

“I don’t know what I want to say.”

“I do. Poor little rich boy, grew up with so much but
had so little. You’re right. The strange part is that to this
day I crave my parents’ approval. Lane’s the oldest, and Julia’s the youngest and the only girl, not that the distinc
tion helps them, but I’m just an extra. I want to make
them proud. I want them to be happy for me and in the choices I make. I wonder if I can ever make that happen.”

Dahlia grunted. “Why would you want to?” she
mumbled.

“I heard that, you know.”

“Good. You mentioned their reaction to meeting
Lara, and she was your best friend’s girlfriend. How do you think they’ll react to your daughter?”

“
I don’t know. I hope fine. She’s my daughter.”

“You think that’ll make a difference?”

“I don’t want to believe my parents are racist.”

“They don’t have to be racist to have a problem with
you presenting them with a biracial grandchild. Reese
isn’t a baby, and she’s going to feel that tension.”

“I think it will be different this time.”

“But you don’t know. Because of my weight, I’ve been
the person who stuck out in a crowd. It’s even more
painful when a family member puts emphasis on your
difference, and it’s not a good feeling, Norris. I’ve lost the
weight, but I’ll always be that fat kid. That pain never really goes away. You don’t want to subject Reese to
unnecessary scrutiny from her own family.”

Norris brushed his finger against Dahlia’s cheek. She had talked about being overweight, but he could never
equate it to the curvaceous stunner before him. Now, it was becoming real. As real as the feeling he’d developed
for her.

“I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through, Dahlia. I
think you’re beautiful, and I would think so even with
the weight.”

“Really?” She opened the end table drawer and pulled
out a photo. “What do you think?” She handed him the
snapshot.

Norris studied the picture of full-figured Dahlia,
finding the same smile and bright eyes that drew him in
from the moment they met. He smiled. “I think St.
Thomas was good for you. You’ve gone through quite a
d
ramatic physical transformation, but you’re just as beau
tiful in this photo as you are now.”

“Come on. You wouldn’t have noticed that Dahlia.”

“You’re wrong.” Norris glanced from the photo to
Dahlia. “You’re more than just a body to me.”

Their eyes met and held for a long moment, the quiet saying more than any words ever could. Remaining a step
ahead of commitment and relationship as they nipped at
his heels had been hard, but Norris had grown tired, and
hoped and prayed that when his legs gave out Dahlia would be there to catch him. Worry that she wouldn’t
have kept him running, but at moments like this he
couldn’t help but think . . . He leaned in for a kiss.

“What are you going to do about your daughter?”

Norris blinked. “What?”

“I asked what you’re going to do about your
daughter,” Dahlia said, returning the photo to the drawer
and settling into the nearest corner of the couch. “How do you plan to deal with your parents?”

“I don’t know. I love them because they’re my parents,
but I’ve learned to live without them. Servants raised me.
That’s what makes it hard to know what to do about
Reese. I want to know her, but I don’t know how to be a
father when mine was always more a visitor in my life. I
don’t want to fail her.”