Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber [Macomber, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780553391145
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2014-08-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“This is … my father,” Ellie repeated, when she found she could speak again.

The man standing in front of her looked as awkward and uncomfortable as she felt. Frowning, she turned to Tom, waiting for him to explain. None of this made sense. He’d mentioned a surprise for her, but surely this couldn’t be it.

“Hello, Ellie,” the other man said.

She didn’t return the greeting. Instead, her gaze held Tom’s, and when she spoke, it was to him. “I don’t understand.”

“I know this is something of a shock …”

“Something?” she repeated, incredulously.

“Give me a chance to explain.”

“Please do.”

Tom gestured toward a picnic table, silently suggesting they all sit down as if this was a big family reunion and everyone should be hugging and greeting one another.

Ellie shook her head. “No … no …” This wasn’t a family outing where she’d whip out a tablecloth and set down a few plates while he cooked hot dogs on the barbecue.

“After your mother and I divorced, I married Tom’s mother,” the man who claimed to be her father said.

Ellie stretched out her arm as though to ward him off. “I asked Tom. He should be the one to tell me what this is about.”

“I … wanted to find you for my dad,” Tom said.

“Find me?” she repeated. “Find me?” All at once everything started stacking up in her mind in neat, orderly columns. The book-club friend request on the social-media platform, the skillful strategy as he introduced himself and kept the communication open, carefully wooing her. Bit by bit, day by day, a little at a time gaining her confidence. Their meeting hadn’t been accidental or a quirk of fate but carefully orchestrated. He’d sought her out, discovered her interests, and then manipulated their meeting.

Ellie backed up two steps. “You planned this from the start … you hid who you are and used me. Was he in on this as well?” she demanded, nodding toward her father.

“This is as much a surprise to me as it is to you,” Scott Reynolds murmured. “I didn’t know anything about it until just recently … this morning, in fact.”

No wonder he looked so ill at ease and uncomfortable.

In other words, her father had never had any intention of contacting her. Meeting her wasn’t his doing, his wish. He’d walked out on her and her mother and found a new family, a new life. Countless times Tom had talked about his stepfather, whom he always referred to as Dad. Dad this. Dad that.

Her father. Tom had been raised by her father. Tom had no real feelings for her. He didn’t love her. It was her father he cared for so deeply.

“It’s only right that you know the man responsible for your life,” Tom said. “You told me so yourself. Please, Ellie, give me a chance to explain.”

Tom had taken the confidences she’d shared with him and used them against her. “Let you explain?” she repeated, her mind whirling like the blades of a helicopter, only she wasn’t being lifted off the ground and taken away.

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