One Bridge Too Far by Mark Stone

Author:Mark Stone [Stone, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2024-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

Ilooked at the pair with wide, near horrified eyes. My daughter was here, standing next to a man who, not that long ago, I had slammed into a glass coffee table. He was part of this. He was in the dead center of all of this nonsense. He stood for everything that Kyle just warned me about allowing to infect my life. And now he was standing next to my daughter, next to the most important person in the world to me.

That meant one of two things was going on here. Either my daughter had been lying to me about what Taylor (or Tex) did for a living, or he had been lying to her. Either way, this was a situation that I couldn’t abide. I just needed to make sure I directed my ire in the right place. To do that, I decided to take the most cautious path.

“You okay, Dad?” Sarah Jane asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost?” She moved closer to me, putting her hand on my arm. “Is it about the shelter? I know that must have had you shaken up.”

“I’m fine. Really, I am,” I said, though the words came out stilted. Clearing my throat, I looked down at my daughter. The look on her face, a face I’d adored since the instant this girl came into the world, told me all I needed to know about whether or not she was in on this. She didn’t know anything, which meant this bastard was lying to her. “This is just a big moment. It’s not everyday that a man meets the father of his first grandchild. I just want to take it in. That’s all.”

“That’s-that’s surprisingly sweet of you, Dad,” Sarah Jane said, looking from me to Taylor and back again.

“You know me. I’m a giant teddy bear,” I said. “Actually, why don’t Ta-Tex and I head out into the backyard. I want to have a conversation with him. You know, guy stuff.”

Sarah Jane smiled, and then looked at me with a touch of seriousness. “Go easy on him, Dad. He means the world to me.”

“I’m sure he does,” I said, staring daggers into the man’s eyes. “And since you mean the world to me, Sweetheart, I promise you he’ll survive the conversation.” I didn’t add the fact that it was very likely the only reason he would survive this. “Come on, Tex. Let’s talk.”

I slung my arm around the man as we walked through the kitchen and toward the back door. I squeezed his shoulder hard and ground my teeth together.

“Listen, I-”

“Not until we get outside,” I whispered through a clenched jaw. He did as I suggested, and I pushed the back door open. “You first.” I motioned to the back steps which would deposit us onto the beach, which was a pretty amazing substitute for a standard backyard. It was the weekend. So, even though the sun was about to set, the beach was still pretty crowded. That was good.

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