Page 42 of Just Like That
It’s classic Kurt Russell. Watching it is practically a passage into manhood.
Just come over and help me. We’ll figure it out.
Royal
You got it, Daddy.
I slippedthe phone into my pocket and leaned back into the uncomfortable office chair. With my eyes closed and head tipped toward the ceiling, I pressed my thumbs into my eye sockets.
Roping them in is probably a huge mistake.
Stress was compounding, and the pressure in my head was like a kettle that was about to blow. I needed a break. A minute to breathe. A fuckingsecondwhere every decision didn’t completely upend a company or ruin a kid’s life.
My phone rang, and I stifled a groan before clearing my throat and answering. “What is it?”
Veda’s no-nonsense voice was on the other line. “Well, good morning to you too.”
I sighed. “Sorry.” Veda didn’t need apologies, but I still felt like less of a prick if I tried.
“Look, I know you have your paternity appointment today, and I wouldn’t bug you if it wasn’t important,” she said.
My head throbbed. “Go ahead.”
Straight to the point, she said, “We lost Data Collective.”
I sat up in my seat. “What the fuck.” An elderly lady next to me scowled, and I rested my elbows on my knees and lowered my voice. “What happened?”
“They said they aren’t comfortable moving forward with the deal. They cited concerns with the contract timeline, but my best guess is?—”
“They don’t want their company associated with King Equities while my father is on trial for first-degree murder?” I said.
“Bingo.”
It was really happening. King Equities was crumbling beneath me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to save it.
“All right. I’ll figure it out and be in as soon as I’m done here.” I ended the call without waiting for her response and set my jaw.
Moments later, the nurse came back with Teddy and Hazel behind him. I stood when he called my name next.
I brushed past Hazel and Teddy as I followed the nurse to the room.
The DNA test was a necessity. Something I could actually check off my to-do list without adding seventeen more items.
It was also the most practical way to get to the bottom of Olive’s claim that I was Teddy’s father. Despite my deep dive into old emails and text messages, I still came up short whenever I tried to find out more information regarding how—andwhen—I’d met Olive Adams. She had convinced both Hazel and Teddy that I was his father, but I still couldn’t find the evidence.
Still, I had to try. It was my job to take charge and get results. My entire life people looked to me for answers and expected me to step up, and I did it.
I simply could not find a plausible connection between Olive and me outside of that photograph. I had always been a realist—that was just how I was built.
Still, I couldn’t quite explain the dread that filled my gut as the nurse walked me toward the back.
How do I accept the truth—that I couldn’t possibly be Teddy’s father—when my feelings for him and the prospect of actually being his dad wouldn’t stop growing?
After leaving the testing center,I drove Hazel and Teddy back to the house. She informed me they’d be going to the beach and asked if I wanted to come.
There was a tiny spark of yearning—like a reclamation of a childhood I had missed out on.
I shook my head, knowing every minute I was away from the office, more shit was hitting the fan. “No, thanks. You two have fun.”