Page 65 of Needing Daddy
“Then what?” He sounded brusque.
The effort of bottling her emotions since first seeing him caused her to tremble. Honey whined and trotted over to her, nudging her with her golden head. Not daring to speak, she petted the dog to reassure her.
“Penny?” His tone, low and concerned, was her undoing. The tears she’d valiantly held in check since he’d arrived spilled down her cheeks. “Go, please j-just leave.” She covered her face. Humiliation at breaking down in front of him swamped her.Why had he come?He should have left her alone.
His scent blocked out the floral smell of the bouquet. He was close. She felt herself wrapped in strong arms and held tenderly in David’s embrace. His action only served to open the floodgates. Screwing her eyes tight shut, she sobbed messily against his shirt front. Saying nothing, he held her until the storm broke. Then she felt him reach inside his pocket and opened her swollen eyes.
He’d withdrawn a hanky. Gently tilting her chin, he mopped her tear-streaked face. His startlingly blue eyes held her gaze. “I didn’t come here to hurt you. I’ve missed you. I can’t move on. I haven’t dated another woman since you. I think we need to work on closure together or...”
Her breath hitched. “Or?”
Instead of answering he leaned in, his mouth slanted over hers. It felt so right. The taste of him; the length of his hard body pressed up against hers. His tongue tangoing with hers in a familiar duel, she lost herself in the kiss. Fire ignited in her core, reacting to him as it always did, with liquid heat gathering at the apex of her thighs. She shouldn’t allow this,she couldn’t allow this, yet her compulsion to be his overrode all logic.
He finally broke the kiss. “Show me what Jack was talking about, and then we can have that talk.”
She watched him study each photograph in turn. “I’m no expert but I’m fairly certain these pictures aren’t Photoshopped. For a start the clothes I’m wearing were never mine, nor is this watch. Who’s this?” He held out the photo of a tall slim young woman standing with an arm draped about Allie.
“Clare, she’s Allie’s partner in the world I left behind. Allie is a lesbian there.”
“...and this man?” He showed her the picture of an older man.
“My father,” she whispered sadly.
“He’s alive in your dimension, but not in this one?”
She nodded, her eyes filmed over with tears.
“I’m sorry.” He continued to browse the handful of snaps in his hand. She could see his mind working.
“If what you say is true then I guess you’ve been to hell and back. Logic argues that this is all hogwash and yet I can see that you believe it to be true, and honestly, who am I to judge?”
“There are my insurance papers and some printed emails too,” she pointed out defensively.
Lips pressed into a hard line, she watched as he concentrated, reading through her health insurance and the messages that she and her husband David had exchanged while she was in America. His forehead furrowed. “If Jack and your sister are convinced of the validity of this alternate world, then I guess I accept it too.” He set the documents aside.
“How noble of you,” she said sarcastically.
He shrugged. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Penny. That’s kind of irrelevant to me right now. What matters at this point is where we go from here.”
“I see.” She agreed; he did have a point.
“Why don’t I make us a cup of tea and we sit down and have an honest discussion.”
“Honest?” She bristled.
“I don’t mean the lies you told me about the fictitious Mike, or even these,” he waved the hand holding the photos. “I mean we need to be honest about our feelings.”
“I’ll make the tea. It’s my house,” she interrupted belligerently.
He nodded in agreement. “Okay.”
Back in the kitchen, she watched him while she made their tea. He leaned against the counter and scrolled down his phone.
“Listen to this,” he said. “The number of parallel dimensions and parallel timelines are infinite and each contains a version of you. This version of you is anywhere from slightly different than you in this timeline, (you could be wearing different shoes), to vastly different (you could be the president). On other timelines you’ve made different choices that have led to different outcomes. Your choices and outcomes are also infinite. Also, all versions of you are in the ‘now,’ because the present is the only time that exists in all of your timelines. That was written by Professor Stephen Hawking.”
“I googled something similar when I first arrived here,” she told him.
He winked. “Great minds and all that... You’ve done so very well over the past year, you should be proud of yourself, Penny. Winning that prestigious award, buying a new house, and raising a puppy,” he enthused.