Page 69 of His Long-Lost Baby
My chest tightens. Is there anything else in Quinn’s genetics the doctors should know about?
I hate thinking about her going through asthma — going through anything — without me.
I’ve never even seen a photo of Quinn, and yet I can’t stop thinking about her.
Has she ever wondered about me?
Carlos takes a deep breath, contemplating what I’ve told him. “That’s a lot to take in, man.”
I nod. “I know.”
“But you have a daughter now,” he says, clapping me on the back. “That’s amazing.”
I can’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. “Yeah, it is.”
Silence falls between us, broken only by the sound of crickets chirping in the distance. The wind rustles through the trees, and I realize for the first time how peaceful it is out here.
This house is great, with a massive yard and big trees that are perfect for climbing. A kid would love this place.
“So.” Carlos studies me. “Billie adopted Quinn… so who is Quinn’s birth mom?”
I stare at the bottle in my hand. “Sara Ford. We went out a bit. Apparently she died about six and a half years ago.”
I’d looked Sara up before even getting back on the plane to Olympus City. There wasn’t much other than a defunct social media page and an obituary.
“I just don’t get it.” I rub my eyes. “Sara kept Quinn from me. Then Billie kept Quinn from me. Why?”
There’s a long silence.
“I have an answer,” Carlos says, “but I’m not sure you’ll like it.”
“Nothing could possibly hurt worse than this last week.” I give him a blank stare.
“For a woman to choose to have a kid on her own, with all the struggle that comes with,” Carlos says, “she must have really not wanted you involved. So the question is, what did you do wrong?”
The words hit me hard, and for a moment, I’m not sure how to respond. What did I do wrong? The question echoes in my mind, and I feel a sudden surge of anger.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I growl, fixing Carlos with a hard stare. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Sara made the decision to keep Quinn from me, and Billie just went along with it. What could I possibly have done to deserve that?”
Carlos raises his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I’m just saying… it’s something to think about. Maybe there’s more to this than you realize.”
I take another swig of bourbon, trying to calm myself down. Carlos is my friend, but he doesn’t know the whole story. He doesn’t know what Sara was like, how she stopped returning my calls after a few dates. How she made it clear that she didn’t need me in her life.
But as I sit there in silence, staring into the darkness, I can’t help but wonder if Carlos is right. Was there something I could have done differently? Something that would have made Sara want me in her life?
Or something that I did wrong?
Carlos is right. Why would Sara choose to be a single mother? She would have only gone down that path if she felt it was the only way.
And she felt it was the only way because she didn’t want me anywhere near her or Quinn.
It hits me like a pile of bricks. “God. I’m a terrible person.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, man. My kids love you. You’re—”
I shake my head. “I was terrible to Sara. Of course she didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Of course she didn’t want me to know about Quinn.”
I look Carlos in the eye. It’s all coming back now. “The third night we went out, I was texting another woman during dinner, right in front of Sara. She saw it, and I tried to play it off like it was nothing. I didn’t even apologize. And then when someone who knew us both asked about her I said…”