Kara took Zoey from me and began walking toward the house but stopped when Kate declared what would only be obvious to her and I.
“She looks just like my sister.” She stepped toward Kara and Zoey but I took her arm before she could reach them. When she stumbled into me, I smelled the alcohol on her breath. “Don’t you see?”
“You’ve been drinking.” I nodded toward Alec. “Can you take her home?”
“Wait!” Kate tugged out of my hold. “You said I could meet her.”
“Stop it.” I gritted my teeth. “You need to leave.”
“X?” The confusion was evident in Kara’s expression. “Why don’t you come inside with us? Let Alec take care of Kate.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Didn’t he tell you who I am?” Kate yelled. “I just want to see her.” She frantically looked at me. "You promised I could see her.”
“Alec, take her home.” My priority was Kara. What was she thinking?
“Oh, you snake.” Kate shook her head. “She doesn’t know who you are.”
“That’s enough.” I took her by the arm and led her to my car as Kara took Zoey into the house. “Alec will take you home now. I’ll speak with you when you’re sober.” I feared the damage had already been done. Isn’t this exactly what I deserved?
“Why didn’t you tell her?” She held onto me as we walked to the car. “Why?”
“I have my reasons.”
“What reasons could you possibly have for lying to them?”
“That’s not your concern.” I opened the car door. “Don’t come back here.”
“Do you know how disappointed Lanie would be in you?”
“Don’t you dare tell me how disappointed she would be in me. What about her? She kept my child from me. I didn’t have a say in Zoey’s fate. I’m her father. I had a right to know.”
“Lanie knew you wouldn’t be happy about the situation. Your work would always come first. It always did and it always will. That’s why she did what she did. You left her no choice. I didn’t see it then but now I get it.”
“Go home.” I took a breath, trying to ignore what she had said. Lanie may have thought I wouldn’t have been pleased about her pregnancy but I would have embraced my child. “I’ll deal with you later.”
“It looks like you’ll have a lot more to deal with when you go into your house. How are you going to explain your lies?” She grinned. “If I were Kara, I’d take Zoey and run. That’s exactly what you deserve. You’ve been deceiving her all this time. Using her to get close to Zoey.”
“No.”
“They said you’re ruthless. A real bastard but I had no idea how far you could go to get what you want. I hope it was worth it.”
I slammed the car door and watched as they drove away. Standing in the snow, I assessed my options. There weren’t many. How the hell was I going to fix this?
When I walked into the house, Kara was waiting in the foyer for me. There was an air of confusion and anxiety about her. She didn’t say anything. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Where’s Zoey?” I hung my jacket in the hall closet.
“She’s sound asleep.” She moved toward me. “I put her in the guest room.”
“Good.” I took her hand and led her to the family room, noting she was trembling. “Would you like a drink? I could use one.”
“What happened out there?”
“Kate can be difficult. She doesn’t know when to back off.”
“What does she have to back off from?”
“I’m going to pour that drink.” I headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll get you one too.”
“What did she mean when she said you didn’t tell me who she was? I know she’s Lanie’s sister. Why would she say that?”
“She’s been drinking. She shouldn’t have driven here. Alec will get her home.” I opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. “She’s always been reckless. When she’s in one of her moods she can be crazy.”
She reluctantly took the glass I handed her but the atmosphere between us wasn’t the same as when she had agreed to spend the night with me. There was mistrust in her expression. She was right to feel that way.
“Should I get dinner ready?”
“What did Kate mean when she said I didn’t know who you were?”
“Kara, some things are better left unknown.” I closed my eyes, knowing what I had to do. “Kate is a meddler.”
“Why would she say Zoey looked like Lanie? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s an odd thing to say.”
I sipped my wine, craving something stronger to get through this conversation.
“Tell me what she meant.” She placed her glass on the kitchen table. “What does Lanie have to do with you and me? Why would Kate want to see Zoey? She said you promised she could see her. Why would you do that? None of this feels right.”
God, isn’t it obvious?
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“A lot.” I sighed. “And for that, I’m truly sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“I never meant for things to get this far.” I stepped forward, taking her hand. Her flesh was cold to the touch. “You have to believe me.”
“X, I want to believe you but whatever it is, you have to be honest with me. That’s all I’ve asked for from the beginning. I trusted you with Zoey. Please don’t make me regret that. I need to know why Kate was here. Why did she look at my daughter that way? She left a very unsettled feeling inside me.”
“Maybe you should sit down.”
“No!” She tugged out of my hold “Tell me what you’re hiding.”
“Lanie Hightower is Zoey’s biological mother.” There, I said it. Why the hell couldn’t I have said it months ago? “Kate is Zoey's aunt.”
“What?” She shook her head in disbelief. “How could that be? I don’t even know who Zoey’s biological parents are. How could you?”
I stared into her eyes, waiting for the realization to strike her. Was she really going to make me say it?
“I don’t understand. How could you have ended up with me? We met in the park. Why are you so interested in your ex-girlfriend’s biological child?” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Your eyes,” she whispered. “I knew it.”
“Kara.”
She backed away from me. “I don’t… if Lanie’s her mother then you…”
“I’m Zoey’s father.”
“No.” She leaned against the wall. “That can’t be true. You’ve been with us for months. How long have you known?”
“Lanie didn’t tell me she was pregnant when we broke up. She gave Zoey up for adoption without my consent.”
“No! There’s no way you could know that. I was told the birth parents didn’t want to be identified.”
“A few months ago, Kate gave me a letter that Lanie had written to me confessing what she had done. At the time, Kate claimed not to have known what was in the letter but she knew about the adoption.”