LITMIR.BIZ

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going to have to tell her father why she wasn’t drinking alcohol. She wasn’t looking forward to the revelation, but she certainly wanted him to hear it from her before he had the chance to find out through anyone else. Especially after her fainting spell at work yesterday. Gosh, was it only yesterday? It already seemed a whole lot longer ago.

      Her cheeks fired as she remembered exactly what had chased so much of yesterday’s activity from her mind.

      “Too hot in here?” her father asked, handing her a glass of water.

      “No, no. It’s fine. Lovely, in fact,” she answered, flustered.

      “Then what is it? What’s bothering you?”

      That was the trouble with being close to your parent, she admitted. They knew you too well and saw too much.

      “A few things,” she hedged.

      “Is it work? I hear that Kirk has ruffled a few feathers. Glad to hear he’s given your sustainability initiative the green light. It’s about time we did more than just talk in circles about that.”

      He’d heard that already? Sally gave an internal groan. What else had he heard?

      Knowing her father was expecting a reply, she managed to say, “Well, I always expected some pushback. You didn’t seem so eager to embrace the idea, yourself.”

      “Couldn’t be seen to be championing my own daughter, now could I. Had to make you work for what you wanted. I’ve always thought, if you’re passionate enough about something, you’ll make it work.” Orson took a sip of his wine and put the glass back down beside him. “Now, tell me what you think about Kirk.”

      Sally felt the burn of embarrassment heat her from the inside out. Ah, yes, Kirk. That would be the man she’d slept with after turning down his proposal, after discovering she was pregnant with his baby. It sounded worse than the plot of a soap opera. She groaned to herself. Her father sat opposite her, clearly awaiting some kind of response from her.

      “He seems to be very...focused.”

      Orson snorted. “He’s good-looking, isn’t he?”

      “Dad!” she remonstrated.

      “Focused.” He snorted again. “The man looks as though he stepped off the front cover of GQ magazine, has a Mensa-rated IQ and you tell me he’s focused. You’re attracted to him, aren’t you?”

      “Dad, I don’t think...” Sally let her voice trail off.

      How did she tell him just how attractive she found Kirk? How he was so irresistible that the first night she saw him, she slept with him? That she’d done the same again last night?

      Orson laughed. “I’m sorry, honey, can’t help but tease you a little. You’re so buttoned up these days. You can’t blame your father for giving you a little prod. Besides, you can’t argue the truth, can you?”

      Sally chose to ignore his question and turned the conversation in another direction.

      “Actually, now that you’re better, could you please explain to me just why you brought him into Harrison IT? We were doing okay. We certainly didn’t need to merge with anyone else, did we?”

      And she certainly hadn’t needed to merge with Kirk Tanner, but that hadn’t stopped her from doing it again, that pesky little voice inconveniently reminded her.

      Orson picked up his wineglass and swirled the ruby-colored liquid around the bowl, staring at it for a while before putting it back down.

      “I guess, in part, you could call it guilt. Kirk’s father, Frank, was my best friend in college. We started in business together. But what I didn’t notice was that the man whose partying seemed harmless in college got in over his head when he partied hard in the real world, too. It got to the point where it took a lot of chemical help for him to get through the day. I didn’t realize he was a drug addict until it was too late. By then he had a wife and son, and he was pretty resistant to help. Eventually he agreed to go to rehab, but he never got there. Instead he loaded up on drugs and took a dive off Deception Bridge.”

      He fell silent for a while, obviously lost in the pain of his memories. Eventually he drew in a deep breath and huffed it out again.

      “I felt responsible. I should have been able to see the problem sooner, step in earlier, help him more.”

      “Dad, not everyone wants to be helped.”

      “I know that now, but back then I felt like it was all my fault. I did what I could to assist Sandy and Kirk when they relocated to California, and I set up a college fund for the boy. I’ve kept an eye on him. What he’s done pleases me. I guess, in the grand scheme of things, you could say he’s where he’d have been all along if things had gone differently with his father. Merging with Tanner Enterprises was a logical move—gives us both more strength in an ever more competitive market.”

      Even though he’d given her a backstory of sorts, Sally had a feeling he was still holding something back. As it was, she was still hurt he’d had such an influence in Kirk’s life and yet never shared any of that information with her.

      “Marilyn called me just before you arrived. She tells me that Kirk took you to the doctor yesterday, that you collapsed or something during your presentation. Honey, you have to stop pushing yourself. You may never get over that public speaking thing, and if so, that’s fine. But, that aside, tell me—you’re all right?”

      His pale blue eyes, the mirror of her own, looked concerned. While he might not see fit to include her in his business plans, he was still and always would be her dad, and she knew he loved and cared for her.

      “Everything’s fine, Dad. Nothing to worry about.”

      He looked at her with a piercing gaze. “What are you not telling me?”

      She gave a gentle laugh. “I could ask you the same thing. Like why had I never heard of Kirk before the merger announcement. Don’t you think that’s something you might have shared with me at some stage? You’ve treated him like an absentee son.”

      An awful thought occurred to her. Could Kirk be his son? But her father’s perspicacity showed true to form.

      “Don’t be silly. You can turn that overactive imagination of yours off right now. There’s no reason for the secrecy other than the fact that his mother wanted no reminders of her late husband or her life in Seattle in any way. While she reluctantly accepted financial help, that was where she drew the line. I had very little direct interaction with her or with Kirk. Your mother and I were friends with Sandy and Frank. We would have supported Sandy here, too, if she’d have let us.”

      Sally felt all the tension drain out of her in a sudden rush. Jennifer chose that minute to return to the library.

      “Dinner is served in the small dining room, if you’d like to come through now.”

      Sally got up and tucked her arm in the crook of her dad’s elbow, and together they walked to dinner.

      “Dad, this place really is too big just for you. Have you ever thought of downsizing?”

      “Why would I do that, honey? This house was your mother’s pride and joy, and she loved every inch of it. She might not still be with us, but I feel her in every nook and cranny of the house and see her touch in every piece of furniture and art. Besides, I’d like to think that one day you might move back home and build your own family here.”

      Sally felt a clench in her chest. She should tell her dad about the baby, but how to bring it up? There was no way to dress up the fact that this child was the product of an unfortunate accident during a one-night stand. Granted, the man in question was already held in high regard by her father, but didn’t that just complicate matters more?

      Her father seated her at the table before taking his own place. Jennifer brought in the first course—smoked salmon fillets on a bed of lettuce and sliced avocado. Sally eyed the plate warily. She didn’t

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