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It wasn’t often that I felt anything but apathy where Veronica Ambrose was concerned, but today? Today, a symphony of rage and disdain flooded me at the sight of her.

Fighting past the storm of emotions trying to swallow me whole, I found my voice and asked, “Why are you showing me a picture of my mom?”

Chance read the rising ire in my posture and turned the screen back to face him. Smart man.

“I—I used to know her.” He threaded his fingers on his desk and I had to look away. But then my eyes landed on the framed pictures lining his desk. They all featured one woman: Lilith. And suddenly, watching him fidget didn’t seem so bad.

“Good for you.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice and sick satisfaction trickled through me when Chance flinched.

“I’ve hit a sore spot.”

It wasn’t a sore spot. Unless my whole got damn existence could be considered a sore spot.

Just an hour ago, I was in my shop teary-eyed over my grandmother’s memory. And now rage simmered in my veins at the sight of my mother. Funny how their absence in my life triggered such polarizing effects.

Shoving down my attitude, I addressed Chance. It wasn’t his fault my life had panned out the way it had. He probably thought he’d made some groundbreaking discovery and wanted to share with the class.

“Look. I’m happy you finally know why I look so familiar, but I can’t say I exactly care or want to talk about my mother. Like I told you, I never met her?—”

“I know.” He sounded contrite as he studied me with sadness in his gaze. “I’m sorry for showing you that picture. I didn’t know it would stir up—” he gestured with his hands toward me “—this reaction with you. I just wanted you to understand why I alwayslooked at you like I knew you. But I guess there could have been a better way to do that.”

Mouth sealed, I stared at him, trying to filter through the past half-hour and make sense of it.

“Excuse my frankness, Goldyn.” He cleared his throat. “But your mother and I had a relationship the summer before you were born. She showed up one day and said she was just passing through.” He held up his hand like he was asking for more time, even though I had no plans to interject. “Maybe I shouldn’t have but I wrote down your date of birth from the ID you gave me when we processed your paperwork. And you were born eight months after your mother disappeared from Bliss Peak without a trace.”

My lips curved but never quite formed a smile. “She disappeared on you too? She’s good at that.”

Chance looked flustered, like he was growing impatient with me about something and I didn’t know what to tell him.

“That’s not why I brought it up, Goldyn.” He softened the exasperation in his voice. “I got your birthdate and started putting puzzle pieces together. You said you were from New Hope. It’s fuzzy, but now I think I can remember Roni telling me she was from there a time or two. And that’s where you were born. You said you never met your parents. It all started making sense. But not in the way I wanted. If I knew…I never would have wanted you to grow up without at least one of your parents in your life.”

If he knew? If he knew what? My mind finally freed the question and let it tumble from my lips.

“Goldyn, I think I’m your biological father.”

A thick, disbelieving silence wedged itself between us in the wake of his declaration.

Unfortunately, I was the first to break it with a howl of laughter.

“Chance, what?”

He wasn’t deterred by my reaction. In fact, he looked more earnest and determined to get me to hear his side. “I searched public records. Your mother’s name is on your birth certificate. And that date. March 7, 1997.”

Chance shook his head as he recited my birthday to me and that was what made me sit up straighter and listen a little closer to his words.

“She must have left here as soon as she got pregnant. I doubt she even knew when she left. Said she was headed to the beach because she was tired of the mountains. That was what I liked about her. She would just get up and go on a whim. But I didn’t know she was taking a part of me with her.” He stared pointedly at me and a surge of queasiness settled in my gut.

I didn’t know she was taking a part of me with her.

“I won’t sit up here and tell you we were in love.”

I wished he wasn’t telling me anything. It would really help the throbbing at my temples and the thumping in my chest.

“But I couldn’t let you go through the rest of your life thinking I knew about you and decided not to be present.”

I shook my head as his words soaked into my skin. “You don’t even know if I’m your daughter and you’re already talking about?—”

“We can fix that. I know a place we can both get tested and have the results in less than a week.”