Page 104 of Between Never and Forever

He frowned at the number. “What other banks do you—”

“That’s it, Dex.”

His jaw worked up and down, up and down for long seconds before he pulled his cell out and dialed a number.

“What are you doing?” I squeaked. “You’re making a call right now?”

“I’m calling your dad,” he said it so matter-of-factly that I almost agreed it was a good idea.

That is, until my mind caught up to what was happening. I screeched out, “What? No.”

I rounded the desk and tried to grab the phone, but he stood a whole foot taller than me. He simply was able to walk away as I literally tried to climb the man like a tree to get that phone before my father answered. When he did, I knew my shit was all going to collide.

“Mr. Hale? It’s Dex Hardy.” There was silence as he stared at me. “Good to talk with you too. I’m calling because your daughter and I are engaged. You know that, right?” Silence. “Yes, but PR stunts turn into reality half the time. And I’ve always enjoyed her company. I’m just wondering, over the years, it seems she’s lost a lot of money, and I’m trying to figure out where it’s going. Is there anything I need to be worried about?”

I stared at his audacity. My father would never tell him. There was no way.

But, of course, Dex controlled the situation.

Dex got what he wanted.

My father told him.

ChapterThirty-Three

DEX

“You know how…”Mr. Hale cleared his throat. He sounded older, worn out, and afraid. He’d always been a great neighbor and friend to my parents. I think he’d probably also been a good pushover too. “Well, I think being a celebrity is pretty expensive.”

“Yes, but you haven’t raised a frivolous woman. We both know that.” My tone was firm as Keelani shook her head at me now, giving up the fight of trying to grab the phone.

“Right. No.” He sighed. The man loved his daughter, I knew that. He also loved his wife. “Keelani is a good girl. She’s always been great. We’re working on being better with money as a family.”

The words sounded like they hurt coming out of his mouth. I knew they must. No man wanted to admit they’d let their family down with a money problem. I just didn’t exactly know what the problem was yet.

Their family had enough pride to hide it though. I remember so long ago when my family offered to help with even taking Mrs. Hale in for tests after her stroke so that Mr. Hale could get back to work, he’d balked.

“You know I intend to take care of Kee, right?” I said the words seriously as I stared at my heartbreaker. Nothing would stop me now from helping her, from fixing what we’d broken so long ago. She sat down on the couch in defeat, her eyes glassy now.

“Right. Well, yeah. My wife always says you have a soft spot for Kee.”

“She’s always been smart that way.” I pushed him further now. “You have a soft spot for your daughter too, huh? So, tell me. What’s been going on?”

“Ah.” There was hesitation over the line. “Well, you know about my wife.”

“I know Kee doesn’t talk to her. That’s all I’m aware of.”

“Well, Keelaniwantsto talk to her mom. Who wouldn’t want to talk to the woman?” He chuckled. “But with her condition, it upsets her. Kee should sound younger, you know? Her brain remembers Keelani from when she was sixteen, not now. Sometimes she even has a hard time with me. The Alzheimer’s is pretty severe. And we don’t have medical insurance. So, Keelani helps.”

“Alzheimer’s?” I only repeated it because I couldn’t comprehend it. Her mother had been so full of life. To lose your mind was devastating but she’d had a stroke. It made sense that her health potentially could have declined.

“Yeah, that fucking disease doesn’t discriminate. We’ve been fortunate to have found great care right when Keelani left… I, ah, Keelani and I have figured out things over the years.”

“You and Keelani?”

He cleared his throat. “Sure, you know. I help where I can. I’ve been in contact with great guys who’ve given me some loans and what not. Trinity and I have worked on some deals together for Kee too. And, well, Kee has always tried to support as much as she could.”

I tried not to lash out and extract the information in anger, but I’d dealt with enough men to know that a private loan with “great guys” wasn’t a good situation at all. “Tell me a bit more about these loans.”