Page 67 of Primary Seduction

Trent

“What is she going on about? Do you know?” Trent looked at Jocelyn.

“This is the first I’ve heard about it. She’s wanted to be a translator for as long as I can remember. I have no idea why she wouldn’t go.”

“Okay. Keep eating, I’ll be back.” Trent stood from the table and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom. He stood outside the door waiting for Harper to exit. When she did, she jumped to see him waiting for her.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I want to know why you’re not going to uni?”

“You know why I can’t go, Dad,” she almost snarled at him.

He held his hands out. “If I knew, I wouldn’t asking, would I?”

“Because we can’t afford it!”

“What do you mean we can’t afford it? Of course, we can. I’ve been paying into your account since you were a baby,” he countered.

“Well, Mum says you’ve not been paying. That you’ve been spending the money on all your floozies. So I can’t go to uni.” Harper stormed past him towards the main area.

“Hey, wait just a minute, young girl. First of all, I’m not seeing any floozies, I never have. Max is the first person I’ve become close to since I left your mother. Secondly, Harper, I promise you, I’ve been paying into that account. I have not missed a single month since you were born.” Trent followed her, stopping her with a gentle hand on her arm.

“Well, then something’s gone wrong because Mum says there’s nothing there.”

“Nothing of what?” Jocelyn asked.

“Harper says your mother has told her there’s no money for her to go to uni. But I don’t see how that can be true because I’ve been paying into both your accounts since you were children. There will be more than enough to pay for you to go to uni.” Trent looked at Jocelyn. “You’re still getting your money, aren’t you?”

Jocelyn looked at her plate. “No,” she whispered.

Trent’s heart began to race. “What do you mean, no?”

“The payments stopped about four months ago.” Still she didn’t look up.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I thought you couldn’t afford to pay anymore. I didn’t want to upset you.”

Trent blew out a breath and gripped his hair, trying to understand what the hell was going on.

“How have you been managing?”

“I got a job.”

“Flipping heck, Jocelyn. No wonder, you’re struggling with the workload. I don’t understand what’s going on because I’ve been paying three hundred pounds a month into the account to pay for both your university fees. I can show you my accounts if you don’t believe me.”

Max got up from the table and came to stand next to him, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder. It helped calm him.

“Right, I will get to the bottom of this tomorrow. I’ll go to the bank in the morning and see what’s happened. Maybe they’ve frozen the account or something.”

“I’m sorry, I yelled at you, Dad,” Harper whispered.

Trent pulled out of Max’s arms and wrapped his around Harper. For once, she let him. “Don’t worry about it, Button. We’ll get it sorted, one way or another.” He kissed her forehead.

“Does anyone fancy ice cream?” Max asked, trying to diffuse the situation a little.

“Actually, I think Harper and I should call it a night,” Jocelyn said quietly.