Dark Hearts (Light in the Dark 3)

I sigh. That’s always the way it is with my dad, him telling me to do something and me doing it, no questions asked.

“Okay,” I sigh. “Where?”

“How about that place you work?”

“W.T.F.?” I ask, surprised he’d suggest that.

“Yes—twelve o’ clock.”

“Okay,” I agree. “See you then.”

I hang up and Nova comes out of the bathroom. “How’d it go?” she asks.

“I have to have lunch with him,” I grumble, scrubbing my hands over my face.

“It won’t be so bad.” She frowns.

“I hope not,” I sigh. I rub my hands together and say, “I think I’m going to tell him that I’m done. I want him out of my life. He’s fucking toxic. I’m going to tell him I don’t want his money and he needs to leave me alone.”

She nods. “If that’s what you want to do—he gives you money?”

I nod. “Sort of. It’s a trust fund account.”

“Oh.” She nods. “I see.”

“Yeah,” I sigh. I’m sure things are starting to make a little more sense to her.

“Have you heard back from Sarah yet?” I ask.

“Not yet.” She eyes my computer. “It’s only been a day,” she pauses, and I can see the uncertainty in her eyes. I know she’s terrified Sarah will change her mind.

“Have you thought about contacting Owen?” I ask her. “Seeing if he wants to meet Greyson?”

She flinches. “I probably should, but … is it selfish for me to want to meet him first and then contact him?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I think it’s understandable. Do you feel selfish for doing it?”

“I feel like it’s what I need to do. After I get to see him I’ll reach out to Owen then—after all, she might bail on me.”

“She’s not going to bail.” I lay the book I was reading aside and tug on Nova’s arm, pulling her down onto the couch with me. She lies down, stretching out with her head in my lap. I run my fingers through her damp hair. “We’ll take everything one step at a time.”

“It’s scary,” she admits. “Before, it was almost like he was a figment of my imagination. Now he’s real, and I’m so close to finally meeting him, but I’m terrified that someone is about to pull the rug out from under me and be like, ha-ha think again!”

“You have to trust that everything will be okay.” I wrap a strand of her hair around my finger.

She sighs. “I’m trying to.”

I grow quiet, I don’t know what else to say to her. I know the last month since she told me about her son has been hard on her emotionally. It’s understandable. She kept his existence a secret for years. That had to weigh heavily on her. And now, in a matter of weeks she’s gone from telling me, our friends, and now finding him. It’s a lot to process.

I hope for her sake that she gets to see him, and maybe even be a part of his life in some way.

She deserves that.

But for now, we’ll take it one step at a time.

Nova’s gone to work when I start getting ready to go meet my dad.

I wish she were here, because she’d talk to me and keep my mind off this lunch. My dad and I rarely spend time alone anymore—typically when he summons me it’s because I need to attend something and put on the show of being his son—I can’t even recall the last time we had lunch or dinner just the two of us.