The CEO, the Puppy and Me

She hesitated as though unwilling to admit defeat but then she handed him the pages. He looked through them and noticed how some of the corners had fallen off or had been torn off. And he couldn’t read the faded type print.

“I’m sorry. I can’t make it out either,” he said.

Gia lifted her head. Her eyes were misty. “I should have known it wouldn’t be easy. Nothing about this entire journey has been easy.”

The unshed tears shimmering in her eyes tugged at the walls around his heart. He reached out and squeezed her arm. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. Even if you never find him, you are strong and you’ll find a way to make peace with it—”

She pulled away from his touch. “How do you know that?” Anger and pain vibrated in her voice. “You have no idea what I’m going through. No one knows.”

He didn’t know if he should remain quiet or if he should speak up. It wasn’t like he ever talked about it, though it was no secret. “I don’t know my father either. I have absolutely no idea who he is or anything about him. And trust me, I did everything I could think of to find him.”

Her eyes widened. For a moment, she didn’t speak. “I... I’m sorry. I had no idea. I shouldn’t have said that.” She shook her head. Her shoulders drooped. “I’m just so frustrated. I don’t know why my parents kept this from me. They should have told me a long time ago.”

“My mother didn’t tell me either. Well, I obviously grew up without a father, but she refused to tell me his name.” He gave himself a mental shake. “But this isn’t about me. I hope you’re not too disappointed.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment as though thinking things over. “It’s okay. I’ll find him another way.”

“I guess this means you’ll be heading home.” The thought should have elated him. It didn’t, which made no sense.

Her gaze met his. “No. I’m not done here.”

“What else is there?”

“My mother kept this address in her journal. There has to be a reason. And I’m not leaving until I find out who lived here at the time of my conception.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “What happens if you still aren’t able to get the answers you want?”

“I don’t know. But I’m not giving up. I have to find him.” She turned to Ric. “Don’t you see? He clearly doesn’t know about me.”

“How do you know?”

“Because if he did, he’d have come to find me.”

Ric wasn’t so sure that was the case, but the hope in Gia’s eyes kept him from vocalizing his doubts. She’d already had enough disappointment for today. But then again, just because he’d had a disappointing journey searching for a missing parent didn’t mean Gia’s journey would yield similar results.

Feeling himself being drawn further into Gia’s troubles, Ric stood. “I should clean up these papers before we leave.”

Gia handed him back the documents, and he returned them to the big wall safe that was crammed full of information. Then he swung the heavy door closed. Safe for another day.

When he turned around, he found Gia had gathered all the folders scattered over the coffee table. He hadn’t had a chance to go through them because they hadn’t been labeled as anything he thought would reveal information related to the time period surrounding Gia’s birth.

He noticed she had opened a folder to replace something that had fallen out. Her eyes widened as she pulled out a drawing. Her gaze turned to him. “Did you draw this?”

He shook his head. “I don’t draw.”

“But this looks like you might have done it when you were a kid. I think this is your name at the bottom.”

He moved to the couch. He took the drawing and stared at it. He didn’t recall it. But when he peered at the bottom right corner, he found his name penciled in childlike writing.

He couldn’t believe his uncle had kept this. Why would he do that? His uncle never seemed that interested in his schoolwork other than making sure he got his homework done.

“Look,” Gia said, “there’s more of it. This folder is filled.” She checked another. “So is this one. And this one.”

Ric was left speechless, and that didn’t happen often. After all these years thinking his uncle had been indifferent to him, Ric was deeply touched that his uncle had kept all of this stuff.

He started sorting through the folders, finding all sorts of things he’d done in school. And then they uncovered a folder with his accomplishments as an adult, including every press release since the launch of his company. It was all there. And Ric had to blink a few times. Stupid dust.

“I had