Daddy Secrets

by Mia Carson

  Probably the women surrounding him like damn vultures, too, she thought darkly, zooming out enough to see the gaggle of girls constantly fawning over the richest bachelor in the city.

  Blair’s hands trembled as she moved the camera upwards. Her fingers remembered the feel of his strong jaw and the stubble he insisted on having back then, but now he was clean shaven. His sharp cheekbones fit his face perfectly, but his hazel eyes were sharper than they used to be, watching every detail around him intently. She paused when she glanced at his lips, nibbling on her own.

  As if he’d sensed her watching, he jerked his gaze in her direction.

  “Shit!” She ducked down behind Jesse.

  “Blair? Are you all right?”

  “I think Hugh saw me,” she hissed in a panic.

  “Where?” She watched Jesse’s head turn. “He’s way over there and doesn’t have a camera lens to see you. You’re fine, he’s moving right along with his horde of drooling airheads.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Jesse turned around and gripped her shoulders to pull her upright. “I’m sure. Why do you freak out when he’s around?”

  Sheepishly, she fumbled with her camera. “I don’t.”

  “Yeah, you do, big time freak out.” Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath, tossing the flower up in the air. “No. No way in hell can you still have feelings for him!”

  “Shh!” She clamped a hand over her friend’s mouth. “Can you not scream that to the entire campus?” Looking past Jesse, she searched in vain for Hugh but he was gone. “I do not have feelings for him. I don’t like seeing him, is all, or him seeing me. He’s all fancy clothes and perfect hair and I’m…I’m…”

  “Blair Fraser, best photographer I know and woman with a wild side and a heart too big for her own good?” Jesse supplied and threw her arm around Blair’s shoulders. “I’m going to ask you once more, are you certain you don’t want me to gatecrash the dinner?”

  As much as she wanted her friend there, Blair was a big girl and could take care of herself. “Nah, I’d like Mom to like you since you’re kind of the only friend I have.”

  “Fine, but I want details—all the details. Promise?”

  Blair grinned when Jesse held up her pinky and wiggled it. “Promise.”

  “Good. Now I have to get to class, and you do, too. Catch you in two hours for lunch?”

  “Always,” she promised as her friend wandered away. Blair packed up her camera in her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Self-conscious of the bulky sweater she had chosen instead of a top showing off her curves, she tugged on it, stretching it out at the hem, and wondered if skipping her first class of the day would be too detrimental. Mid-terms were next week and then a week of nothing. “Be a good student,” she scolded herself and spun on her heel towards the building behind her.

  Chapter 2

  Hugh strained his neck, searching the rest of the week for any sign of a curly-blonde-haired woman on campus, but he failed to find her. Wednesday, he swore he saw her across the quad walking away from him, her old ragged pack on her back and tight jeans cupping her ass. The pack he’d bought her nearly ten years ago and which she carried around everywhere with her old polaroid camera in it. He wondered if her room was still filled with pictures and if she still even had the camera.

  “Hugh? What’s wrong?” Bethany asked, leaning into his shoulder.

  Slowly, he moved away from her and smiled. “Nothing. I thought I saw someone I wanted to catch up with, but guess I was wrong.”

  “It’s Friday night. Do you have any plans?” she asked, sidling up to him again.

  “Sorry, Bethany,” Justin, his friend since his early college days, said as he dragged a grateful Hugh away from the clinging claws of another desperate woman. “He’s mine tonight, I’m afraid. Mid-terms and all, so I need his help. You understand.”

  Bethany pouted two cherry red lips and crossed her arms so her boobs nearly popped out of her low-cut sweater. “I could tag along. I’m a great tutor.”

  “I’m sure you are,” Justin replied. His body twisted to start walking back towards her, a hungry look in his eyes, but Hugh nudged him and he shook his head. “Right, well, we have to be off. You can snag him another night, promise.”

  Hugh waited until they were a good distance away before he rounded on his friend. “Can you do me a favor and not promise me to any of these crazy women?”

  “It’s not my fault you’re the one they want. I try, man, I do,” he said, sighing like a martyr. “But they only want you. Lord knows why. I’m pretty sure I’m more equipped down there than you are.”

  “Ha, you wish,” Hugh said with a wink. He glanced over the open lawn again and frowned. “Damn.”

  “What’s gotten into you this week?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re fidgety, very fidgety. Do you have a stalker you forgot to tell me about?” he teased.

  “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” He scratched at his cheek and the stubble there. His dad had attended a medical conference all week, meaning he couldn’t be at home to watch his son. Hugh took full advantage of his absence and let his beard grow out the last few days. He even wore jeans today, sneaking out of the house before his mom caught him and gave him a lecture on keeping up appearances.

  He was certain he’d seen Blair the other day. His fingers inched towards the phone in his pocket, wondering if her number was the same after all this time. What would she do if he called her? The last time they’d spoken, neither had anything civil to say and they’d parted on difficult terms. They went to the same college, but she managed to avoid him constantly—until this week when she’d stood maybe fifty yards away. He would bet his life it had been her. And if it had been, she’d wanted nothing to do with him as she stormed off in the other direction.

  “Hugh?” Justin waved a hand obnoxiously in front of his face. “Man, you really are out of it. Problems at home?”

  “Nope, nope, everything’s fine,” he lied.

  “You’re so full of shit.”

  “Whatever. I have to get home. My old man’s going to be back tonight, and if I’m not at dinner on time, I’ll never hear the end of how a Gordie is always punctual.”

  “Are we on for tomorrow night?”

  “It’s Saturday night beers. You dare doubt I would miss that?” Though next Saturday, he had plans. A certain event was taking place he’d seen a flyer for, and though the woman herself refused to talk to him, that wouldn’t stop him from feeling pride at what she’d managed to accomplish.

  Justin shrugged. “Later.”

  As he walked, Hugh checked every woman who passed him, hoping one would be Blair. Justin was his best friend, but he couldn’t even bring himself to admit the truth to him after all these years of claiming he wanted nothing to do with Blair. Or he had never had feelings for her in the first place. He did, and damned if they hadn’t disappeared as he’d hoped. If anything, they grew stronger over the years apart, and his bitterness at how their friendship ended drove him to bury himself in his classes and surround himself with superficial people who distracted him from what he needed in his life.

  He needed his real best friend back, but he doubted Blair would ever speak to him again.

  Why do you care? She’s just as bad as you are, remember?

  He slipped into his sleek black Corvette and revved the engine. The drive home wasn’t long, but he was lost in memories of being a kid again, racing Blair through the stables and out to the racetrack to see the horses. Or the summers they spent at the pond behind his parents’ house, fishing and swimming until his mom would come and chase them out of the water. The years drifted by before his eyes, and each one saw her growing older, more beautiful, more carefree, and stronger. Braver.

  So much braver than you.

  His foot nearly slipped off the brake and he would have bumped the car in front of him if he hadn’t shaken his head to clear away the emotions muddling his mind. “You
both changed. Get over it, man. There’s nothing you can do it about it now,” he told himself but deep down, he blamed her for why they never had a chance together as adults, not really.

  As he reached the long, winding drive leading up to the brick mansion, he groaned when he saw his dad’s Cadillac in its place. He rubbed the stubble on his face and made a bet with himself on how long it would take before Kenneth Gordie gave his son a disappointed look and made him go shave. Hugh shifted the rearview mirror towards him and checked his face, practicing his fake smile, and when he was certain Bridget wouldn’t barrage him with a ton of questions about why he looked so upset, he stepped out of the car. He was barely inside the house when Kella, his baby sister still in high school, skipped over, dressed up, with her hair curled.

  “Going out?” he asked frowning.

  “We all are. Mom said she texted you,” she explained.

  Hugh checked his cell. “Yeah, five minutes ago. What’s the occasion?”

  “I’m not sure, but we’re going over to the Frasers.”

  “What?” Hugh dropped his bag on a chair in the entryway. “Mom?”

  “In here, darling, catching up with your father,” Bridget called, and Hugh heard his dad say something quietly, but stopped when Hugh entered the kitchen. “Oh, dear, no, you need to change straight away. We’re expected in half an hour.”

  “At the Frasers. Care to tell me what the occasion is and if I really have to go? I have a few papers to finish up before spring break hits.”

  “You most certainly do have to go,” Kenneth said in his typical commanding tone. “Jean has invited us all, and that includes you. Even Devin is going.”

  Devin was Hugh’s older sister, already married with two kids, and the one he didn’t get along with too well. She was exactly like their dad, and when Hugh needed her support the most, she laughed in his face instead and told him to grow up. She had and eventually, he had to do the same.

  “Is there a reason?” Blair asked. She would be there and they would be trapped in a room together all evening. Part of him wondered if this was not the chance he’d waited for so they could have a conversation again—a more civil one—and at least settle the years’ old tension between them. And worrying about her would give him something else to focus on besides the disappointed looks his dad would most likely cast him throughout the evening.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” Bridget announced, more excited than he’d seen her in a long time, which worried him. “Go on, get changed.”

  “And shave your face,” Kenneth added. “I won’t have you looking like a ruffian. Not tonight.”

  Hugh frowned at his dad’s words but traipsed upstairs to change into black slacks and a blue button-up shirt with a black tie. He shaved quickly before he buttoned and tucked his shirt in and smoothed back his hair. Once he was ready, he stood in his bathroom, staring at his reflection intently. His parents were up to something, and he sensed it was not good and might involve Blair. If he asked outright, Bridget would refuse to tell him. She spent too much time playing politics and brought the games home, plotting out futures for her children without giving them much of a choice in the matter.

  “You get to see Blair,” he whispered to his reflection. “If she doesn’t slap you on sight, this is your chance to apologize and maybe she’ll do the same.”

  He told anyone who asked that he didn’t miss his best friend, but as he picked up his watch from the dresser, his gaze drifted out his window to the pond out back. High-pitched squeals of happiness sounded in his ears and he smiled sadly.

  “Hugh?” Kella asked, knocking on his door as she opened it. “Mom’s nagging.”

  “Right, I’m ready,” he told her and straightened his tie. “You think this is good enough?”

  “Tie clip. You know Dad,” she reminded him.

  “Yes, thank you for that,” he said and dug through his dresser to find the silver clip.

  “You look distracted. Thinking about a girl?” Kella asked, wiggling her eyebrows and bouncing on the balls of her feet in her short heels.

  He mussed her hair and she shoved his hand away with a laugh. “I’m a guy. Isn’t that the only thing I think about?”

  “Nah, not with that look in your eyes. This is serious.”

  “It’s nothing. I’d tell you if it was,” he lied. “Let’s get downstairs before Mom comes up and drags us down.”

  Hugh and Kella talked as he drove them to the Fraser’s mansion in his Corvette. His parents led the way, and he almost purposely missed the turnoff and took his sister to get ice cream instead and play hooky, but Kella was under enough stress without another lecture from their parents about growing up and taking responsibility. She was eighteen, around the same age he was when Kenneth leaned on Hugh and Bridget backed him up, saying the time for goofing off was over. He wondered if she’d already heard the same lecture, but they were pulling up the drive to the brick mansion he knew as well as the house he grew up in and there was no more time for talking.

  “Ready for this, whatever this is?” he asked Kella.

  “Hey, I’m only here for the food,” she replied and they both laughed. Ever After was her favorite movie growing up as a kid, and if he wanted to be truthful, he liked it, too. The only two people who knew that were Kella and Blair.

  “Hurry up,” Bridget called, and her children strolled to her side. “Best behavior tonight.”

  She directed the last to Hugh as if he would run in there butt naked and disrupt the entire affair. “Sure thing, Mom,” he assured her. “But it’d be better if you told me what this was about.”

  She pursed her lips at him as she rang the doorbell. “Mouth, Hugh.”

  He rolled his eyes and Kella stifled a laugh. The front door opened before the chimes finished their ringing. “Hello!” Jean greeted them, stepping forward to kiss Bridget’s cheek. “I’m so glad you made it! Please, come in. Blair will be downstairs in a few moments. She was a bit late getting home from campus today. Traffic was terrible.”

  His parents stepped inside, followed by Hugh and Kella, the first wondering what traffic Blair was talking about. Their drive was the same and they left well past any rush hour. He knew her schedule based on seeing her car in the parking lot. He looked for it every morning and every afternoon when he left, and it was certainly not there by the time he checked out for the day. When they were kids, Blair could never lie, but she was good at working her way around the truth, and the truth was there had been no traffic that evening coming home from campus.

  Jean lead them into the parlor to wait, offering whiskeys to his parents and one to Hugh. “Kella, Shirley Temple for you?” Jean asked sweetly.

  “I can make it,” she assured her and walked over to the drink table.

  “Hugh, it has been a while since I’ve seen you,” Jean commented, handing him a highball glass. “How are your classes?”

  “Not so bad, I guess. They keep me busy, that’s for damn sure,” he told her with a polite smile. “First year of grad school and I’m already exhausted.”

  “Ha, if only you’d gone into med school, then you would understand what real exhaustion is,” Kenneth quipped. “The only male in our family who decided not to be a doctor. I’m going to have to hire a new one to fill the opening at the practice now.”

  “I told you a long time ago I didn’t want to be a doctor,” Hugh said, his jaw clenched.

  “And I told you you were a fool then, just as I’ll tell you you’re still being a fool.”

  Bridget laughed loudly and stepped between them. “Now, boys, play nice. We are guests here, remember? You can debate our son’s decisions another time.”

  Hugh sipped his whiskey, glowering at his dad over his glass. The doorbell rang and Jean excused herself to answer it. A few seconds later, Devin walked in dressed in an impeccable pants suit, not a hair out of place in her tight bun, and her makeup perfect as if she’d had it professionally done. Knowing his sister, she might have had it done along wit
h her manicured nails. She took after their father and had gone to med school. Unlike their father, though, she had a specialty and worked at the local hospital, so she couldn’t work at the family practice opened in Louisville nearly a hundred years ago.

  “Devin, busy day?” Bridget asked her daughter.

  “It’s always a busy day, Mother. That’s what it means to be a neurologist,” she said, bored.

  Bridget stiffened and Hugh frowned. Devin tended to be a little on the short side, but he rarely heard her speak so bluntly to their mom. Or call her, ‘Mother.’

  “Hugh,” she said with a strange twist to her mouth.

  “Devin. Did you have a particularly bad day at the hospital, or is your face always screwed up like that? I don’t see you very often, so it’s hard to compare,” he stated. Kella burst out laughing until Kenneth narrowed his eyes at her and she murmured something about going to the bathroom.

  The tension rose in the room as the siblings stared each other down.

  Jean cleared her throat and clapped her hands. “I’m going to check on dinner. If you would like to find your seats, I’m certain it will be ready soon.” She paused at the bottom of the steps and called upstairs. “Blair! Our guests are here and would like to eat sometime this evening!”

  “I’ll be down in a minute!” she yelled back, and Hugh’s heart fluttered in his chest.

  His family migrated to the dining room, but he took his time, lingering at the bottom of the steps for Blair to make an appearance. He wasn’t disappointed. She came out of the hall and stood at the top, staring wide-eyed down at him.