Page 117 of The Last Goodbye

“William will be doing ninety-nine percent of the talking. But seeing as he didn’t find out that he had a daughter until she was much older, we thought it would be nice to ask Briar about finding her father and what that has meant to her. It’s a story a lot of people are interested in.” Flora motioned for William and Briar to take a seat on the couch again, and then she turned to Tabitha, the woman who was currently making everything about this event difficult, and asked her to take a seat on the couch across the room, where I was currently sitting.

Lucky me.

Tabitha huffed as she took a seat on the sofa, leaving as much space as humanly possible between us. She crossed one leg over the other and scowled.

Roger placed his camera on a tripod and snapped a few photos of Briar and her father as they sat beside each other, and I could feel the anger radiating from the woman beside me.

Flora made small talk about William and Briar meeting for the first time when Briar was twenty.

“It must have been such a wonderful surprise for you,” she said, directing the question to William.

“I will remember that day like it was yesterday,” he said, turning to look at Briar. “She is one of my greatest joys in my life, and I’m thrilled that we found one another, though I won’t lie, there was some anger about it initially.”

“Because you hadn’t known that you had a daughter?” Flora pressed, and I didn’t miss the way Briar’s shoulders stiffened.

“Correct. Briar’s mother never told me that I had a daughter, and I was resentful, of course, but she has since passed away, so I can’t really work through that with her. So, we chose to move forward. My daughter now works for Winchester Investments and is very much a part of this family.” He reached over and squeezed Briar’s hand.

“Do you feel resentment as well, Briar?” Flora asked.

“I could never resent my mother. She was the most amazing woman, and sadly, she isn’t here to tell her side of the story, which is—different from what my father has shared.” She glanced at him, and I noted the way he dropped her hand after she’d spoken her truth.

“Listen, it was complicated. I’d been separated from Tabitha for a brief time when I met Briar’s mother. She was younger than me, and we were from two very different worlds. I don’t think she was happy to learn that I’d reunited with my wife, which is probably the reason that she chose not to tell me about Briar. Maybe it was a form of punishment for things not working out between us.”

Tabitha was staring intently, her hands clasped so tightly together that her knuckles were bright white.

Because she knew this story was bullshit, and they hadn’t been separated. But it was all about image and saving face, even if it meant insulting the mother of his child, someone who was no longer alive.

“Was it a difficult decision to reach out to him, Briar?” Flora asked.

“Of course I was nervous about it, but I was also curious. Then I found Denton, and I hadn’t even considered that I might have a sibling.”

“Half sibling,” Tabitha interjected, and Flora turned to stare at her for a few beats before looking away.

“And then I’m assuming you were welcomed into the family?” Flora asked. “That must have felt really great after losing someone so special to you, and then to be able to find more family.”

Briar glanced over at me, contemplating how to answer, and then she turned back to Flora. “Yes. It’s been nice connecting with a whole side of my family that I didn’t know about.”

“That’s amazing.” Flora turned back to William. “And you meet this incredible woman and find out she’s your daughter, and she goes on to law school and then comes to work for Winchester Investments. You must be so proud.”

“I really am. She’s an incredible young lady, and we’re very happy to have her working at the family business.” William winked at his daughter, and I was actually unsure where he stood with Briar. In some ways, he appeared to adore her, but he didn’t stand up for her when Tabitha was involved, and that was a red flag for me. He allowed her to be disrespected, all because of Tabitha’s hatred for her, which was all his fault.

Own it, dickhead.

He was allowing his daughter to take the fall for his actions. I would think that a man who claimed he didn’t know about her existence—whether that was true or not—would stand up for her. He’d gone twenty years without knowing her, yet he wouldn’t step in when his wife disrespected her?

I couldn’t wrap my head around that. It was his job to protect her, and from where I was sitting, he’d failed her terribly.

After a few more questions about things they liked to do together and some small talk, Briar was finished.

Her father hugged her and thanked her for being here. We went up to the room so she could change before we took the boat into town to go meet Denton and Jessica.

“How do you feel after that?” I asked once we were alone in the room.

“It was fine, but I don’t like the narrative he’s putting out there in the world. My mother was not a liar. So that made me very uncomfortable. But I also didn’t want to have that discussion publicly, because it would basically be me calling him a liar. Not something you want to do during an interview anyway. And he knows how I feel about it, so I’m very surprised he went there just now.” She pulled a few things from her suitcase and set them on the bed, then slipped into a pair of shorts and a tank top. “But at least it’s done, and we get to go home tomorrow. I’m happy about that.”

I glanced at the box on the mattress. “What’s this?”

“It’s a birthday gift I made for my father. You can look at it,” she said as she hung her dress on a hanger and slipped it in the closet.