Daddy and Daughters

Married six years, separated by a continent for the last three of those years, it had not been much of a relationship. Except in business—MaryEllen shone in that arena. It had been her idea to expand into the European market. She’d insisted she be the one to move to New York to set up that office. From the initial discussion to her transfer things had moved like a whirlwind. Once she left San Francisco, she never looked back—never came back, even for a flying visit. And he had not missed her. Now he would, if only in business.

Jared sighed and slit open the envelope. Slowly he began to read.

Stunned, he reread the letter. Unbelievable!

“Helen!” he roared.

He read the words a third time. Was this some kind of joke? How could—“Helen!”

The door opened slightly. Jared looked into the diffident gaze of Cassandra Bowles. His mind occupied with the contents of the letter, it took him a moment to register it wasn’t Helen warily watching him.

“Sorry, Jared, Helen stepped away from her desk. Can I help you?”

“Read this and tell me what it says.” Jared stood and thrust out the letter.

Cassandra entered the office, carrying a thin manila folder in one hand. She had been lurking outside his door on the off chance Jared would have a few minutes in which she could discuss the GlobalNet merger. When she’d heard him call Helen, she’d looked for the secretary. When he’d called again, she felt someone should answer him.

She crossed the expanse of his office and gingerly took the paper. Impatient, Jared ran his fingers through his hair as he studied her. Cassandra dropped her gaze to the typed letter. She had started with Hunter Associates two years ago, immediately after graduating from the MBA program at Berkeley. However, her interaction with the senior partner had been minimal. After all, he was the head of the firm, one of the two partners, and she a mere marketing analyst.

She looked at him, puzzled, unsure why he wanted her to read the letter.

“It seems the attorneys in New York are wondering when you will be coming to get your twin daughters.” Was she supposed to deduce something else from the letter?

“Damn.” Jared sat down, staring at Cassandra. “Twins.”

Uneasily, Cassandra perched on the edge of a chair and gravely studied him. She swallowing visibly, then said, “It, um, almost sounds as if you were unaware of their existence.”

“I had no idea.” How could MaryEllen give birth to his daughters and not tell him?

Cassandra said nothing.

Jared rifled through the pink telephone slips. Each one from the same people—MaryEllen’s attorneys in New York. Slowly he picked up one and punched in the number.

It rang endlessly.

“It’s after five in New York,” Cassandra said softly.

Slipping the receiver on the cradle, Jared nodded. The last thing he expected today was to discover he was a father. Or was he? Why hadn’t MaryEllen told him if he were the father?

“You needed me, boss?” Helen asked from the doorway.

“Are you sure none of these lawyers told you why they were calling?” Jared asked, flicking an impatient finger against the stack of phone messages.

She nodded.

“Read this.” He tossed the letter on the desk.

Helen glanced at Cassandra as she crossed to take the letter. Reading it, her eyes widened with surprise. “Wow, congratulations, Jared. You’re a daddy.”

“You think so?”

She looked puzzled. “It says so.”

“You know that MaryEllen moved east almost three years ago to open the New York office. Unless she was pregnant when she left, those children aren’t mine.”

Helen glanced again at Cassandra. “Maybe you better wait and talk about this later. After you call the attorneys.”

“I tried them, they didn’t answer. It’s late in New York. I’ll call in the morning.”

“Or try one of them at home,” Cassandra offered.

Jared looked at her. “Good idea. See if you can find home numbers for any of the partners,” Jared directed Helen.

When Helen left, Cassandra rose tentatively, holding out the manila folder to Jared. “You probably don’t want to be bothered with this right now, but these are the projections we did for the GlobalNet account. I’m confident they are solid, a bit ambitious but achievable. If anything, we erred on the conservative side.”

Jared took the folder and leaned back in his chair. Petite with glossy black hair, Cassandra represented the epitome of the young executive on the rise. She always wore her dark hair in a conservative French braid, tidy, neat, severe. Dark-framed glasses perched on her nose. Irreverently Jared thought they made her look like an owl, trying unsuccessfully to hide her eyes. Large and dark, fringed with long lashes, they were her best feature. Jared idly let his gaze drift down her neat suit, navy blue with a standard white blouse. The perfect business-woman—all work-oriented with femininity ruthlessly squashed. Just like MaryEllen. Was she as ambitious? As consumed with work?

He took the papers and skimmed the top sheet, but his mind wasn’t on the figures. Twins. He felt stunned. Could it be possible? Had MaryEllen been pregnant when she left San Francisco? If so, why had she kept the news from him? He couldn’t believe it. Yet the attorney’s letter seemed clear on the subject.

“We’re all sorry about Mrs. Hunter’s death,” Cassandra said.

Meeting her eyes, Jared stared at her for a long moment. How was he to answer the sentiment? The employees probably expected a grieving husband. No, Helen had said they understood his marriage. He mourned the loss of a close friend, a strong business associate.

Yet now it looked as if he hadn’t even known MaryEllen. What was the story with the twins?

“Thank you,” he said. What he’d like to do was go home, pour himself a large Scotch and sleep for twelve hours. Instead, he’d wait to see if Helen could reach someone from the New York law office so he could find out what the hell was going on.

“Line one,” Helen’s voice came on the intercom. “Mr. Randall.”

“Jared Hunter here,” he said into the phone, motioning Cassandra to sit down again.

“We’ve been trying to reach you for over a week, Hunter.” The speaker had a definite New York twang.

“I believe my secretary explained where I was. The airport just reopened in Bangkok.”

“You back in the States?”

“As of a couple of hours ago. I arrived at the office and found your letter. What kind of scam is this?” As far as Jared was concerned, it was just that unless proved otherwise.

“No scam, Hunter. Ashley and Brittany Hunter are your daughters, twins. Cute as can be, too.”

“I never heard about them.” He glanced at Cassandra, noticing her downcast eyes, as if she were trying to efface her existence. Discreet.

There was a hesitation on the other end of the line. “I am aware of that. Apparently Mrs. Hunter was concerned that you would insist on someone else being in charge of the New York office if you discovered the truth. She, er, enjoyed the business aspect of things—apparently had no inclination to give it up for full-time motherhood. Not that she wasn’t a fine mother.”

Sounded like lawyer talk—covering all bases, Jared thought. He closed his eyes. MaryEllen had been right. He would have moved heaven and earth to keep her in San Francisco if he’d known she was pregnant. And probably demanded she curtail some of her activities at the office. A mother’s place was with her children.

“How old are they?” Jared asked, a sinking feeling in his gut. Could they truly be his? Had MaryEllen hidden that from him just to make sure she could keep forging ahead in the business world? Given her unrelenting determination, he could easily imagine her doing just that.