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“I can do one more week.”
“Thank you,” Daniel said, feeling relieved. Usually, his father never gave him extra time. This felt almost like a gift.
“Anything for you, son,” he said, as if he had actually done something for Daniel other than steal his wife. “Love you!” he added as he hung up.
Great, he had one week until his whole life was blown apart by his father, again. Daniel put his head in his hands and sighed.
What was he going to do? One of the very few things that had gone his way was that his father had kept Lucinda a secret for the four months they had been separated. Now, that was down the drain. His shame was going to be public, and there was nothing he could do about it.
People were never going to treat him normally ever again. Not while he was single, and not with this news coming out. How was he supposed to make it through the next week knowing that everyone was going to know his wife left him for his father?
After a moment, he knew he needed to get back to work. Maybe that would distract him from what was incoming. When he strode into his office, he was ready to answer emails and not think about anything to do with his personal life.
But that was when he saw Amelia Rogers sitting in one of the extra chairs.
She had the same pensive expression on her face that she always did, but it was set with a tenseness that was usually reserved for uncomfortable HR meetings. As far as he knew, Daniel hadn’t done anything to warrant one.
“Hi, Daniel. Can we talk?” She gave him a tight smile. It was worlds different than the one he’d seen earlier in the day, when he’d been unable to resist the compliment she so deserved—despite her never seeming interested in talking to him.
He schooled his face as he sat at his desk.
His life wasn’t blown apart yet, so he didn’t need to act like it was.
“Yes, of course.”
Amelia took a deep breath. “Have you checked your Facebook recently?”
His eyes widened, and he pulled out his phone. Daniel only used it to keep up with college friends, but his father was very active on the social media app. His heart raced as he looked at his notifications, but he only saw a friend request from a woman named Mandy Rogers.
“Well, now you have,” Amelia said. “If you have a random request from a woman with the same last name as me, that’s my mother.”
“Your . . . mother?”
“Yes. Listen, there’s no good way to break this, so I’ll just say it.”
Please don’t say your mother knows my dad, he silently begged.
“My mother thinks we’re dating.”
Daniel stared. That was the last thing he expected to hear, but it was far better than what he thought. “She . . . What? How?”
“It’s a whole convoluted thing, but essentially, I was noticing you leaving the office while trying to get my mom not to set me up, and she made some assumptions.”
“So, that’s why she friend requested me? Is that all?”
“No. Unfortunately not. She still thinks we’re dating and wants to invite you on our family trip. And I don’t want to correct her because she insists on trying to set me up, even when I tell her no.”
That was a lot to process. “Okay,” he said slowly.
Amelia’s face was redder than he’d ever seen it. “I know. I’m so sorry. My brain shut off, and I didn’t know what to say.”
“I can understand how that feels.”
She winced, looking down at the hand that was fiddling with her sleeve. “I tried to say it was new and that you wouldn’t be into it. Why would you want to go to a small, secluded beach island with people you barely know? I mean, the condo is already paid for, so it wouldn’t cost you anything—”
A small beach island? Secluded?
“Where is it?”
