Jilted (21 page)

Part of him expected for the receptionist to come back to say that Skylar had refused his call, but he wasn’t above making another appearance at her office if she rejected him. Gina came back on the line a few minutes later. “I’m transferring you to her line right now.”

“Ashley, what do you want?” Skylar demanded, wasting no pleasantries.

“I’m sure you know why I’m calling. I’d like to see my children.”

“Now’s really not a good time to discuss this. As Gina has already told you, I’m on my way to court.”

“You know I could just stop by your house again. Do you want my first official meeting with my children to be by surprise? I’m giving you the opportunity to prepare them this for my visit.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “I think the first time we meet should be on neutral territory.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you’ve already pointed out, I need to properly prepare the children before meeting you.”

“I won’t be put off,” he warned.

“Calm down, Ashley. I’m not going to keep them from you. I’m sure the two of us can figure out a reasonable visitation timetable.”

“What would you say would be reasonable for a man who has never gotten to spend time with his children?”

“And you have yourself to thank for that, so if you’re calling to be argumentative then I don’t have time.”

After learning what his mother had done, Ashley done a lot of soul-searching. He could lay fault at Skylar’s feet for being unfaithful, or his mother’s for lying about that report, but at the end of the day he could have at least waited to find out if Skylar was actually pregnant before turning her away. His overreaction was what had led him to becoming an absentee father, and it was now up to him to rectify that wrong. “You’re right, Skylar.”

“What?” She didn’t bother to disguise the surprise in her voice but he couldn’t exactly blame her for being taken aback.

“I’m willing to work with you in order to see my children. I owe you an apology, Skylar. I should have heard you out, but—”

“No. Stop right there. Whenever you throw a ‘but’ in after an apology, you’re trying to justify the behavior you’re supposedly apologizing for. Don’t ruin it, Ashley.”

He took a deep breath and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t easy for me, Skylar.”

“Like it is for me? I’ve had my children to myself for all these years and now I have to share them with the man who basically tore me down to pieces.”

“I thought we were going to discuss the kids and not rehash the past,” he pointed out.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. So how should we handle this?”

“Saturdays is usually when I set aside the entire day for the triplets. Maybe we can meet for lunch at their favorite pizzeria. We can go from there. Depending on how well you get along with them, maybe you can go on a few Saturday outings with us.”

“I’d eventually like to have them stay at my place for a few days at a time.”

“We can discuss that later, but for now I have to go before I’m late to court.”

They exchanged their personal phone numbers before Skylar disconnected the call.

Ashley’s heart was pounding by the end of the conversation. He’d wanted to ask Skylar what the children liked, what their favorite things were, what they liked to eat, watch on television or do for fun. There was so much he didn’t know about them. Ashley tried to return to the pile of work on his desk but he couldn’t concentrate. Deciding to call it a day, he shut his computer down and grabbed his keys.

As he walked out of his office he stopped by his assistant’s desk. “I’m going to be out for the rest of the day. Forward all important calls to my cell phone. Take a message for everything else.

“Okay, Mr. Hollingsworth.”

Just as he was about to get on the elevator, William called out to him. “Ashley, my boy. Do you have a minute?”

He hadn’t seen William in over two weeks because the older man had been on vacation with his wife and grandchildren. “Sure. What can I do for you?”

“Come to my office. I’d like to have a chat with you.”

Whenever William wanted to have a chat he’d usually go to Ashley’s office and when it was a business matter it was done in the conference room. There was a serious tone to the older man’s voice.

Once inside William’s large corner office, Ashley took a seat. “So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“How have you been doing?”

Ashley raised a brow and wondering where this was heading. “I’m fine, and yourself?”

“I can’t complain. We had a great time on the trip. Jacqueline and I got to spoil the kids. Their parents weren’t too happy about it but what are grandparents for? Jacqueline spent lots of money but as long as it keeps her happy, I have no complaints. I got some fishing and golfing in.”

“Sounds like the ideal vacation. “

“Perhaps you need to take some time off.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you really? From what I’ve heard, you’ve been very short-tempered lately. You made two paralegals cry, your assistant looks on edge, people scramble away when you’re around. Doesn’t really seem like you’re fine to me.”

“Perhaps people should be more diligent in their jobs and there wouldn’t be the need to correct them.”

William steepled his hands on his desk. “I received a call from your mother.”

Now Ashley understood. Whenever all his mother’s manipulative tricks didn’t work, she’d enlist William to have a ‘talk’ with him hoping he’d fall in line afterwards. That might have worked a long time ago, but the only thing it served to do was piss him off.

“Let me guess, my mother gave you some sob story about how I’ve wronged her in some way after all she’s done for me. Am I close?”

William smirked. “You got it down verbatim.”

“I’m just used to her tricks. She’s been using them since I came out of the womb.”

“She’s just worried about you is all. Your mother means well.”

“I’m sure she left out the part where she lied to me about getting a report on Skylar.”

William frowned. “She mentioned some misunderstanding but she didn’t go into detail. What report are you referring to?”

“You remember how torn up I was after I ended things with Skylar?”

William nodded. “You were a wreck. Jacqueline and I were very worried about you. You drank a lot, worked to the point where you’d nearly passed out. If I didn’t force you to take some time off you probably would have worked yourself into the hospital. So yes, I will never forget how you were in those months.”

Ashley shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn’t particularly care for that reminder of how he’d behaved after his wedding plans had fallen through. “Well, anyway, after I got back from my trip to Dubai, Skylar came to the office.”

“Oh yes. I remember that too. I caught a couple of associates gossiping about it. Your ex fiancé came to the office to tell you she was expecting.”

“Yes and my mother happened to be here that day. After I kicked Skylar out of the office, Mother said she’d look into the matter to determine whether there was indeed a child. A few days later I spoke to her. She said that the report she received from the investigators was that there was no pregnancy. I believed her because Skylar had already deceived me. I thought she was trying to worm her way back into my life or at the very least get some kind of financial compensation.”

“I see. So, I’m guessing you’ve recently learned that the report was false.”

“Either the report was false or my mother lied and she never looked into it. Either way, she deliberately set out to trick me and because of it, I’ve missed the first four and a half years of my children’s lives.”

William’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Did you say children as in the plural form of child?”

Ashley nodded his confirmation. “Triplets.”

“Holy shit!” Ashley had only ever heard William curse once.

“That was exactly what I thought when I found out. And before you ask, yes, I know the children are mine.” He pulled the wallet from the inside pocket of his jacket and extracted the picture of his children. Ashley had kept it there, taking it out every so often just to see their faces. He then handed it to William.

William examined the picture. “Wow. These boys look exactly like you when you were about their age. It’s uncanny. And I definitely see a little bit of your mother in the girl.”

“Let’s just hope she hasn’t picked up my mother’s traits.”

William continued to stare at the photo. “I don’t know what to say, son. Katherine has a unique way of getting what she wants, but I never thought she’d do something like this, not that I’m trying to badmouth your mother.”

“I don’t care. It’s the truth. I know you’ve only ever tolerated her for my dad’s sake. For some reason that man loved her and he would have wanted us to take care of her, but for her to do something like this…I’m floored.”

William handed him back the picture. “It’s definitely disappointing to learn what she did. Ashley, I’m not going to make excuses for your mother but she grew up in a different time, as did I. Races simply didn’t mix, and the biggest reasons for that was fear and ignorance. When you introduced me to Skylar, I admit that I was a little bit surprised but then I figured, this was a different time and she seemed to make you very happy. She was sharp as a tack and had ambition, unlike a lot of the arm candy you used to sport. I liked her quite a bit and you, my boy, were absolutely smitten with her. I’d never seen someone as love-struck as you were with that gal, except maybe your father with your mother. But even still it was a different kind of love, something really intense. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I just knew that I never saw two people more right for each other.

Your mother on the other hand? Let’s just say some people take a little longer to come around than others. Not excusing what she did, just giving you some perspective. Maybe she’ll eventually learn to accept your children and maybe not, but at the end of the day she’s still your mother and you’re going to have to let that anger go.”

Ashley shook his head. He stood up. “So it all boils down to this? You want me to forgive her and carry on with my life as if she didn’t rob me of the first four and a half years of my children’s lives? Fuck that.”

William shook his head. “I’m not asking you to do it for your mother’s sake but for your own. You never forgave Skylar and look at you now. You’re a different man. You’re cold, standoffish and you don’t allow anyone to get close to you. That’s not the Ashley I know. And you can’t be that man if you want to have a relationship with your children.”

Ashley flexed the muscle in his jaw. He could fell his anger slowly starting to bubble over. “Oh? Tell me more about myself since you seem to have all the answers.”

William raised a brow. “You can drop the sarcasm, boy. I’m only looking out for you. But if you want some home truths then here is goes: how you handled the Skylar situation was beneath you. If you didn’t want to marry the gal, you should have been man enough to tell her to her face before she marched down the aisle instead of embarrassing her like that no matter what you feel she did to you. A gentleman simply doesn’t handle his business like that. And as I’ve already pointed out, that experience changed you but not for the better. But it begs the question, why would you allow this woman to affect you after all these years if you didn’t still have feelings for her?”

Ashley opened his mouth to deny that claim. But William held up his hand. “Let me finish. I believe you’re still in love with that girl but you’re too stubborn to admit it which is why you’ve been acting like an ass for so long. And yes, your mother was wrong to lie to you about that report, but at the end of the day you only have yourself to blame. You, Ashley. No one else. You could have easily checked for yourself but you were too big a coward to do it. Stop taking your anger and frustration and out on everyone else and go to the source of your problem. Work things out with your children’s mother, and I’m not saying you have to get back with her. I’m saying to let the anger go, because mark my words, if you continue on the way you’ve been acting, you’re going to do or say something you can’t take back and you’ll regret it.”

Ashley didn’t have a ready reply; in fact he was stunned into silence.

William waved his hand to shoo Ashley away. “Now you may leave.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Is my Daddy here?” Tristan tugged on Skylar’s sleeve. The little boy bounced around in his chair, looking toward the entrance of the restaurant. Ever since she had the conversation with her children about meeting their father, the three of them had been asking questions non-stop, especially Tristan.

The children all sat on Tristan’s bed as Skylar read their bedtime story. She chose a short book that night so that they’d still be awake by the time she finished. “And the puppy found his way home. The end.” She closed the book.

“That was a little book. Can you read us another story, Mommy?” Finn asked, giving her a wide-toothed smile. It was hard to resist her children when they looked so stinking cute but tonight she had to say no. “Actually, I wanted to talk to the three of you about something. Something very important.”

“Will we get a puppy?” Harper asked.

“Ha! You wish. Maybe when the three of you get older. Puppies need lots of attention and Mommy would be the one who ended up taking care of it.”

“Oh, but we would take care of it. I’ll give it a bath and play with it and give it puppy food,” Tristan interjected.

“Let’s save this particular discussion for another time. I wanted to talk to the three of you because someone wants to meet you and I’d like to know what you think about it.”

“Is it the man who came to the house?” Tristan asked.

The kid was too perceptive for his own good. “Yes, sweetie. He’d like to formally meet the three of you.”

“What man?” Finn and Harper asked at the same time.

Tristan rolled his eyes and sighed with exaggerated exasperation. “I told you already. There was a man who came to see Mommy. I think it was him!” It surprised her that her four and a half year old had somehow figured out the connection so quickly. But what really knocked Skylar for a loop was the fact that the triplets had these types of conversations. Now that she thought about it, it might have explained Tristan’s cool attitude toward Jeremy. Perhaps her son had hungered for a father for so long that he was willing to latch onto the first guy who came along, but that changed once he saw his biological father.