Free The Prodigal's Return by Anna DeStefano Page B

the one part of Neal’s ramblings he wanted to discuss the least. “Are you telling me your daddy had company?”
    Neal pushed out of the chair and prowled to the opposite end of the office.
    â€œJenn Gardner was there.”
    Buford’s low whistle ended in the man contemplating the hands he’d folded in his lap. “Now, ain’t that somethin’. That girl and her family haven’t said boo to the old goat since…well, since Nathan lost you, and Reverend and Mrs. Gardner lost Jenn. She must have known something was wrong, for her to—”
    â€œWhat do you mean, the Gardners lost Jenn?” Neal had to sit down again.
    She’d looked fine. Startled. Sad, presumably about Nathan. Blond and sweet and heart-stoppingly beautiful. And fine. He’d never expected happily ever after for her, but anything less than fine was unacceptable.
    The hardened gaze of a tough-as-nails Southern lawyer assessed him. “You really have cut yourself off from this place, haven’t you? You never wanted to catch up on local comings and goings when we talked investments and stock dividends. But I always figured you were getting the high points from somewhere. You have investigators, don’t you, for those clients of yours? You mean to tell me you got no idea what happened to that girl after they carted you up-state?”
    â€œI didn’t even know she was still living here.” Digging into Jenn’s life would have meant caring about her again, and that would have been unbearable.
    She’d been shooting for med school. If that hadn’t worked out for her, there were other careers. Marriage. Kids. Whatever. Anything was better than the nightmare of him hunting her down after his parole would have been.
    What the hell was going on?
    â€œShe told you your daddy was dying?” Buford’squestion quivered with the same disbelief that still raged through Neal.
    â€œNo. She just stood there staring at the two of us, like she wanted to run and hide.”
    â€œUnderstandable.” Buford nodded. “Considering…”
    â€œConsidering what?” Damn it! “Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”
    Chicken-shit.
    Neal braced his elbows on his knees. “Just tell me what’s wrong with my father and what he needs, so I can make it happen and get out of the man’s way.”
    â€œOut of his way? You said Nathan’s dyin—”
    â€œAnd he doesn’t want me here any more now than before he got sick with whatever’s ailing him.”
    His father’s reaction to seeing him again had said it all. And it had hurt, when nothing in Neal’s world had hurt in a long time.
    The room filled with the sound of the clock ticking in the corner. Nothing else moved.
    â€œYou’re both full of it.” Buford inhaled deeply. “That man’s been waiting for you to show up for years. He—”
    â€œDoesn’t want a thing from me.” And forcing Nathan to say it again wasn’t going to solve anything. It certainly wasn’t going to fabricate an eleventh-hour relationship out of years of nothing.
    â€œWhat if your daddy needs you to stay, whether he wants you to or not?” Buford asked.
    â€œThat’s not going to happen,” he said. “I don’t belong here in the middle of what he’s going through,” he said. “Good or bad, this is what he wants. How we both dealt with what happened. All I can do for him now is make sure he has the best medical care available and stay out of his hair. If Jenn’s helping him, then I’m grateful.” Whatever was going on between them looked more adversarial than nurturing, but that ranked right up there with everything else he should be keeping his nose out of. “If you can’t tell me anything, I’ll see his doctor before I head back out of town. I’ll make whatever medical arrangements you think I legally