“Okay.” Michelle followed the young woman into Josh’s private office, and gazed around. She’d been in it a couple of times, but just for fleeting visits. Glancing at the different stacks of folders on the desk and credenza, she wondered if he were truly all caught up on the accounts.
Idly moving around, she glanced at two of the stacks. A name caught her eye from a label on a folder midway down the smaller pile. Sam Williams.
“Are these accounts awaiting billing?” she asked, looking closer.
“Naw, those are the inactive accounts,” the receptionist replied.
“Inactive?” Michelle repeated, puzzled. Wasn’t that folder for her father?
“Yes, cases that we’re no longer working on for one reason or another.”
Chapter Ten
Michelle couldn’t move. She glanced at the receptionist, but the woman was already walking back to her desk. When she was out of sight, Michelle shifted the top folders and picked up the one labeled Sam Williams. She went around the desk and sat in his chair, opening the folder.
There were notes and photocopies of faxes. Scanning the loose paper quickly, she flipped to the report sheet stapled to the back of the folder. She knew how he set up the folders, hadn’t she worked on enough of them?
From the reports, it looked as if Josh had located several men who matched some or all of the sketchy information they had. But he’d said nothing to her about progress. And the final note on the file was over a week old.
What was the folder doing in the inactive stack? A mistake?
A cold feeling settled on Michelle.
Or had Josh deliberately decided to hold off in locating her father to make sure she stuck around to take care of Penny?
Once the thought popped into her mind, she couldn’t shake it.
Last night—had that also been about keeping her around? Watching a four-year-old was difficult when a man had to earn a living and had no one to back him up when work overlapped into Penny’s child care limits. She understood a man being desperate to keep whatever child care he could.
Feeling sick, Michelle took a deep breath unable to believe he’d stopped work on the search. There had to be some sort of explanation. She believed she could trust him. She depended upon him to do his best to locate her father.
Now she questioned that. She had lied to her sisters and friends and work, pretending to be married, pretending to be in love—all because she trusted him.
Only, it hadn’t all been pretense. Not for her.
Michelle didn’t know how long she sat there, her mind spinning with different scenarios. None satisfied her. She had the proof in black and white in front of her.
“Hi Michelle, sorry I’m late. I thought I’d be finished before—”
Josh breezed into the office. When he caught sight of her, he stopped abruptly.
Michelle looked up. His face said it all. He dropped his gaze to the opened folder, glanced at the stack of inactive files, then raised his gaze to hers, guilt evident.
Slowly he closed the door behind him, shutting the two of them in his office.
“I can explain,” he said.
“I can’t wait to hear. This is the folder for my father, right?” she asked, closing it and resting her hands on it.
“Yes.”
“I found it in the inactive pile.”
“Temporarily,” he said, stepping closer. He never took his gaze from her.
“So the search was suspended.”
“Temporarily,” he said again.
“Why?”
Josh rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around the cluttered office as if searching for inspiration.
Michelle stood, feeling at a disadvantage sitting. Her heart pounded as she waited for Josh to explain away what she suspected. To have him tell her the folder was in the wrong pile.
So far he hadn’t.
“It isn’t going to take much longer to narrow the field to the right man,” he began. “I guess you read the file?”
She nodded.
“A quick trip to each location, ask a few pointed questions, and we’ll be able to verify his identity in no time.”
“Then why hasn’t it been done already?” she asked, keeping her voice even. She refused to let him know how much the discovery hurt her. She felt betrayed. After all she’d done, she deserved more than this.
“Why did you stop the investigation over a week ago?”
He met her eyes again. “Initially because I needed you to stay with Penny.”
“That was our bargain. I fulfilled my part.” Tears threatened. She’d done everything just as they had agreed.
Why hadn’t he?
“Was keeping a temporary mother so important you’d deliberately delay the search to make sure I didn’t leave? I said I’d stay until Caroline had her baby and Penny was settled at school.”
He nodded, drew in a deep breath. “You said that, but I wasn’t sure once you had what you wanted you’d stay. I only need a few more months. You haven’t known about your father all these years, would a few more months hurt?”
“Rather than give me the chance to decide that, you made sure things went exactly as you wanted by halting the investigation. I thought better of you, Josh.” She picked up the folder and skirted the desk, heading for the door.
“Wait, Michelle, there’s more.”
“After last night, I guess there’s more. How low can a man get?”
She pushed past him and almost ran from the office. She didn’t hesitate a second when Josh called after her.
The elevator was on the floor, its doors about to shut. Squeezing in at the last second, Michelle pushed the down button. She could hear Josh’s voice through the doors just before the car began its descent.
When she reached the sidewalk, she started walking. Her thoughts tumbled. She couldn’t focus on anything and yet she needed to think. Try to understand what was going on. And decide what she would do about it. Obviously last night hadn’t been the glorious revelation to Josh that she'd experienced. In light of what she learned today, it had to have been a ploy to keep her tied to him.
At least until he
