— “If you just show up, you’ll have to prove you aren’t some con artist looking for…” Zelda chuckled. — “Well, looking for nothing, because she has nothing but debt.”
— “What debt?”
— “Annie was sick for a long time. Taylor sold everything—her car, her furniture—to pay for the treatments. She took out loans. It didn’t save her mother, but the bills stayed. She’s been paying them off for years, living on nothing.”
Andrew listened, a mix of shame and a desperate need to fix things rising in his chest.
— “I’ll take care of it. All of it,” he said firmly. — “I’ll get her a house, pay the bills. Whatever she needs.”
Zelda shook her head.
— “You still don’t get it. She doesn’t need your checkbook. She needs a father. A real one. Someone who won’t disappear when his conscience is clean. Are you ready to actually be in her life? Be honest.”
Andrew was silent. He didn’t have an answer yet.
— “Here’s the address.” — Zelda handed him a scrap of paper. — “Taylor works at the pediatric clinic downtown. She’s a nurse. Eight to five, Monday through Friday. Do what you think is right. But remember: you already let these women down once. Taylor won’t survive a second time.”
Andrew took the paper. It was still warm from her hand.
— “Thank you,” he said quietly.
— “Don’t thank me. I’m doing this for my granddaughter. And for Annie—deep down, she wanted the truth out, even if she was too scared to say it.”
He stood up to leave. At the door, Zelda’s voice stopped him:
— “Andrew!”
He turned around.
— “Taylor is a lot like you. Not just her face, but her spirit. She’s proud and she’s stubborn. She won’t welcome you with open arms. She’ll probably try to push you away. But if you really want to be her father—don’t quit.”
He nodded and walked out.
For three days, Andrew couldn’t bring himself to go to the address. He paced his empty house, drank too much scotch, and stared at the photo he’d taken of the album page. Taylor. His daughter. A woman who had lived three decades without him.
On the fourth day, his business partner and friend, Mike, called.
— “Andrew, where have you been? We’ve got contracts waiting. Everyone’s worried. When are you coming back to the office?”
