“Because you are your father’s son, and there is a certain way that St. Patrick men look at, talk to, and treat the women they love. Your father is that way with me, Kilo is that way with Nyomi, and now you are that way with Skye.”
My parents and I continued to enjoy lunch, eventually going our separate ways. They were headed to pick the twins up from the Kurries, and I went back to work.
When I arrived at my office, one of the administrative assistants stopped me.
“Coach Knox. A woman stopped by here to see you, but she didn’t leave her name. I told her she could wait, but she chose not to,” Lanisha said.
Everyone knew Skye, so I didn’t need to ask if it was her.
“Okay. If she comes back, send her back.”
“Will do.”
On my way to my office, I peeked into Kilo’s, but he wasn’t there, so I proceeded to my own. I worked for about an hour before I heard a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I called out, not looking up from the document I was reading.
The door slowly opened, and when I looked up, I thought I was hallucinating. If I wasn’t, this was one hell of a coincidence. I blinked a few times and actually rubbed my eyes before speaking.
“Olivia?”
“Hey, Knox. Long time, no see,” she greeted with a weak smile.
I knew damn well that my mother mentioning Olivia didn’t bring her to my doorstep, so this had to be a joke.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t hard. You only coach for the national championship-winning Black Elm Eagles.”
“Fair enough, but you only answered one question. What are you doing here?”
“I was in town, and I wanted to see you.”
“Try again,” I said, knowing that was some bullshit.
“We had nowhere else to go.”
“We?”
“Me and . . . my daughter.”
A miniature female version of me appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She had my whole face, freckles included, but she was Olivia’s skin tone, and I was too stunned to speak.
“What is it that you think I can help you with?” I asked when I remembered how to speak again.
“A lot has happened, and we don’t have anyone or anywhere to go.”
“And you thought I was the person you should come to?”
“I knew you wouldn’t want your daughter on the streets.”
And there it was. The confirmation I was looking for but didn’t need.
“Knox just askedus to meet him at Nyomi’s,” I told Stokely.
He’d come home for my party and would be here for two more days before returning to Texas.
“Did he say why?” he asked.