Chapter 6 - The Agreement Claire Never SignedThe envelope arrived at Bennett & Bloom on Monday morning.
Claire had chosen a public park in Brooklyn instead of one of Daniel’s restaurants, hotels, offices, clubs, or homes.
Neutral ground.
A bench.
A playground.
Hot dog carts.
No marble floors.
No staff hovering nearby.
Daniel wore jeans and a dark sweater.
Claire almost didn’t recognize him.
He stood beside the lake holding nothing.
No gifts.
Good.
Noah walked beside Claire slowly.
“You can change your mind,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“You can leave whenever you want.”
“I know.”
“And you don’t have to—”
“Mom.”
Claire looked at him.
“I know.”
Daniel saw them.
His posture changed immediately.
For all his confidence, he looked terrified.
Claire found that strangely reassuring.
Noah stopped several feet away.
“Hi.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Hi.”
Noah glanced at Claire.
She nodded.
He stepped closer.
Daniel crouched slightly but seemed to reconsider, perhaps deciding Noah didn’t need to be treated like a small child.
“I’m glad you came.”
Noah shoved his hands into his pockets.
“I have questions.”
“You can ask anything.”
“Even if it’s rude?”
“Yes.”
Noah looked directly at him.
“Why did you want Mom to get rid of me?”
Daniel’s face drained of color.
Claire almost intervened.
Then stopped herself.
This was why they were here.
Daniel sat on the bench.
“That’s a hard question.”
“You said I could ask anything.”
“You can.”
He exhaled.
“The answer is that I was selfish.”
Noah watched him.
“I cared too much about work. I cared too much about what my father thought. I was scared my life would change, and instead of being brave, I hurt your mom.”
“Did you hate me?”
“No.”
“You didn’t know me.”
“No.”
“So how could you want me gone?”
Daniel looked down.
“I wasn’t thinking about you as a person.”
Noah frowned.
“That’s worse.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
He wasn’t defending himself.
Noah continued.
“Mom said you didn’t know I was born.”
“That’s true.”
“But your dad did.”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate him?”
Daniel was quiet.
“I’m very angry with him.”
“That means yes.”
Claire almost smiled.
Daniel did too.
“You’re perceptive.”
“My teacher says I ask too many questions.”
“She sounds tired.”
Noah laughed unexpectedly.
The tension eased for half a second.
Then Noah asked, “Do you have other kids?”
“No.”
“Are you married?”
“No.”
“Girlfriend?”
Daniel looked at Claire.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Not currently.”
Noah nodded as if conducting an interview.
“Do you actually cook?”
“Apparently not pancakes.”
“Chef Alvarez says you know food.”
“I know how food should taste. Producing it is another problem.”
Noah considered this.
Then pointed toward a nearby cart.
“Can you buy me a hot dog?”
Daniel blinked.
“Sure.”
“No mustard.”
“Anything else?”
“Chips.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“Can I buy your mother lunch too?”
Noah shrugged.
“You can try.”
Claire gave Daniel a warning look.
But ten minutes later, the three of them sat on a park bench eating hot dogs.
Daniel Cross, billionaire hotel executive and restaurant owner, had ketchup on his sleeve.
Noah noticed.
“You missed.”
“I gathered that.”
“Mom says ketchup stains.”
“Your mother has always been unusually committed to pointing out my mistakes.”
Claire nearly choked.
Noah laughed.
The sound made Daniel smile.
A real smile.
Claire remembered that smile.
That was dangerous.
Over the next hour, Noah asked dozens of questions.
Did Daniel play sports?
Badly.
Favorite food?
Steak.
Favorite dessert?
Claire’s lemon tart.
Daniel said it before thinking.
Claire froze.
Noah looked between them.
“Mom made you lemon tart?”
“A long time ago.”
“Was it good?”
Daniel met Claire’s eyes.
“The best thing I’d ever tasted.”
Claire looked away.
Noah seemed fascinated by discovering that his parents had once existed in the same world.
“Were you guys in love?”
Silence.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
Daniel did not answer first.
Claire finally said, “Yes.”
Noah’s eyebrows rose.
“You loved him?”
“Yes.”
“But now you don’t?”
Claire looked at Daniel.
His face had become carefully blank.
“Noah, grown-up relationships can get complicated.”
“That means yes but you don’t want to say.”
Daniel coughed.
Claire glared at him.
“Don’t encourage him.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You coughed sarcastically.”
“I wasn’t aware that existed.”
Noah laughed again.
For an hour, they almost looked like something Claire had stopped imagining years ago.
A family.
That frightened her more than anger ever had.
When it was time to leave, Noah stood in front of Daniel awkwardly.
“Do I have to call you Dad?”
Daniel’s expression softened.
“No.”
“Can I call you Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Noah hesitated.
“Can I see the restaurant kitchen again sometime?”
“Whenever you want.”
Claire intervened.
“Within reasonable scheduling.”
Daniel nodded solemnly.
“Under strict maternal regulation.”
Noah grinned.
Then he surprised everyone by hugging Daniel.
It lasted perhaps two seconds.
But Daniel froze.
His hands hovered uncertainly before gently touching Noah’s back.
Claire watched his face.
When Noah stepped away, Daniel’s eyes were wet.
He turned his head quickly.
Noah either didn’t notice or pretended not to.
“Bye.”
“Bye, Noah.”
Claire and Noah began walking toward the subway.
After twenty steps, Noah turned and waved.
Daniel raised his hand.
Claire did not look back.
Not until they reached the corner.
Daniel still stood beside the bench.
Alone.
Watching them disappear.
That night, Noah talked nonstop.
“He’s not what I thought.”
Claire folded laundry.
“What did you think?”
“Like a villain.”
She paused.
“Why?”
“Because of what he did.”
Claire sat beside him.
“People can do terrible things without being completely terrible people.”
Noah frowned.
“Then what are they?”
“Complicated.”
Noah thought.
“Do you forgive him?”
Claire stared at a folded towel.
“No.”
“Could you?”
“I don’t know.”
Three days later, Daniel received a message.
From Noah.
Claire had allowed him to use her phone.
Can you teach me how to make steak?
Daniel answered within ten seconds.
Yes.
Then another message.
Mom says not at your apartment.
Daniel smiled.
Tell your mom she can supervise.
The reply took longer.
She says she’d rather supervise a volcano.
Daniel laughed out loud in the middle of a board meeting.
Everyone stared.
He stood.
“Meeting adjourned.”
His chief operating officer blinked.
“We haven’t discussed the Chicago acquisition.”
“It will still exist tomorrow.”
Daniel walked out.
For the first time in his adult life, business could wait.
But as Daniel’s relationship with Noah slowly began to grow, someone else was watching.
Victor Cross.
And Victor had decided that Claire’s return could threaten far more than Daniel understood.
Because nine years earlier, Victor had not merely hidden Noah’s existence.
He had hidden something else.
Something involving Claire’s mother.
May you like
Something Claire herself had never discovered.
And if Daniel kept digging into the past, Victor knew the truth would eventually surface.
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