CHAPTER NINE

      MADDIE WAS SHOCKED when her father called and asked her to come to dinner. Alone.

      They ate in the formal dining room. Even with the leaves removed from the table, it would easily seat six.

      Maddie sat to her father’s left and swirled her soup with her spoon, pretending to eat.

      Her father didn’t seem any more at ease than she felt.

      Finally she gave in and asked, “Why am I here?”

      “It’s been a long time since we had a family dinner.”

      “There’s a two-page magazine spread to prove otherwise.”

      He shook his head, an expression she couldn’t quite decipher on his familiar features. “That is not the same.”

      “I’m not sure what you mean then.”

      “You and me. Family.”

      “We stopped being a family when Mom died.” She didn’t say it with accusation, or even anger.

      He could thank the therapist he didn’t know about for that, but it was still the truth.

      “It was never my intention for that to happen.”

      She couldn’t hold back a small scoffing sound. “You sent me to boarding school within months of her death. I’d say your intentions were pretty clear.”

      “That was a mistake.”

      Something inside Maddie cracked at that admission, but she merely shrugged. What could she say? Yes, it had been a huge, painful mistake.

      Somehow agreeing didn’t seem like the thing to do, though. Not least of which because no acknowledgment now could change the consequences of his choice when she was fifteen.

      “I didn’t know what to do,” he admitted with a candidness rare for Jeremy Archer. “I failed your mother and I was terrified of failing you, so I sent you away, hoping they could do for you at school what I was so clearly not qualified to do at home.”

      Maddie stared at him as an emotional maelstrom swirled inside her. “Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

      It was an old joke, but man, was it appropriate.

      Her dad barked out a laugh. “I told Viktor this wouldn’t be easy.”

      “He wanted you to talk to me?” Why wasn’t she surprised?

      “Yes.” Jeremy sighed. “Viktor thinks our relationship is salvageable.”

      “He’s an optimist.”

      “He is.”

      Giving up on the pretense of eating, she set her spoon down. “You sound surprised by that fact.”

      “It’s not a side of him I noticed before.”