She stopped short when she came into daddy’s office and saw him with Duncan. Nia knew the man didn’t like Kyla for some reason, and Nia couldn’t understand why. She was one of the sweetest people she’d ever met.
“Baby, what’s up?”
“I need to talk to you.”
He held out a hand. “All right. Come here.”
She looked at Duncan and then back at him and shook her head. “No, it can wait.”
“Baby, I can see something is concerning you.”
“Yes, but it’s about my guest. We can talk later.”
Travis nodded, and she relaxed. She knew her daddy had seen the expression on Duncan’s face when he’d stopped that day.
“I’ll come to check on you in a bit.”
“Okay. Good night.”
****
Duncan watched the young woman walk out of the room. “What was she talking about?”
“It’s nothing you have to concern yourself with.” Travis stood to pour more scotch in his glass. “Would you like some more?”
“No, I’m good.” Duncan felt like he was missing something, or they were keeping something from him, and he hated that feeling. “Who was she talking about?”
Travis sat down and sighed. “Kyla. We all know you don’t like her for some unknown reason, so I know you probably don’t care to know what’s going on with her. I’ll help her with whatever she’s going through.”
Duncan felt like an ass. “It’s not that I don’t like her. I just don’t want that type of person in my life.”
“What? A little?”
“No, a gold digger.”
Travis’s eyebrows shot up. “Where in the hell did you get that idea from?”
“I heard her say she wanted a rich daddy, and I’ve dealt with women like that before. I don’t want to waste my time.”
Travis shook his head. “I don’t know what you heard, but either you took it wrong, or you didn’t hear the whole conversation. That girl doesn’t have a greedy bone in her body.”
“How well do you know her?” Duncan asked. Could he have missed something? He had tuned her out and left after hearing about wanting to be rich.
“About as well as anyone, but Nia tried to give her a doll because she doesn’t have one, and she said no. Nia told her she had so many, she’d never miss it, but Kyla still refused, saying something like if she didn’t earn it, she couldn’t take it. Does that sound like a gold digger to you?”
He shook his head.
“Do you want to know why Nia tried to give Kyla a doll?”
“Yes.”
“I guess Kyla has an old teddy bear she got from the hospital when she was born. It was the only toy she’d ever been given or ever had. The thing fell apart, but she still has it in a bag. She’s saving up money to have someone fix it.”
Jesus, maybe he had been wrong about her. “But what about what I heard?”
“How about we talk to the girls tomorrow, and they can tell us.”
Duncan hated having to wait but knew Nia was tired, and the other girls who had been there that day would be sleeping. “That works for me. I better head home. Tell me when you can get them together.”
“I’ll call the other daddies in the morning.”
Duncan shook his hand and left, getting in his car and driving home to an empty house.
He’d been thrilled when he found the place. It wasn’t a mansion but was still quite big with five bedrooms and six bathrooms. He’d had it in his mind that he’d find his own little, and they’d make a family together.
The backyard was what sold him on the house. The house was set on three acres, and most of it was in the back. At the far end of the property was his own small forest of trees. That turned into a lush lawn with a pool and jacuzzi hot tub. There was an outdoor kitchen with several seating areas. He spent most of his time out there if he wasn’t working.
Peace was something he craved nowadays. He could hear very little traffic or people since the houses were spread far apart. Most of the sounds were birds and the wind through the trees.
He decided to go to bed, hoping tomorrow he’d get some answers to all his questions, and he truly hoped he was wrong about Kyla. If he was, he had some apologizing to do.