An Act of Persuasion(37)

Mark considered talking to Ben again. Maybe more of a man-to-man than a man-to-adversary discussion. Mark had known Anna only a few weeks, but he liked her and the thought of letting her get hurt...again...didn’t sit well with him. It was like watching a kitten trying to hold her own against a lion.

If he told Ben that Anna deserved better, would he listen? Mark could imagine how that conversation would go over. But the truth was if Ben didn’t love her, he wouldn’t be able to make her happy. No matter how good a job he did at making himself believe it was love.

No one knew that better than Mark. Certainly not after Helen. It wasn’t fair to try to hold on to one thing at the expense of another. Mark cared about Anna enough to not want to see that happen to her.

Of course, there was his own life he should be concentrating on. But when had that ever stopped him? He was a meddler by nature.

“Mark?”

Mark jerked out of his thoughts, surprised he’d lost track of the people surrounding him. Maybe he was making that magical transition to civilian life faster than he realized. He stood and turned to the approaching man he’d been waiting for. Mark offered his hand but the man paused for a second then, as if reluctantly, he gave it a quick shake.

“Hi, Dom. It’s been a long time.”

“Thirteen years to be precise.” Dom pointed to the empty chair and Mark nodded as if to suggest he’d held it for him. Mark watched as the old man planted his hands heavily on the table and shuffled his legs slowly until he could sink onto to the chair.

“How are you?” Mark asked, also sitting.

“I’m old,” Dom said, stating the obvious. “It’s just arthritis if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t have Parkinson’s or anything else. I move slowly most days. Some days not at all. It’s not the worst thing an old man can deal with.”

“No, I don’t imagine it is. And Marie? How is she?”

“She’s old, too. She pretends...well, it’s why she wouldn’t come here today. She still wants to pretend. Pretend Helen didn’t die in that car wreck. Pretend her lungs aren’t making it impossible to breathe, especially on such humid days. Pretend she can keep up with Sophie.”

At the mention of his daughter’s name, Mark’s heart pinched. Sophie. For more than thirteen years she’d been only a name at the bottom of a card or email, the unknown recipient of a gift. A fuzzy face over the internet more recently. Now, she was about to become startling real and he wasn’t sure if he could handle it.

“Dom, you have to know how sorry I was to hear about Helen. I moved heaven and earth to get back for the funeral in time, but the damn transport plane I caught got rerouted to the Philippines and—”

Dom held up his hand. An imperious command for Mark to stop talking. Mark figured he deserved it. After all, excuses were exactly that. He hadn’t been there to help grieve with his daughter’s grandparents. Worse, he hadn’t been there for his daughter.

No, what was worse was that he was sitting in a café and wondering if the smartest thing he might ever do would be to start running and not look back. Yet his ass remained planted in the seat.

This is the part where you leave the life you thought you wanted all behind and start doing the right thing.

“I want to see her, Dom.”

The old man nodded. “You want more than that, I think.”

“Look, I know I have been the model of the absentee father, but it’s not like I abandoned her. I’ve stayed in communication at least once a month unless I had to go underground for some reason. And being back here isn’t all because of Helen. I started thinking that it was time for a change, time for me to be in the states and be a bigger part of her life. When I learned about Helen, I knew it wasn’t a choice anymore. I quit my job and came to where you are. I’ve started my own business. I’ve got plenty of money to support the two of us and the truth is I’m—”

Mark didn’t want to upset the man with the rest of what he’d intended to say. But it was unnecessary.

“You’re younger.” Dom sighed.

“Before Helen’s death she was touring in every city around the country. There was also talk of another European trip. Helen could keep up with that. Can you and Marie?”

Because Sophie wasn’t any average teenage girl. Sophie had the gift of music. As a child prodigy, she performed with many different orchestras showcasing her talent to audiences all over the country. Apparently his daughter was in high demand. She hadn’t played any concerts since her mother’s passing, but eventually that would change and she would be back on the road.