The Sweetest Love (Love Conquers All Book 5) by Victoria Wells Page A

meet him.” Roxy declared, dashing away angry tears.
    Come again? “Well… um… are you sure?” Reba stammered. This is not how she envisioned this conversation going.
    “Yes, I’m sure.” Oh boy, was she sure. She’d want to meet her cruel grandfather if he was still living, too. How could anyone treat her mother as if she was nothing more than a piece of trash? Didn’t they know she was the kindest, gentlest human being alive?
    She wiped another tear away. “Mom, how did you make it? How did you survive?”
    Tenderly, she cradled her daughter’s cheek with the palm of her hand. Looking deep into her eyes she told her, “You. You’re how I survived.” Reba kissed her daughter’s forehead and then her nose. This made Roxy smile.
    “From the moment the nurse put you in my arms and I held you close, I knew I had to make it. I knew I could never let what happened to me happen to you.” A tear slid down Reba’s face as she lovingly stroked Roxy’s cheek. “I knew it would be just me and you against the world.”
    Roxy touched her mom’s face mimicking her touch. “Just me and you.”
    That’s no longer true baby. “Not anymore. Remember you have two sisters.”
    Moving back to her position behind her mom, she went back to her task. She didn’t know how she felt about this new revelation. Honestly, part of her was excited and another part was fearful. What if they didn’t want to acknowledge her? What if they didn’t like her? But they might, a tiny voice encouraged.
    Breaking into her thoughts, Reba queried, “Don’t you want to meet them?”
    She hesitated before answering. “Mom… I don’t know.”
    Reba had to laugh at that one. “You crazy kid. You want to meet your deadbeat daddy, but not your sisters?”
    Roxy laughed, too. “That’s because I got a few things I need to say to the sperm donor.”
    Silence fell over them as Roxy gently combed through Reba’s hair. Thinking about it for a few more minutes, she said, “Mom, I think I’d like to meet my sisters.”

Chapter 14
    Roxy’s fingers moved over the number keypad at a rapid, rhythmic pace. One of the other accountants had called out sick on Friday and again this morning, leaving a quarterly variance analysis report uncompleted. The report was needed like last week. She didn’t mind being put under pressure. If anything it was helping to keep her mind off of her weekend of revelations.
    She hadn’t thought about her father in forever. Not since she was a little girl. She would never forget the look on her mother’s face when she had to tell her that the man who had been partially responsible for her existence didn’t want to see her. “But why Mommy?” she’d asked, her lips trembling as she wondered what she had done wrong.
    “Baby, I don’t know,” was all her mother could say as she softly rocked her.
    Boy had that hurt. Roxy’s childhood mind couldn’t comprehend why a daddy wouldn’t want to see his little girl. Especially when she had written him a letter telling him all the fun they could have together. She remembered wanting to wear the prettiest dress out of the three she owned to take her school picture. She’d wanted her picture to come out real pretty for her daddy.
    Although she had told her mom she wanted to meet her dad, what would she say to him? Would she badger him with a series of questions, such as: Why didn’t you tell my mom you were married with children? Why did you leave us and never look back? How come you never loved me?”
    Now she was having second thoughts. Did the answers to her questions really matter? Would he be honest with her, or just give her a bunch of sorry-behind excuses for why he hadn’t manned up and took care of her? Would he even care what it was like for her not knowing him growing up?
    The biggest bomb that her mom dropped on her was the news about having sisters.
    After her mom had drifted off to sleep, she tossed and turned most of the night. This was one of those