"What?" Steve asked confused and surprised.
"What a bad joke is this?" Brooke asked Steve and he signaled for her to wait.
"You said your name is Cecilia Rollins. How old are you, Cecilia?" Steve asked the girl. He was afraid that some enemy was using the girl and Catherine's surname to lure him into an ambush.
"I am 11 years old, dad." Cecilia put her arms around his waist and hugged him. "I really wanted to meet you." Cecilia was thrilled and moved him too.
"Where is your mom?" Steve asked Cecilia.
"She's in the car parked on the street," Cecilia replied. Steve put his hand on her head and looked at the girl. Long brown hair, thin arms, eyes the same color as his, and Catherine's affectionate manner.
"I need to go to work now, I'm going to take you to your mom. Okay?" Steve told Cecilia and Brooke scolded him. "Steve ..."
"Okay, but can you call me later?" Cecilia asked and was already taking a phone out of the small bag she was carrying.
"Sure. Give me your phone number," Steve asked and she told him the number. "Now come on," Steve led her out onto the street and there was actually a car parked a few feet from his house.
Steve approached the car cautiously, but soon saw that Catherine was sitting in the driver's seat. She had both hands on the steering wheel and looked apprehensive. Their eyes met for a few seconds and then she looked away.
"I see you found your father, Cecilia," Catherine said to her daughter.
"Yes, mom. But he needs to go to work. He promised to call me later."
"I think I'm going to need your mom's phone number too," Steve said to Cecilia, but he looked at Catherine. They both knew they needed to talk.
"My number is the same, Steve. But I think you already know that," Catherine replied and embarrassed him. She sometimes received calls from an unknown number and the person on the other side always hung up after hearing her voice. They both looked at each other again and there was a lot of pain and resentment in their eyes.
'Come, daughter. Let's let your dad go to work, "Catherine told Cecilia and the girl hugged Steve again." Bye, dad. Talk to you later."
"Bye, Cecilia. It was great to meet you," Steve said to Cecilia. He didn't want the girl to be frustrated. There was much to be said between him and Catherine, but the girl was not to blame for anything.
Cecilia got in the car and waved at him before Catherine took her away.
Steve waved back and watched them go. Brooke was looking at him from the gate when he turned to go home. She looked upset and she sure was right. "What the hell!" Steve murmured before going to explain to his wife.
PS: Thank you for your review in the first chapter.