“And you have a little girl,” she says excitedly. “I mean, I could have a sister.”

Primal fear grips my heart. “Jenny, we’ve got to take this one step at a time. You—”

“I know. I didn’t mean to be pushy. I don’t want to crash in on your life or anything. I’d never do that. I’ve just felt so alone my whole life.” In an instant her face seems to collapse in upon itself. “You don’t know the things that have happened to me, Mr. Cage.”

“I can guess. Look, the first thing I should do is talk to Livy.”

“She won’t talk about it.”

“She’ll talk to me.”

Jenny is wringing her hands again. “I heard a rumor last night. Someone in the restaurant said you were seeing her again. They saw you out driving. I’ve been so weirded out by that. I thought you had a thing for the publisher of the newspaper.”

“Jenny . . . Livy may have been cruel to you, but she’s not a monster.”

“I’m telling you, she’s not rational about this.”

“Does Leo Marston know about you?”

“Oh, yeah.” She nods slowly. “I talked to him once. He heard me out, then told me that he had to honor his daughter’s wishes regarding me, and he expected me to do the same.”

“I’ll bet he offered you fifty grand to disappear.”

“Ha. He told me it probably would have been better if I hadn’t been born, but that I had been, so I had to do the best I could. Life is tough, he said. You believe that? Like his life was ever tough. That son of a bitch. But he scared me. He told me if I tried to make any public scandal, he’d have to take steps to ‘resolve the situation.’ And he wasn’t talking about legal steps. God, I wish I’d taped that conversation. I’d seen mob guys in Lacour’s office in New Orleans. They were basically okay guys, most of them. But Leo Marston . . . he’s not a nice guy. He made me feel like I’d be doing the world a service if I slit my wrists.”

“I’m sorry, Jenny. That’s all I can say right now.” Though I probably shouldn’t, I walk to her and take her hands in mine. They’re alarmingly cold. “I don’t know what the truth is. I honestly don’t. But if I am your father, I’ll take care of you. It’s too late for me to be a father in the real sense. But you won’t want for anything, and you won’t be alone.”

To see a grown woman break into a child is a terrible thing, and I will not speak of it here.