Chapter 10

Kevin got up at seven and went to the phone. He picked it up to call Mr. Countrymen.

Jacksonville, Florida

Mike Countrymen walked into his office and sat down at his desk, ready to bury himself in paperwork, when the phone rang.

"Ugh!" he sighed. "What can it be this time?"

He reached over and picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I please speak to Mr. Countrymen?"

"This is him."

Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing, he had finally contacted him. He took a deep breath as his heart began to beat faster.

"I'm looking for Lily."

"Excuse me?"

"I was told that you know where Lily is."

"And who might you be?"

"Oh, my name is Kevin Richardson."

Mike listened to him, trying to place the name. He knew he had heard that name somewhere before, then he remembered the piece of paper that Lily had shown him.

"Why are you looking for her?"

Mike wanted to make sure that it was really him.

"It's personal."

"Look, I'm not going to tell you anything unless you tell me your reason for calling for her."

Kevin sighed. He didn't know whether he could trust him. He couldn't just go telling everyone that she was his daughter. But he had to find her. He had to see her again.

"She's my daughter."

"How old is she?"

He wanted to really make sure that Kevin was who he had said he was.

"She just turned fourteen, six days ago."

"How did you get this number?"

"Lily, called her grandmother thinking it was Robyn. And then her grandmother called me. I guess Lily told her that if she needed to contact Lily she could get her at this number, and this is the number I was given."

"What do you want?"

"What do you mean, what do I want?! I want to find my little girl!"

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"When she was two months old."

"Oh," he said, as he sat there trying to think of what he should do. "I think it would be best if you came down here so we could talk."

"I can be there in a couple of hours."

"Right now?"

"Yes. I want to see her as soon as possible."

"You might have to be here for a couple of days because of the circumstances."

"What kind of circumstances?"

"That will be explained. Unless you can't make it."

"No, no. I'll be there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Just give me directions."

"Okay."

Kevin grabbed a piece of paper and began jotting down directions.

"Now, call me as soon as you get here."

"Definitely."

"All right then. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Okay, bye," Kevin said as he hung up.

Kevin immediately pulled out a suitcase from underneath his bed. He opened his drawer and took out some clothes. Then he went into the bathroom, took a shower, and got dressed.

Just as he walked out of the bathroom ready to continue packing, he heard the doorbell.

"Ugh!" he said as he rushed downstairs to answer the door.

He swung the door open to see Nick standing there with a basketball underneath his arm.

"Whassup!" Nick said as he walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked as he closed the door.

"Obviously intruding on something," Nick said as he sat on top of Kevin's counter.

"Sorry Nick, I didn't mean it like that," Kevin said.

"No, it's cool, I understand. So what are you up to?" Nick asked.

"I'm going to Jacksonville for a couple of days," Kevin said.

"What?" Nick asked shocked.

"Let's go upstairs so I can finish packing and I'll explain the rest," Kevin said as he headed towards the stairs.

"All right," Nick said as he hopped off the counter.

Kevin walked into his room and began pulling out clothes.

"So what's in Jacksonville?" Nick asked.

"My little girl," Kevin said happily.

"You found Lily?!" Nick asked surprised.

"I'm pretty sure I did," Kevin said.

"Really? How? What happened?" Nick asked.

"I'll explain it to you later. Right now I just want to get to Jacksonville as fast as I can," he said. "Hey, on second thought."

"What?" Nick asked.

"Will you come with me?" Kevin asked.

"Me?" Nick questioned.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, I'm really nervous," Kevin said.

"Nervous?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. I have this knot in my stomach and it's only going to get worse as I get closer. I mean, is she going to like me? Does she know that I'm her father? What if she has another father? Will she love me? What if she doesn't want to see me?" Kevin questioned.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Nick said as he put his hand up, signaling Kevin to stop. "Don't even think like that Kev."

"I try not to, but those are possibilities," Kevin said.

"There are other possibilities. Like what if she needs you? What if she's been looking for you? What if she need you to love her?" Nick questioned.

"I guess I'll find out," Kevin said. "Will you go with me?"

"Sure," Nick said.

"Okay good," Kevin said as he closed his suitcase.

"Let's go," Nick said as the two of them walked out of Kevin's room.

Kevin grabbed his keys and cell phone. Then they got into their vehicles and drove to Nick's house.

Nick ran upstairs and started packing.

"I'm going to use your phone Nicky!" Kevin yelled.

"All right!" Nick yelled.

Kevin picked up the phone and called Brian.

"Hello."

"Hi Leighanne."

"Oh, hi Kevin."

"Is my cousin there?"

"Sure, just one second."

Kevin waited until Brian picked up the phone.

"What's up, Kev?"

"Hey Brian. I just called to tell you that Nick and I are going to Jacksonville for a couple of days."

"What? Why? When?"

"Right now. Nick's just finishing his packing."

"What's going on Kevin?"

Nick walked downstairs with his bag.

"Road trip!" he yelled.

"Yeah. Nick and I are just going on a little road trip," Kevin said.

"Don't lie, Kev. It's not like you to just do things spontaneously."

"I'll explain everything when we get back. Just wanted to let you know where Nick and I are going to be."

"You can't just give me a quick explanation as to why you're going to Jacksonville?"

"Nope."

"What is going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I promise I'll tell you when we come back, but right now we have to go."

"Bye Frick!" yelled Nick.

"You guys be safe, all right?"

"Of course. Talk to you later, Brian."

"Bye," he said.

Kevin hung up.

"Ready to go?" Kevin asked.

"Yep, let's hit the road," Nick said as they headed towards the door.

They walked out and put Nick's bag in Kevin's 4 Runner. Then they got in and took off.

"Oh wait. First can we stop at Mickey D's, I'm kind of hungry," Nick said.

"Sure," Kevin said as he stopped at the closest McDonald's.

They got their food and then they were on their way again. Kevin explained what had happened to Nick while he was driving.

Jacksonville, Florida

Mike walked out of his office and out into the front office.

"Well it looks like I'll be taking the rest of the week off," he said to the secretary.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. "You've been gone a lot this week."

"No, everything's fine. Just some personal business that I have to take care of," he said.

"Okay. Well I hope to see you next week," she said.

"Don't worry. I'll be here next week," he said as he walked out the door.

He got into his car and drove over to Kate's office.

He walked in and she was on the phone.

She smiled at him and mouthed to him to have a seat.

He sat down and waited for her to finish her conversation.

"So what can I do for you today Mike?" Kate asked as she hung up the phone.

"Can't I just come to visit?" he asked.

"I suppose. But I know that's not why you're here," she said as she smiled at him.

"Okay, so you're right. But one of these days I'm just going to stop by to say hi," he said.

"Sure," she said. "So what's your real reason for visiting?"

"It's about Lily. I think we may have found her dad," he said.

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Actually he found me. He called me about half an hour ago," he said.

"He called you?" she asked.

"Yeah. He said that Lily had called her grandmother thinking it was Robyn, her mother. Then Lily gave her grandmother my number, and then Kevin got it from her grandmother," Mike explained. "He's on his way here now."

"This is wonderful! Maybe we can finally get her in the right home," Kate said happily.

"Don't tell Lily though," he said.

"Why not?" Kate asked.

"I want to make sure that it is him and that he's going to provide her with what she needs," he said.

"Of course Mike. I'll start checking everything out right now," Kate said.

"I just don't want to get Lily's hopes up for nothing," he said.

"Yeah, I understand," she said. "Do you think he wants custody? Or what?"

"I don't know. I'll find that out later today," he said.

"Okay. But once you find out, contact me immediately. Because if he does, then I need to get some information from him and ask him a couple of questions," she said.

"Okay," he said. "I'm going to go check on Lily."

"All right. I'll be expecting your call later," she said.

He shook his head yes. Then he walked out.

He got into his truck and drove over to the Martins'.

"Hello," Jaime greeted. "Come in."

"Thanks," he said as he walked into the house.

"Lily's in the back yard," she said.

"She is?" he questioned.

"Yeah, follow me," she said as she walked towards the back of the house.

He stared out the door as he saw Lily.

She was sitting on a chair with her feet up on another one. She had a pair of headphones on as she concentrated on what she was writing. He guessed it was probably her journal.

"Are you going to go out there?" she asked.

"No, I don't want to disturb her. Can you just tell her that I stopped by?" he asked.

"Sure," Jaime said.

"Thanks," he said as he walked towards the door.