Custom Built (Fast & Fury #1) - Chantal Fernando Page 0,4

women, that I know, but luckily he and Georgia, his former wife, are over now. I don’t know much about what happened with them, but I think she left him or something.

“Some friends of my daughter,” he says casually, watching my reaction.

I glance between him and my dad. “Daughter?”

What? As far as I know, Neville only has a stepdaughter, Skylar. We’ve hung out a couple of times, and she is a really cool chick. But we’ve been busy and haven’t had a chance to catch up in a while.

“Did you knock someone up since we last talked? When did all of this happen? What else have I missed?”

Dad stands next to me and wraps his arm around me. “He didn’t know about her until recently, and no, she’s not a baby. She’s around your age. Her name is Abbie. I saw a picture of her; she has Neville’s eyes.”

My mouth opens and closes. I don’t even know what to say right now. “Who is her mother? How did you find out? I think I’m going to need a stiff drink.”

So I have a cousin on my dad’s side. I mean, I have Skylar too, but it’s different since we never spent that much time together growing up. Her mom never really allowed that; maybe because we aren’t blood related she didn’t think it was important. But now Uncle Neville has a daughter we all didn’t know about, and now she’s about to hook me, the cousin she’s never even met, up with a job.

Wonderful.

I’m sure she’s going to have a great first impression of me. I haven’t even met her and I’m already calling in a favor.

I’ve always wanted that family connection, and ever since my mother died, I’ve only had my dad and my uncle. There’s never been anyone my age, or any female influence around me. The thought that I could have that closeness now with Abbie makes me feel hopeful.

We all head outside and I say hello to everyone else, all my dad’s good friends who have been around our family since I can remember. Plate of food in hand, I find a quiet spot in the corner and sit down when my dad finds me.

“You all right?” he asks, tone gentle. “I’m glad you came here today.”

“I’m fine,” I reply, looking down at my plate. “And me too. I’m a little bummed about my job, but you know these things happen. And I’m still processing the whole Abbie thing.”

“Aren’t we all,” Dad murmurs. “He’s going to bring her around soon, so if you could be here, that would be great. She really wants to meet us, but couldn’t come today because she had something going on. She doesn’t have much family.”

“I’d love to meet her. How do you feel about having a niece?” I ask.

I’m still in shock about the whole thing, but in a good way. I’ve always wanted a bigger family, and now I have someone around my age. I hope the two of us will hit it off and be close. I’ve always wished I had a sibling, but it’s not like that’s going to happen, so a cousin is second best. It will be nice to have someone else I can call cousin.

“I feel...good. And I haven’t seen my brother this happy in a long time, so it’s really nice to see,” Dad says, smiling to himself. “He’s always been the best big brother to me, and he deserves the world, so it makes me happy to see him so happy. I always thought he’d make a wonderful dad.”

“That’s cute,” I say, nudging him playfully with my shoulder. “She does have a great dad, and an amazing uncle, too. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I have a good feeling about it all,” he says, bringing his brown eyes to me. “Everything happens for a reason.”

He’s always thought that and had an optimistic outlook on life, even though he lost his wife, which has always puzzled me a little. Instead of becoming bitter and cynical at the world, he has always been the glass-half-full type of man, and I love that about him. It’s how I try to look at the world as well.

“And about your job, you should have called me,” he adds after a few seconds of silence. “You know that’s what I’m here for. There’s no reason for you to stress out and take it all upon yourself.”

“I know, Dad,” I say. “But it’s fine. It’s not the end of