Chapter Twenty-Five
The flight took barely an hour, and a car waited to drive them straight to the hospital. As they pulled beneath the hospital’s portico, Tasha’s heart began to jackhammer in her chest and her blood pounded in her ears.
Especially when they learned that her father hadn’t been admitted under the name Summerfield.
The smells, antiseptic and sterile, turned her stomach. Soft-soled shoes screeched on the linoleum floors. The elevator walls closed in on her. The one positive thing she held on to was that Daniel had learned at Reception that her father wasn’t in ICU or even CCU, the coronary care unit. Which meant he wasn’t critical, thank God.
“Thank you,” she said to Daniel as the elevator doors slid open silently. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
He’d done everything—helped find her family, flown her to the hospital, arranged a car. He’d even booked a hotel room for later, in case she was too tired to head back to San Francisco tonight.
But more than that, he’d simply been there, a solid warmth surrounding her, giving her comfort when she needed it most.
She’d lost her ability to trust when her father sold her out. But in this moment, she trusted Daniel with everything. And knew, deep within her heart, that he’d never betray her.
Ever.
Her father was in a private room. It made her sick to think he had paid for it with stolen money, but she still knocked on the door.
Drew opened it. “Thank God you’re here, Tash.”
In the three months since she’d seen him, her brother’s short, dark hair had grown scraggly. His shirt was rumpled, his jeans baggy, his face gaunt, and his eyes sunken in dark circles. He looked ten years older.
She threw herself into his arms, hugging him so tightly her muscles hurt. Drew hugged her just as hard.
Then she stepped back to say, “This is Daniel Spencer.” Daniel shook her brother’s hand as though Drew were an equal, rather than a man who’d helped bilk people out of their money. “Daniel, this is my brother, Drew.”
Drew’s eyes widened, obviously realizing who Daniel was.
“Before we go in—” She pulled her brother into the hall. “What’s going on?”
He closed the door. “Dad was complaining of chest pains and trouble breathing. We thought it was a heart attack, but—” He glanced back and lowered his voice as if their father could hear through the door. “His doctor was here just a few minutes ago and now they think he might have had a panic attack. The symptoms can sometimes mimic a heart attack.”
Her father was the least panicky person she knew, always in control. But maybe that was just a lie too. Still, she was grateful to feel the weight of her fear that her father might die lift off her like a rising air balloon. Yet there was anger too, a simmering anger she felt guilty about when Drew needed her to be strong.
“They want to monitor him overnight,” Drew went on. “I’m sorry I made you come all the way down here just for a panic attack. But I was worried.” With a deep sigh that revealed his rattled emotions, he added, “And I wanted to see you.”
She held his hand tightly. “Of course you had to call me. Daniel brought me as soon as humanly possible.”
“I told Dad you were coming,” Drew said. “He thought it was a bad idea.”
“Why?” She snapped her teeth shut on the word. “Because he didn’t want to worry me? Or because he thought I’d turn him in?”
“Tash.” Her brother’s dark eyes pleaded with her.
She felt Daniel at her side then, his strength seeping into her. She didn’t want to turn into a bitter person because of her family.
She knew she had to forgive herself. But did the path to that mean forgiving her father first?
She took a deep breath. “I better go in and see him.”
The room was small, with a bathroom cubicle, a chair, a tray table, and enough room for the medical machines that monitored her father’s vital signs.
She almost didn’t recognize the man lying in the bed. Like Drew, his cheeks were gaunt. His steel-gray hair was dull, his skin sallow, his jowls hanging. The imposing figure was gone, and all that remained was a frail old man.
And it terrified her.
“Daddy.” She hadn’t called him that since she was a child, and maybe she did so now because she needed him to be the big, all-powerful father he’d once been.
Except that man had been an illusion.
Daniel’s hand squeezed hers, and she drew courage from him. He possessed true strength made up of kindness and heart.
With Daniel by her side, she was able to take her father’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” he tried to bluster, but he no longer had the power for that. “I don’t need to be here. Drew’s just an old biddy.”
“You might have been having a heart attack. He did the right thing.”
“Bah,” her father grumbled. “And who’s he?” He jutted his chin at Daniel.
“This is Daniel. He brought me here to see you.” And I love him.
Drew broke in before their father could make a derogatory comment. “Thank you for bringing Tasha. We appreciate it.”
Daniel tipped his head slightly in acknowledgment. “She needed to be here.” He squeezed her hand. “And I needed to be here for her.”
His words and his solid presence warmed her. There was so much in that simple statement.
Her brother’s gaze flashed from Daniel and back to her, and she knew Drew could see the importance of their relationship. So did her father, his brow furrowing.
“Dad.” She wouldn’t call him Daddy again. The past was gone, and the man she’d thought he was had never truly existed. “We need to talk.” She let go of Daniel’s hand to take her father’s in both of hers. “About what happened. About the resort.”
Her father sank back against the pillow. “I’m tired.”
“It was a panic attack.” She wouldn’t have pushed if he’d had a heart attack. But with nurses and doctors just outside the door to tend to him, she decided he was well enough to answer her questions.
“I’m still tired.”
“And we still need to talk. I’ve had a lot of time to think.” She tightened her hold on his hand when he closed his eyes. “In fact, I’ve been angry with myself for not seeing the truth.”
His hand was weak in hers, not returning her grip, and for a long moment, she thought he would ignore her. But at last he opened his eyes. “You weren’t supposed to see. I wanted to shield you. That’s why I made you an outside contractor, so you wouldn’t be affected by any of it.”
“For God’s sake,” Drew burst out, “tell her the truth, Dad. She deserves it after everything we’ve put her through. And I deserve it too.”
Her father pierced him with a long look, but her brother didn’t back down. Tension simmered in the air between them like steam rising.
“All right, if you really want to know the truth, your brother is the one who insisted on making you a subcontractor. And he insisted on not letting you go to the site. But I concurred that it was better to keep you at arm’s length.”
Drew stood then, his back suddenly straight and some of the haggard strain leaving his face. “You’re not tainted by this, Tasha. No one ever blamed you or thought any of this was your fault.”
Daniel tensed. She sensed his need to do battle for her, but she couldn’t let him. Three months ago, instead of fighting, she’d run to the mountains, licking her wounds. But she was stronger than that. She knew it now, even if she hadn’t known it before.
With a hand on Daniel’s arm, she willed him to relax. Then she said what had to be said. “You’re wrong, Drew. I am tainted, by all the lies if nothing else. But I love you for trying to make me believe I’m not.”
Her family wasn’t Daniel’s family. They weren’t good or pure. But they were her family, and no matter what, she could never stop loving them, flaws and all. She didn’t have to be like them, but she wouldn’t stop loving them.
She’d blamed herself, her blindness, but it was time to forgive. Daniel had taught her that, but she hadn’t believed, not until this moment, when she saw how the seeds of her blindness had been born.
Out of love.
“I understand now.” She gazed at her father for long, agonizing moments, at his haggard features, his downhill slide. “I love you, Dad. I always have and I always will, no matter what you’ve done. Because you made me feel loved. But I’m not a child anymore, and I can’t stand by and watch you destroy Drew. And I won’t watch you destroy other people either. You have to stop making excuses, saying that it was okay because I was only a subcontractor.”
“But it was only greedy people looking to get rich quick,” her father insisted.
She held up a hand to stop him from saying more. For the first time, her father shushed. She sensed Daniel’s outrage in his bristling body, and her outrage equaled his.
“Don’t you dare try to justify what you do,” she said. “You’re not Robin Hood. You’re not some sort of do-gooder.” She narrowed her eyes to a glare. “And if your lies and cheating and stealing weren’t bad enough, you dragged Drew into it.”
“Your brother—” her father started.
She couldn’t bear another excuse, so she turned to Drew. “Tell me the truth. Do you really want this for the rest of your life? To go on stealing? Because that’s what it is.”
“I’m tired.” His cracked voice sounded so weary. “And I’m done. I’ve been done since…” He shook his head sadly. “Since I lost you three months ago, Tash.”
He’d lost her the first time he’d helped her father with one of his schemes. Because he’d lost himself. But now that they’d found each other again, she wanted so badly to believe him. And to believe in him.
Maybe this was one of those times when looking on the bright side and seeing the best in people wasn’t a flaw.
She might end up being wrong for giving her brother a second chance. But she sensed that her belief in him would help the brother she loved actually become the good person he was capable of being. If she had faith in Drew and was there to buoy him up if he ever doubted, then maybe he could eventually find the will to trust in himself.
Maybe that’s what family was all about. Believing in them enough to make sure they believed in themselves. Just as Daniel’s mother believed in every one of her kids.
She went to her brother and took his hands in hers. “I believe in you, Drew.”
“You shouldn’t.”
But she wasn’t that easily scared away. Not anymore. “I do.”
Then she turned back to her father. “Before I leave tonight, you’re going to promise me two things.”
“What?” Her father looked mulish. But also a little cowed by her.
“That you’re going to pay back every single penny to every single person you owe.”
“Impossible!”
“I’m sure you have records of all of them,” she replied in a firm tone. “And if not, I’m happy to find them for you and send each one a personal note to let them know their money is on its way back to them. Got it?”
He looked like a chastised child, pouting after being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Fine.”
“Good. And second, you’re going to stop your cons, once and for all. If I find out that you haven’t—and believe me, I will—I’ll make sure the feds have enough information about what you’ve done to lock you up. Forever.”
He stared at her. For a long while. “You’ve changed.”
“I have.” She wouldn’t apologize for finally finding her strength. “And now it’s time for you to change. Long past time.”
His mouth was set in a firm line. But he nodded.
Tasha felt as though she’d sprinted an entire marathon. But she still had one more very important thing to say. “I love you both. You’re my family. I only want you to be able to do what’s good and what’s right. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Her father picked at the white sheets. No matter what he said, she believed the things he’d done weighed on him. The panic attack proved it.
Or, if she took off her rose-colored glasses, maybe he was just afraid of getting caught.
But even if her father was a lost cause, she believed in Drew. Her brother could change—and she wouldn’t give up on him until he did.
Gathering Daniel’s hand in hers, leaning into him for the comfort he had always been so quick to give, she said to her brother, “Tell me where you’ve been the past three months.”
And she listened to their story.
* * *
Daniel was so damn proud of Tasha, his heart felt near to bursting. Even as he’d wanted to crush her old man for what he’d done to her, for the pain he’d caused, for his betrayal. For making Tasha lose her ability to trust. For making her doubt herself.
Daniel wanted to help her heal, and healing was in every word she’d said. She’d gone to bat for her brother and hadn’t accepted her father’s excuses. But neither had she withheld her love.
Love was the most important thing.
No matter what her family had done.
It was something he wished his mother and father had realized about themselves long before now. His mother had forgiven everyone else—but she hadn’t forgiven herself. If she had, she never would have kept her secrets from him. She would never have been afraid of what he’d think of her.
He could only hope that after their conversation, she’d finally seen that she had nothing to ask his forgiveness for. In fact, his mother had helped him find Tasha, to accept Tasha just the way she was.
No one was perfect. But Tasha was still perfect for him.
It was after midnight by the time they left her father’s room. It had been a long, long day, and she leaned into him as they rode the elevator to the penthouse suite he’d booked. He’d wanted to give her luxury, something she could totally unwind in, with a jetted tub, thick comforters, and the softest mattress.
Inside the suite, he sat her down on the sofa in the sunken living room and went to one knee in front of her to remove her sandals.
A colossal fruit basket sat on the coffee table, compliments of Walter Braedon, owner of the Regent Hotel. In addition, champagne chilled in a bucket, and two crystal flutes sparkled in the lamplight.
She flopped back against the sofa, and when he began to massage her feet, she groaned her appreciation. Her eyes closed, she asked, “Do you think my father will change?”
“I don’t know.” He always wanted to be honest with her. “But your brother already has.”
They’d left him in her father’s sick room. The two had roamed the country for the last three months, never staying any one place for long, always paying cash, which meant they’d slept in cheap motels that didn’t require credit cards, eaten fast food, and probably drunk too much as well.
“Do you know what I think? Your brother only stayed because he thought your father needed him.” Daniel worked up her right leg, then the other, unknotting her calf muscles.
“That feels so good.” Opening her eyes, she held out her hand. “But come here beside me. I want to apologize.”
He gathered her into his arms, the place he always wanted her to be. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I do. When we first met, I was mean to you.”
He laughed. “You really don’t know the meaning of mean.” He’d loved her feistiness, her banter.
“I refused everything, questioned everything, like your intentions were suspect. Like you weren’t worth trusting.”
“Sweetheart,” he whispered. “What else were you going to think about some strange guy after what you’d been through with your own family?”
She shook her head. “The thing is, I did my friends a disservice too. I left them in order to punish myself. But I ended up punishing them as well. I want them back. I want to explain everything and make it right again.”
He laid his hand over hers. “They’ll understand.”
“I hope so. It’s taken me a while, but I think I finally see what your story about Whitney and your mom and Evan really means.” She looked into his eyes. “If you never believe in people, if you can’t see the good in them, then you can never truly believe in yourself. So if I want Drew to see the good in himself, I have to see it too. And if I want my friends back, I have to believe we can all forgive.” She gave him a small smile, but one that lit her eyes. “Even ourselves.”
His heart swelled, and the words came out of him in a rush.
“That’s exactly what I want my mother to hear. That she needs to forgive herself. It’s as important as forgiving other people. Maybe more so.”
“What could your mother possibly have done that needs forgiveness? She’s perfect.”
“My mother is incredible. But no one is perfect.” When Tasha’s eyebrows went up in question, he explained, “I’d been getting these weird signals from her ever since I came to the mountains. Like there was something she was hiding from me, something that made her really uncomfortable. She even hung up on me once.”
“Why?”
“It turns out that she got pregnant with me before she and my dad were married. And she ran away from him. She didn’t even tell him about me.”
Tasha looked shocked. “What was she planning to do?”
“Her mom wanted her to give me away, but she insisted on keeping me. She just wasn’t going to tell Dad.” Then he told Tasha the whole story.
Talking about it wasn’t a betrayal of his mom, it was an affirmation of everything she’d been through.
And it was an affirmation of everything Tasha had gone through as well.
“I always thought the perfect relationship meant that you never argued, you never hit any bumps in the road, you always saw eye to eye on everything, that you never kept a secret or made a mistake that hurt the one you loved.” He cupped Tasha’s cheek, stroked his finger over her bottom lip. “But now I can see that perfect simply means learning how to forgive and to accept and to do everything you can to love with your whole heart.”
She turned into his touch, kissing his palm. “I was afraid I might not be worthy of your family. That they were pillars of strength I could never live up to. But it turns out that they’re human, just like me.”
“Like me too.” He let his gaze wander over every strong, striking feature of her face. “It was your love that helped me realize I had to be brave enough to talk to my mom. To ask her what was wrong.”
“I love that we’ve given each other strength,” she said. “Your love helped me face my father and my love helped you talk with your mom. You and me together—we feel exactly right. Maybe,” she said with a grin, “even a little bit perfect.”