Conor threw the newspaper across the floor in disgust and ordered the nurse to turn off the TV. Steven had told him it was bad. Jude had been on the phone threatening to sue half the country. But none of that would do any good. Emily had betrayed him. After all that had happened between them, she was the reason his whole life was laid open for the newspapers to pick over.

“Mr. Dunne, there’s a police officer outside. Says he needs to speak to you.”

“Thank you, please send him in.” Conor avoided eye contact with the poor woman who had been witness to everything the previous day. She hadn’t said a word to the press for which she had been called a cold fish. Instead of the professional she obviously was. He made a mental note to do something to thank her. The hospital staff were not allowed to accept personal gifts but there had to be something he could do to express his gratitude.

“Thanks for seeing me, Mr. Dunne. I just wanted to update you on your case.”

“Please sit down, Sergeant”

“We caught the man who shot you. Seems you interrupted a burglary. He wasn’t intending to kill anyone. You scared him. The forensics back that theory as the bullet seems to have ricocheted and hit you. You were lucky. Anyway, should be an open and shut case. He’s had prior arrests.”

Conor listened to the police officer outline the case against the man, but he couldn’t help thinking they had gotten it wrong.

“Did you match his prints to the scene or the bullet to his gun?’

“No. He wore gloves and we haven’t found the weapon. We have advised Ms. Williams she is safe to return to her property. There have been no more threats other than the usual nasty comments online. As far as we are concerned, the case is closed.”

“I’m not sure that it’s safe for her to return home.”

The officer clearly didn’t agree with him, nor did he seem to like his opinion being questioned.

“Miss Williams agrees with us and is on her way home now. I suggest you speak to her if you feel differently. Have a good day, Mr. Dunne. Hope you recover quickly.”

As soon as the officer was out the door, Steven was arriving through it.

“Morning, sir.”

“Since when do you call me that?” It had taken a long time for Steven to drop his army training and stop calling Conor “sir”. Steven knew it irritated him…could he be doing it on purpose?

“Sorry. Morning, boss.”

The sarcastic reply proved Steven was pissed. What had he to be angry about? It was Conor who should be angry. If Steven had obeyed him, his mother would not have turned up at the hospital.

“You going to explain yourself?”

“No, boss.”

“You brought my mom here, in direct violation of my instructions.”

“Not exactly. Ms. Williams asked for her contact information and I provided it.”

“Since when do you answer to Ms. Williams? I gave you strict instructions my mom was never to be anywhere near me.”

“Ms. Williams was worried about you. You lost a lot of blood. She believed it was wrong to keep the fact you had been shot from your mom. After her grandmother spoke about losing her son, I agreed with them. So if you want to be angry, be angry at me but don’t take it out on a lovely woman and her frail grandmother.”

Gertie, frail? As if. That woman was as strong as an ox.

“I pay your salary, Steven.”

“Not anymore.”

“What?”

“I will stay until you get someone else, but I won’t work for someone who treats people like you treated that girl last night.”

Shocked, Conor sat up straighter in his bed. “Let me get this straight. You’re resigning after working for me for over five years because I lost my temper one time?”

“No, sir.”

“Stop calling me ‘sir’, darn it! Explain yourself.”

Steven gave Conor a look.

“Please, Steven, I’m lost. Maybe it’s the injury or the painkillers, I don’t know which end is up right now.”

He thought he saw a glimmer of a smile cross Steven’s face, but it was gone so fast, he wasn’t sure.

“You didn’t stop to listen to anyone before you gave that poor girl a tongue-lashing. She did nothing but try to look after you. She only left the hospital once and that was to get her nana home. The old lady needed to rest but wouldn’t leave without Ms. Williams. She was worried about you.”

Already uncomfortable, Conor felt even worse as he realized the truth in Steven’s words.

“It was my idea to pretend Ms. Williams was your fiancée.”

“Your idea? But why?”

“It was the only way to get her into the ICU to see you. And I thought…well, it’s been shown that sometimes patients recover more quickly when they have a loved one nearby.”

Conor’s stomach churned. He had been a complete fool, both to Emily and to Steven.

“I never imagined my actions would set in motion such a train wreck,” Steven said, his tone ever so slightly softer.

“You didn’t,” Conor said, feeling the weight of his responsibility for the whole fiasco settle in. “I did.”

“I won’t argue with you there. I don’t think I will forget the look on Miss William’s face for a long time. You were pretty horrible to her.”

Shame made Conor flush. He couldn’t argue. His friend was right.

“I’m sorry, Steven. And I’ll apologize to Emily as well. But what about my mam?”

“Your mom is staying with a friend.”

“My mam doesn’t have any friends.”

“Crystal. She arrived shortly after your mom did. She took her home and said she would look after her.”

“Oh, for goodness sake. Mam needs to go back to wherever she came from. Have you seen the papers? This is one huge forsaken mess.”

“So get Jude Ryan to sue or threaten to sue them and make them shut up.”

“It’s not that simple. There is some truth to what they’re saying and it’s a lot harder to bury true stories.”

“So tell them the truth.” Steven shrugged, looking as casual as Conor had ever seen him. “Don’t just lie there moaning. Do something.”

“According to you, I’ve just escaped death’s door. And you’re already giving me a lecture?”

“You didn’t come close to meeting our savior. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and wise up. That girl is the best thing to ever happen to you. You need to fight to get her back. Her actions, as unappreciated as they were, were all for your benefit. She had your best interests at heart, and now look at what the papers are saying about her.”

Conor lay back on his pillows, feeling rather lightheaded. Steven was right. Emily was completely innocent and now her life was being exposed for all to see. Worse, she was painted as a gold digger, something as far from the truth as you could find.

“Steven, please don’t leave. I’m sorry. I will fix this. There are things you don’t understand.”

“About your dad?”

“Yeah.” Conor didn’t want to think of his dad. He could still see his face when he concentrated hard enough. He used to come home from the office and leave his briefcase at the door before swinging Conor up into his arms. When Conor grew older and too big to swing, his dad still made a point to seek him out and talk to him about his day or rugby. Whatever Conor was into at that time. Then it had changed. His dad was rarely home and when he was, he didn’t seem to care about anyone.

“Earth to Conor.”

“Sorry, I was thinking.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“That’s crap and you know it. Your dad died when you were ten. There is no shame in admitting that. You weren’t responsible and neither was your mom. It happened. You need to let it go and move on.”

“I guess it made me fight to become so wealthy I would never be so worried about money to do what my dad did. I wish I could have told him we would be fine. So long as him, mam and me were together, it didn’t matter about the big house, the fancy school or clothes. None of that mattered. It still doesn’t.”

“Your mom told me the whole story. You need to talk to her.”

“I don’t think I am up to talking to my mam now,” Conor said.

“You have to talk to her sometime. Might as well make it today. I will bring her in.”

“Wait. You said she was with Crystal. “

“She is. Crystal is in the waiting room, too.”

Conor groaned. Steven and Crystal weren’t going to take no for an answer. “You best bring her in, then.”

“Conor, just be patient and listen to her.”

“I’ll try. That’s all I can promise right now.”

Conor tried to sit up straighter, ignoring the pain in his leg, dreading the encounter with his mam. He hoped she was sober.

“Conor. I came as soon as I heard.” His mam walked into the room. She looked well, given her history. Trim, healthy and sober.

“Thanks.”

“Look, Conor, I know you don’t want to see me. But Steven insisted I tell you the truth about your dad. I can’t have you thinking he wasn’t a fine man.”

Conor stared at her, waiting. She couldn’t believe his dad was right to do what he did.

“Your dad was a wonderful man. A fantastic husband and amazing father. He did what he did for us. He got involved with the wrong people. He wouldn’t have made the investments he did if he had known the company was involved in money laundering for a well-known Irish terrorist organization. When he found out, he threatened to become a whistleblower. The people he was involved with—well, they weren’t the nicest.”

“Ha, that’s an understatement.”

“Be quiet and let me finish.”

Conor wanted to protest but didn’t. The look in her eyes stopped him.

“They told him if he did anything to jeopardize their operation, they would kill you and me.”

Conor’s heart thumped hard. “Why wasn’t I told any of this?”

“For your protection. Your dad figured they would kill him anyway. So he left letters hoping if he died, even if it looked like an accident, someone may look closer at his financial records. And that’s exactly what happened. It sparked one of the biggest criminal law cases ever held in Irish courts. So you see, Conor, your dad was a hero. Not a criminal.”

Conor stared in silence at his mam, his heart begging to believe the story, but his head wouldn’t.

“If that’s true, someone would have told me. How come we didn’t lose the investments he made?”

“We did. We lost everything. Our home, our friends, even our reputation. But your father had put some money in a trust to make sure you could still go to school. He did that when you were born so it wasn’t related to the investigation and therefore it couldn’t be seized.” His mam took a deep breath. “I didn’t handle it well. I know I let you down. I let myself down but most of all, I failed your father. He did his best to protect us. In return, I abandoned you and turned to drink and painkillers. It helped numb the pain. I was so angry, Conor. I couldn’t forgive your dad for putting us in the situation he did. It took me years to understand it wasn’t his fault.”

Dazed, Conor turned his head to stare out the window. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I’m sorry, Conor.”

“Why are you telling me all this now? Why not before?”

“I tried to tell you before, but your granny stopped me. Said it would be better for you not to know in case you thought you could get revenge or something. We all know what hot-headed teenagers can do.”

Conor gave his mam a half-smile. “Thanks for telling me. I guess I have a lot to think about.”

“I am so sorry, Conor. I can’t ever make up for the lousy mother I was. But please don’t let this ruin your life. Steven and Crystal told me all about your new girlfriend. Emily sounds like a wonderful person.”

Conor didn’t want to speak about Emily. Not with his mam.

“How come you are still drinking? Why can’t you give it up?”

“I did, honey. I know you heard that before but I have been sober for two years now. I know I behaved like someone who was drunk last night what with shouting at the nurses. I apologized for that. I was just desperate to see you. The thought my little boy had been shot was so upsetting. I thought I might lose you too.”

He couldn’t deal with their relationship now. So he asked her what she had been doing.

“The last few months I have been working with children.”

He listened as she outlined how she believed she had a purpose in life. The rehab center had arranged for ex-addicts to work with children orphaned due to alcohol or drug abuse. His mam loved children, so was in her element.

“Sorry, Mam, I just assumed—well you know.”

“That’s okay, darling. Given what I have put you through, I am just happy you agreed to see me. I would love to be part of your life, Conor. Not as your mam. I know I have burnt that bridge. But maybe as a friend?”

He nodded, not able to put his feelings into words. It was too sudden. He had to process the information about his dad.

“I am going to leave now. Can I come back to see you tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Conor steeled himself as she leaned down to kiss his forehead. Her perfume brought back a wave of memoires. Some good, some bad.

“I love you, Conor.”

The door closed behind her. Some minutes later, Steven came back into the room.

“I’ll take the ladies home and give you some time alone, then, boss.”

Connor nodded in appreciation, then jerked his head up to meet Steven’s eyes. “Wait, does that mean you’re not resigning?”

“Well, a raise wouldn’t hurt. But no, I won’t be leaving.”

Steven held out his hand. He shook it as Steven said, “Your dad did what he thought was best to protect you and your mom. It wasn’t your choice and you’re not to blame.”

Conor gave him a tight smile in acknowledgement. It was impossible for him to speak. All his emotions seemed to be at war at the same time. Anger, loss, regret, and shame all whirled around his brain. He lay back gratefully as the door closed. He had to figure it all out first before he thought about his mam or Emily. Especially Emily. He closed his eyes and gave himself up to his memories, good and bad.

* * *

Days flew by without contact from Emily. He asked Steven to keep an eye on her, as he wasn’t convinced the police had caught the right person. He tried calling, but she wouldn’t take his calls. He sent flowers, but she seemed to dish them out to her employees, if Steven’s reports were anything to go by. Steven seemed to delight in telling Conor his latest bouquet, the biggest, most expensive one the company carried, had been taken home by a young-looking blonde with a huge smile. Nothing seemed to work. His mam, on the other hand, had accepted his apology. Their relationship would never be that of a mother and son, but maybe with time, they could be friends.

After a week, Conor signed himself out of the hospital against the doctors’ wishes. His leg hurt like crazy, but he had to see Emily and put things right between them.