The Step Sister (Sister Series, #10)

by Leanne Davis

Tracy waved at her siblings. “Do you three mind? Let us have the room for just a minute?”

  “Oh, hell no. I need to hear this. Besides, Mom, it’s my house.” Ally protested. But she quickly complied after seeing Tracy’s withering glance.

  Kylie kissed Julia’s cheek and muttered, “Good luck.”

  Julia could barely make herself face her parents and Chris. She focused on her mom first, the one she felt least embarrassed with about the situation.

  Tracy said, “Lloyd understands what happened and no one is losing their job.”

  “You already spoke to him?”

  Tracy nodded. “I immediately shuffled everyone out of the main entry and he and your dad and I went into a private conference room. Lloyd realizes that your dad was just reacting from his need to protect you. He apologized and Lloyd forgave him.”

  “It still was uncalled for.”

  Her dad, flexing his hand as if it still hurt him, shrugged. “He abused a position of power over you. He used his advanced age and wealth to seduce you. I disagree.”

  This was so hard. She swallowed, straightening her back as she said, “It was mutual, Dad. He had my consent. In fact, I think I held the power over him. He liked me a lot more than I liked him. I know this is probably hard for you to hear.”

  “Oh, believe me, it is.”

  She glared at him. “Then try to imagine how I feel when I have to untangle Vickie and you… and then Mom and you.”

  He winced. “What? So I guess we’re even now?” They held a glaring contest until his lips started to twitch, and much to her surprise, so did hers.

  “Maybe.”

  “Well, Lloyd isn’t firing you in any case. I believe your position with his company is where it was before all of this happened.”

  “I’m sorry.” Julia’s anger was replaced by embarrassment.

  Her dad got up and hugged her. “All meaningful relationships are hard and confusing, and looking back, they’re also hard to explain to others.”

  She glanced up and began smiling at him. “Good old experience taught you that?”

  He flicked her hair. “Yeah, brat, experience with both of your mothers taught me that. You don’t have to be sorry. I am though, for losing my temper. I erroneously assumed the situation was different than it appeared and no one messes with my little girl.”

  Julia smiled, glad for his protective nature when it came to her, even now, after all she’d done and all the years that passed.

  Her mom asked her, “Why don’t we give you and Chris some time alone? You two have a lot to discuss here.”

  Everyone left but Julia failed to meet Chris’s glance.

  He cleared his throat and sat down, his butt perching on the very edge of the chair. He kept jiggling one knee. “I thought you slept with Lloyd at the hotel. I knew then that he was my father, but I wasn’t raised by him as my dad. You know? The connection we share is strictly about work. It’s what you’ve seen. I intended to stay away from you. I really did. I vowed to, especially after I thought you two were sleeping together. But I couldn’t stay away. I think you know how strong the connection is between you and me. It’s undeniable, even though I tried to end it. By the time I came after you at the airport, all I could think of was I just wanted you. Regardless of your history, and mine.”

  “Were you ever going to tell me? About Lloyd being your dad?”

  “No.”

  Julia made eye contact. Chris hunched forward in the chair, his hands clasped together before him. His gaze seemed contrite and solidly fixed on hers. “That’s definitive. It’s just cold and so chilling to know you would keep that kind of secret from me.”

  “I didn’t want to hurt you. There are no other secrets.”

  “That’s it? Your entire defense?”

  “No. But I suspected if you knew about Lloyd and me, you’d never want to stay with me.”

  She stared him down. “You were willing to give up the chance of knowing your dad as such, and letting him know you as his son, all to be with me?”

  “Yes.” Unblinkingly, he answered.

  “You were willing to give up your job too, in the beginning.”

  “Yes. I still am.”

  “Did Lloyd fire you?” she asked sharply. “He couldn’t fire his own son?”

  “No. We haven’t spoken though. Your dad apologized and Lloyd just said, ‘You’re my son?’ over and over. He asked my mom several times why she never told him. I didn’t say much. I was too anxious to find you. Your mom left, then she came back and quietly told me where you were and asked me if I’d like to come talk to you, which of course, I did.”

  “Lloyd never knew anything about you?”

  “No. I was the result of a brief affair. Mom left his employment as soon as she realized she was pregnant and ended it permanently with him. She didn’t want to beg him to take care of her and figured he’d never leave his wife, you know, the typical story. And besides, she always said she didn’t want to be with him. It was only a quick affair. Her words.”

  “Wow. She really owns it.”

  “Maybe you should too,” he said, staring down.

  She tilted her head. “What?”

  He cleared his throat. “Maybe you should just own what you did with Lloyd and forget about it. Instead of feeling so awkward and ashamed, just own it. So what? Who cares if you slept with Lloyd? You were single and free. You made it clear to him it wasn’t sexual harassment. And you felt more powerful in the situation and your place than he did. It’s strictly between you and him. It has nothing to do with us either… or your parents, or… mine.”

  She tilted her head. “Really? That’s what you think?”

  “Really.” He stared at her, his gaze going from neutral to warm as their eye contact persisted. He rose to his full height, making her head kink from staring straight up at him. He crossed his arms over his chest, his expression turning fierce. If she didn’t know and trust him so well, his stance might have caused her to gulp with fear. “Just like us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He reached down and pulled her up into his arms, letting his gaze rove over her face. “What happens between you and me is strictly between us. We understand it. Even if no one else does. When everyone that we work with finds out, so what? Let them talk. Let the neighbors gossip. Let family members who disapprove of us and our situation talk until their ears turn blue. It’s their problem, don’t you see? Not ours. We don’t have any problems. We should have stayed at the opening together tonight. We can still separate our professional lives from our personal, but we don’t have to hide either.”

  “Except with your father.”

  “Yeah, my father. Who never heard about me. Or got to know me. He didn’t raise me. And, you slept with him. But so what? I look at your parents, Donny and Tracy, and I wonder why you can’t follow their example? If they had done what society deemed they ‘should’ have done, considering the circumstances they found themselves in, they wouldn’t have the life and love they share now. A relationship you constantly tell me how much you admire and love because you were raised in it. You have Tracy because of their generous decision. It was the best decision for them, no one else, and it turned out to be the best one for you too, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I want things like that with you too, Julia. I want to be with you. So what if I didn’t tell you that you inadvertently slept with my father? He didn’t know it either. No one did it maliciously or did anything wrong. Not even me. I just voiced my feelings too late. It was… I don’t know… bizarre circumstances, which I don’t believe could possibly ever happen again. Maybe all the stars were aligning in a way like never before.”

  She sucked in a breath. Chris made such a compelling case. One that would let Julia off the hook and easily allow her to continue to stay in his arms. She leaned forward, touching her lips to his. Despite all the hurt, anger, and horror in discovering the reality, she also discovered she loved Chris. He made her heart lift and
ache in good ways, ready to explode in joy, even when she got mad at him, which was rare. The idea of living without him only made Julia shudder. Is that how her dad felt with Tracy? Despite his past with Vickie and sharing a baby?

  If they managed to find a way to be happy, why couldn’t she and Chris?

  She touched his face. “It must have been… I don’t know, gut-wrenching to see me with a man you knew was your father.”

  “If jealousy were a living, breathing thing that could eat your guts out, I swear, that’s what was happening to mine.”

  “But you still wanted me, knowing what I’d done with him?”

  “You see my muscles, right?”

  Her eyebrows quirked down. “Yeah.”

  “So you think I’m pretty strong?”

  “Yes.” She rolled her eyes. Where was he going with this?

  “I wasn’t strong enough to resist you. My feelings for you outweigh anything I’ve ever felt before.”

  She stared downwards, gulping before she lifted her head back up, locking her gaze on his. “Then… Okay.”

  His entire body froze. “Okay? What?” He ran a hand over his slick head. “Jesus, Julia. Not the best time to be so calm and cool. What does that mean? Okay? Okay, take a hike, Chris? Okay, you love me, how nice to know? Okay, but you still can’t forgive me? Okay, you can’t live without me? What?” His unmasked frustration tinged his words.

  She slid her hands up so they circled his neck and rose to her tippy toes. “The last one you said. Okay? It’s the last one. I love you and can’t live without you.”

  He swept her up in his embrace and his chest released a huge whoosh of air. “You just about took five years off my life.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you.” He kissed her eyelid. “I promise I won’t keep anything from you again.” He kissed her cheek. “And I refuse to care about what anyone else thinks. Now it’s only what you and I think.” He kissed her mouth in a long, soft, lingering union of just their lips and it left Julia weak-limbed and burning.

  When they parted, he caught her staring up at him. “How do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Turn from being the biggest, scariest guy I’ve ever seen in the mortal world into… you. The kindest, sweetest, truest, most honest person I’ve ever met.”

  “Looks don’t define the person. Your looks don’t say anything about you. You’re beautiful, but that doesn’t reveal anything about your core. Not the whole package. Not the reasons why I love you.”

  She nodded and they shared a smile that convinced her it was for real.

  He released her and she crossed the room to ask her parents back in. Her parents hugged her and beamed their approval, which pleased Julia. She found it hard to imagine after all they witnessed that they could still be happy with her. Much less, approve of her. None of this was what she pictured, yet in so many ways, exactly what she wanted and needed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  CHRIS ENTERED CARTWRIGHT CONSTRUCTION promptly at seven in the morning the next Monday. He got there before anyone else did. He expected all the others to snicker and gossip about what everyone would soon know all the details of. He was the boss’s son and he was sleeping with the boss’s ex-girlfriend.

  Tawdry was one way to describe it. Chris winced internally. He understood how hard it was for Julia. But he convinced her to come back to him, and now had to convince himself it was worth it. The past was over and done with. Now was all that mattered. All the drivel he prattled on about before managed to satisfy Julia although he sincerely meant all of it. He did. And he eventually convinced her.

  It was himself that he was having a hard time convincing.

  Because Lloyd really was his dad.

  And his girlfriend really did sleep with him.

  It was a tough pill to swallow and more so now that more of the general public knew.

  Lloyd was already there. His vehicle was parked out front. Chris stood in the doorway to Lloyd’s office, staring at his father working away as he had observed many times in the last four-and-a-half years. He tapped on the door jamb and Lloyd glanced up. He paused, leaning back in his chair before he rose to his feet, sweeping his hand to indicate for Chris to come in.

  “Hello, Chris.”

  “Lloyd,” Chris answered in a dull tone. Lloyd’s expression, however, was brimming with something more. Something much deeper. Lloyd scrutinized Chris, making him feel more uncomfortable than their first meeting after the airport incident and Julia started to come between them.

  “Sit. Please sit down.” Lloyd seemed to remember himself so Chris sat and they stared at each other. Clearing his throat, Lloyd scratched his head and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I guess because it didn’t matter much.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Well, I got to know you. I liked you at work. Enjoyed working with you. Probably too much. I must admit that I’ve also appreciated all your mentoring. It’s been like what I pictured a…a…”

  “A father would do? I had a strange urge to spend more time with you, something I’ve never had with any of my employees before. It was nothing concrete, but I felt a… a kind of kinship with you.”

  “Yeah, we did have a good thing going. And then Julia came along.”

  “And I can only imagine how much you detested me for that.”

  “Yeah. The thing I didn’t like getting to know about you is the way you are with women. From the time you were with my own mother to…”

  “Your girlfriend.”

  Chris cleared his throat nervously. “Yeah.”

  Lloyd sighed, leaning back. “Is that why you never told me who you were?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t know how to bust out with it. At first, I wanted to get to know you, and size you up and then I did. So then, it seemed weird I hadn’t said anything sooner. And after Julia entered the picture, I decided I was never going to tell you.”

  “She means that much to you?”

  He snorted. “She did to you too.”

  Lloyd threw his hands up. “Fine. She did. But it’s all over now. This information… I hope you understand, Chris, this changes everything.”

  “Uh. No, I’m not sure I see how it does.”

  “You’re my son.”

  “Just because I said so? How do you know you can trust me?”

  Lloyd waved his hand dismissively. “We have the same eyes. I noticed that quite often before, but didn’t think too hard on it. Plus, I know your mother and yeah… I believe it. The thing is, if you’re going to tell me now that you can’t work with me because Julia’s comfort is the most pressing issue, I get that, but I think I have a solution.”

  “Why would you need a solution? What do you intend to do now?”

  “I want to get to know you better, Chris, not just here at work,” he spread his arms to indicate his office area. “But outside of here too, since you are my only son.”

  Chris stiffened. “I just don’t know if I want that.”

  “I understand. There are all kinds of awkward in this situation. And mostly because of Julia. But I think we can eventually work our way clear of that.”

  “I still don’t know.”

  “Did you know I was mentoring you along with Julia and Walter to become my eyes and ears so you guys could take over the company? I wanted to include Margaret in that, but she told me just last week she intends to retire in another year. I too intend to step back in a year or two or possibly three. I wasn’t sure on the timeline yet, but I’d like you three to take over. Ask Julia. She’ll tell you. This goes back to long before we… she and I… we got, well, you know…”

  “Yes, I know.” Chris sighed as usual concerning the subject Lloyd invariably stumbled over. That was the very reason he wasn’t sure they could or should continue to work together.

  “Yes, well, I explained my plans for you, Walter, and her. It’s not just because of this either. It’s because you think on your feet and work consisten
tly well and run things just like me. I like that. And looking toward that end, I’d like to keep teaching you more about it. Only now with the understanding that you and Julia will eventually be taking over the business for me.”

  Chris’s eyebrows almost sprung right off his forehead. “What? You’re proposing to give me… I mean, us, your business after only a day of knowing that we share the same DNA? You don’t know me, Lloyd. You don’t know that I’m not lying to you or a terrible person or… or…”

  “I do too know you, Chris. And quite well. I know Julia too. For all the unfortunates in this, it is fortunate that I believe in you two and your talents and skills respectively and collectively. And yes, I am proposing that. Who else could I leave my legacy to? There is no one else. That’s something I’ve been struggling to come to terms with over the last few years. Yes, reality has hit me like a cold fish slapping me in the face. I’m old and alone now and there’s no one who really gives a damn about me. I have plenty of friends and coworkers, and I’m respected with enough wealth and flashy cars. But what about love? Family? Anyone that I hold close? There is no one. I was ready to have strangers run it simply so that when I did retire or slow down, I wouldn’t have to close it. Or sell it off. I have no one else to leave it to, Chris. I’ve worked long and hard, and giving all I had to building it up and now? I’m nearing the end and I have nothing except that to show for it.”

  “And now you think you have me?”

  “Yes. And maybe, someday, if you decide to have kids…”

  He shot up straight. “Slow the hell down, Lloyd.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure I can. I’ve never even considered the idea I could have a son. Another chance. I well remember how I used to be and why your mom chose not to tell me about you. She deserved much better. But thirty years has changed me, Chris. Age has weakened my pride and left me always wanting more. Wishing I’d done so many things differently. Maybe we can develop something… Just consider it. For now, why not continue with what we already agreed on and planned? And later, if you like, we could meet up here and there for dinner or just coffee and slowly get to know each other outside of work. Maybe I could be a decent father to you now. I sincerely want to be. I want to learn how and maybe become a positive force in the life of any kids you might have… my grandkids, you know, someday…”