“I said I’d never been in love. That’s a whole lot different than, well, you know.”
“Ouch. I’ve only been your brother again for an hour and already I can feel the hackles rise when you talk like that.”
“Don’t be a baby. You know what I mean.”
“I do and I hate it.” I never got the chance to be the over-protective big brother and I felt like making up for it right then and there.
“As if you’ve been Mr. Innocent all your life?”
“Hardly. In addition to our shared outstanding good looks, I got to pretend I was mega-rich. I found out that money is the sexiest quality a man can possess.”
“I refuse to believe that’s what attracted Rene. She is way, way too real for that.” My sister shook her head adamantly. Rene had apparently made quite an impression on Dawn.
“As a matter of fact, no.” I recalled how Rene had crucified me for being a ‘spoiled brat’ that first day and smiled. “Rene is the first woman I ever confessed the truth to—about a lot of things. And I’m sure you won’t find it surprising that when I told her I wasn’t made of money she was actually glad.”
“You’re right. I’m not surprised. So what did she say when Dad died and you actually stood to inherit uber-wealth.”
“We haven’t sorted it out yet. We’ve been up in the air about a lot of things.” I didn’t want to get into an explanation of my falling out with Rene. That could come later. At that moment I wanted to focus on my sister and cram as much into our first few hours together as I possibly could.
I wanted to know everything from the moment she left our house in Florida to the present. And I could tell that she felt the same way. We dove into conversation about the first painful years after the split and discovered that our father had arranged some rather intense therapy for both of us. I had hated it, but my sister had found it quite healing. When she reflected on it, I could see through her eyes that I probably benefited from it more than I had ever cared to admit. Dawn’s gentle perspective helped me see a number of things without the fog of bitterness that always seemed to cloud my vision of the past.
“I’ve never discussed our mother’s sickness with anyone, Dylan,” Dawn said. “The Jacksons knew about it, I’m pretty sure, but it was never mentioned. It feels good to be in the room with the only person alive who knows my secret.”
“I never talked about it either. Not until I told Rene. And I have to confess, it was not an easy story to tell.”
“But you told her. I can’t imagine trusting anyone that much.”
“It feels more exposed than naked. And it shocked her. It shocked her so much that I almost thought I was going to lose her over it.”
“That’s why I never talk about it. It’s so ugly. If I heard it for the first time I’d probably run from it, too. I’ve always felt that if I tell someone, that’s all I’ll be from that moment forward—a contorted piece of damaged goods. A freak. Because that’s the way I feel inside even now.” My sister shook her head sadly. “Rene truly loves you, Dylan. Never let her go.”
My sister spoke the truth. It made me feel like a heel for walking out of the hotel room without a word. I could have stayed and at least discussed things with her. It was the same old me. It was the kind of behavior she’d asked me time and again to stop. I didn’t have to pull the high drama act. Rene needed to know that it wasn’t the end of the world like I made it seem.
Okay, she lied. But she didn’t mean to hurt me. Rene’s inquisitiveness did border on nosey, but hell, if I’d seen something as important as that will it’s entirely possible I would have been tempted to nose around too. And her insight about the names was quite a flash of brilliance. I wouldn’t have thought it through and even Blake Harrington had admired her quick thinking.
“Dawn, excuse me a few minutes, will you? I need to call Rene.”
“No problem, the room on the left is all for you.”
“Thanks, Elf Ears.” I playfully tweaked one of her ears and she socked me in the arm. Maybe we’d never get back the childhood together that was stolen from us, but I knew we’d do our best to make up for it.
In the bedroom, I dialed Rene’s number. She took her time answering.
Chapter 33—Rene
I couldn’t believe he was calling me. I stared at the phone simply not processing the name ‘Dylan’ on the screen. I was very tempted to let it go to voice mail but I decided that was immature.
“Hi Dylan,” I answered.
“Rene. Hi.” There was an uncomfortable silence on both ends. “I just wanted to call and say . . . goodnight I guess.”
“You’re calling to tell me good night? Seems to me you’ve already told me good-bye.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that you walked out on me without a word. You left. I took that as a big fat ‘Good Bye’.”
“Okay, I was mad. Can you blame me? What you did wasn’t right.”
“And I said I was sorry. But that’s obviously not good enough. You made it crystal clear by your stone faced departure that my sin was too great for you to bear. I’m just glad I found out now rather than later.”
“Found out what now?”
“That you have a zero tolerance policy on mistakes. One strike and you’re out of Dylan Cruz’s ball park. I actually thought we had something worth fighting for.”
“We did. We do! Why do I feel like I’m the one who did something to you?”
“Look I deceived you and I went against your wishes. But I didn’t just throw away our relationship. You did that.”
“How can you say that? I had to put some space between us. So I hopped on a train to Stamford because Blake said he was ninety-nine percent sure it would be okay for me to see Dawn. How is that throwing our relationship away?”
Uh-oh. It was dawning on me that maybe I overreacted to the silent treatment. “I assumed that you expected me to be gone when you got back.”
“Well you assumed wrong. We’ve been through that before and I believe I agreed not to lose it.”
“No, we agreed that you would not stonewall me and give me the silent treatment. Losing it I could handle. I can deal with fire a whole lot better than ice.”
“I didn’t want to say anything I’d regret.”
“I see.” He had actually been trying not to overreact. He hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet. Walking out when you’re losing it feels just about as bad on the receiving end as walking out when you’re trying not to lose it.
“Yes, I’m mad about the snooping because all you had to do was ask and I’d have gladly let you read the email from Spencer. But what really hurts is that you went to such elaborate lengths to make up a museum day for yourself, bought a catalog to prop up the lie and went to see Dawn by yourself. You have to admit, that’s a pretty elaborate little scheme. And I’d say it’s a damn sight worse than my not telling you about the salvage in the Azores.”
I’d almost forgotten the temper tantrum I'd had over his little deception. “Your point is well taken. Dylan and for the fourth or fifth time, I’m really sorry I lied to you. I should have talked it out and maybe you would have even supported my idea like you did the first time I mentioned it.”
“Trust doesn’t come easily to me. I thought you knew that. You’ve violated my trust. If you’d do it once, you’ll do it again.”
“That is so not fair. It’s not like I slept with your best friend.”
“Isn’t it just a matter of degree?”
“Everything is not always black and white, Dylan. Maybe it’s hard for me to accept that you can just flip a switch and turn off your love for me. People who love one another talk things through. They don’t just abandon a relationship when it hits a bump.”
“I didn’t turn off my love for you. I got angry. You shouldn’t have done what you did.”
“Why did you call? Did you want to beat on me some more for my crimes?” I was getting frustrated with the circular argument. I couldn’t un-do
what I had done. “Either you accept my apology or you don’t. Either we can move past this or we can’t. Your choice. I don’t have anything else to offer you.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“And I don’t want to lose you, Dylan.” It was the truth. I’d never been so much in love and never hurt so bad at the same time. The last few hours of my life had been excruciatingly painful. “I love you. I’ll always love you.”
“Then let’s put this behind us, okay?”
“Only if you promise that next time you get angry with me you don’t just walk away.”
“Does there have to be a next time?” Dylan asked.
“If you expect perfection out of me you’re going to be disappointed. I make mistakes. Frequently.”
“No more lies. Okay?”
“Agreed, no more lies.”
Dylan wanted to tell me all about his time with his sister. It was a relief just to listen to him sound so happy. The circumstances might not have been ideal, but his meeting her at long last hadn’t disappointed him.
“So,” Dylan concluded after talking almost non-stop for ten minutes, “Dawn doesn’t have classes tomorrow and I thought we’d all go somewhere nice for lunch in the city. Maybe I’ll take her over to Blake’s office, too. He really ought to meet her face to face.”
“Um, Dylan?” I had to tell him. “I’m in Ft. Lauderdale. I left right after you did and flew down.”
“You’re kidding me! Dammit, Rene. Why’d you do that?”
“Are we going to go over this all again?”
“Well just get on the first flight back, will ya? I don’t even like the thought of you being that far away from me.”
It was a sweet thing to say. “I bet I can beat you back to the St. Regis.” And I hoped I would, too. There was an expensive diamond necklace laying on a pillow in New York. I needed to beat both Dylan back to the city and housekeeping to the room.
I got lucky. A six o’clock flight got me to the city in three hours. Rush hour’s peak had come and gone so I was in our room by half past nine. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I fastened the clasp of the necklace behind me and adjusted the diamonds between my breasts. I only beat Dawn and Dylan by a few minutes, but they were enough.
Dylan swept me into his embrace as if he hadn’t seen me in weeks. I was grateful to be back in the arms I loved. The few horrible hours I’d spend thinking I’d lost him made him more precious to me than I could have ever imagined.
Dawn discreetly went straight to the bathroom to ‘freshen up’ and gave us the chance to lock our lips in a searing kiss.
“I’m so sorry, my love. So sorry.” I whispered as he held me to him.
He tilted my chin up and brushed my forehead with his lips. “I’m sorry, too. But it’s over now. I love you. I never want to be without you in my life.”
“I love you, too. It killed me to think I might have lost you by doing something so stupid. I couldn’t imagine life without you. My future looked like a bleak, dark night.” I wasn’t exaggerating. On the plane ride from New York to Ft. Lauderdale it seemed like the sun would never rise again and the darkness would go on forever.
Dylan stroked my head against his chest and held me like he’d never let me go. It was like coming home. The ring of his cell phone brought a sigh of resignation from me and a little jump from him.
“Hi Blake,” he answered. “Very cool. We’ll be there shortly. My sister’s with me. I hope that’s okay. Super. Yep. See ya.” Dylan tapped the phone to hang up as Dawn peeked out of the bathroom.
“You’re safe,” I told her, laughing. She was a sweetheart for giving us space.
“Girls,” Dylan said, “time for a little ride downtown. Blake’s got some news for us and I think it’s something we all want to hear.”
Dawn clasped her hands in excited anticipation. “What did he say?”
“Nothing he wanted to get into over the phone. C’mon.” Dylan offered an arm to Dawn and I and we went off down the hall looking like some scene from the Wizard of Oz.
In the cab I asked, “Are you sure you two want me to be here? This is your business, after all. Your lives are on the line, not mine.”
“Excuse me, princess? I thought we settled this. It’s our life. Isn’t that what we agreed?”
I looked at Dawn, hoping to see approval there. I did. Her grin went around her face three times. “I’m totally cool with you being with us, Rene,” she assured me. “If it wasn’t for you . . .”
“You know full well you'd be would be on fire with curiosity if I we didn’t bring you with us,” Dylan chimed in. “It’s too late to pretend.”
I was a little embarrassed to admit he was totally right. I would have died if I had to wait for them to return from the big conference at the lawyer’s office.
The three of us settled into comfortable chairs around a small conference table in Blake’s office. The attorney handed out copies of some papers to Dylan and Dawn.
“I’m sorry Dylan, I wasn’t prepared for Ms. Waters. Would you like me to get another set of documents for her?” Blake Harrington clearly hadn’t expected me. When Dylan introduced us, he looked a little surprised but he had quickly recovered when Dylan told him anything that needed to be said could be said in front of me. I was ‘part of the family’. I liked the sound of that.
“No,” Dylan answered, “Rene can share mine.” He nudged his chair a little closer to mine and put the papers on the table between us.
“Okay then. Let’s begin.” Blake Harrington stood up and began a tale that would put many questions to rest.
“Jackson Cruz left a personal file in his office that his administrative assistant has provided for us. In it, there was his last will and testament. This document tells a very different story than what you both were led to believe is the disposition of his estate.”
“I suspect, though we may never know, that Austin Spencer concocted a hasty plan to relieve you both of at least some, if not all, of your rightful inheritance. I reached Mrs. Sheffield yesterday and she was kind enough to cut short her medical leave to assist me.”
“In Mr. Cruz’s documents was a will drawn up several years ago. Although it supersedes several other wills drafted throughout the years, it doesn’t depart substantially from them in execution.”
“The will is about as straightforward as it gets. You, Dylan, and you, Dawn inherit fifty percent of your father’s personal fortune. This includes half of a sixty percent controlling interest in the Monarch Hotel chain. This is pretty much the standard apportionment of an estate where the deceased has a living spouse.”
“Are you telling me that he left half his fortune to our mother?” Dylan asked. I could tell he was pretty much blown away by that concept.
“Indeed. Half of your father’s estate is what your mother is entitled to under the laws of most states and in fact, most countries.”
“But that’s insane!” Dylan stood up, challenging the lawyer.
“Please let me finish.”
“Sit down, Dylan,” Dawn told him.
“Your mother’s portion of the estate is to be held in a trust, administered by the two of you—the surviving offspring. Your mother was committed to St. Vincent’s Institute fifteen years ago. Jackson’s will provides for her care and treatment. Upon her passing, the remainder of her portion of the estate will pass on to the two of you in equal shares.”
“But what if she gets out? What if she’s ‘cured’?” Dylan spat the last word out as if it was the most blasphemous thing he could say.
“That’s highly unlikely, Dylan. You mother is suffering from advanced dementia. Although she is still a relatively young woman, there are papers from the institute regarding her mental condition that indicate she is in no state to ever leave the confines of that hospital.”
“At least everyone knows she’s nuts. Finally.”
“Dylan, please. I didn’t even know our mother was alive. Can you give me a moment to digest that before I have
to start thinking about her as a vegetable?” Dawn looked like she was in physical pain. I felt terrible for her. Without Dylan’s anger to bear the brunt of the shock, his more sensitive sister was left with the shocking reality that her mother was newly found and just as quickly lost.
“In fact, she is not a vegetable. She has moments of lucidity that the staff characterizes as,” Blake shuffled his papers, “—see page twelve—as deceptively without pathology. However she also passes significant periods of time catatonically and others in demented mania.”
“Trust me, Blake. Our mother has never been without pathology. At least not for the past twenty-five years or so. She’s a lunatic and a criminal.”
“I have no doubt that what you’re saying is true, Dylan. But the fact remains that you hold a great deal of money in trust for her and the stipulation is that you take care of her. And there are a few other details that you may find, well, difficult.”
“Cut to it, Blake,” Dylan huffed. Dawn’s eyes got a little wild.
I held my breath. Maybe the twisted mind of Jackson Cruz was still going to reach out from death to cause his children pain.
Chapter 34—Dylan
“It isn’t that major. As trustees of your mother’s portion of the estate, you are required to see to her welfare. That includes both of you personally visiting her once per quarter.”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “She can have her half. I’ll take mine and make do.”
“Oh Dylan, don’t be so juvenile,” Dawn exclaimed. “It won’t kill you to visit her.”
“It won’t kill me, but it might kill her. What if I can’t keep from strangling her?”
“I’ll go with you and hold your hand.”
“And I’ll hold the other one,” Rene added. “It might do you good. Closure and all that.”
“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to pull that psycho babble with me, Rene.” I meant to sound menacing but I think I came off as just plain petty.
Both of the women were looking at me with a mixture of pity and disgust. I backed off and changed the subject. “What about the hotels? Spencer seemed to think I was supposed to step up and take my place as heir apparent.”
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