* * *
“Here you go, sweetie.”
Georgia looked up and took the cup of hot tea from her friend and former social worker, Sheila. “Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for taking me in for a few days. I just didn’t know where else to go.”
Sheila took her own cup of tea with her to sit in the wingback chair beside the couch where Georgia was lounging with a blanket. She’d called from O’Hare, and when she showed up on Sheila’s doorstep in Detroit at nearly midnight without so much as a change of clothes, she was welcomed like family.
She supposed that was what Sheila was to her. The only family she’d ever had. She’d been there for her since she was assigned her case when Georgia was ten. Sheila did her best to place Georgia in the most stable, safe homes she could, but there weren’t always a lot of options, so she tried to help in other ways. She assisted Georgia with her college and scholarship applications. She encouraged her to go to Northwestern and make something of herself. She’d also counseled her that finding her real family wasn’t always the best decision.
Sheila hit the nail on the head with that advice.
“I’ll help around the house while I’m here,” Georgia added. As a new foster child in a home, she always found she was accepted more readily if she became useful. “I don’t want you spoiling me like a houseguest.”
“You’ve had a pretty rough week,” Sheila said. “And even if you hadn’t, I’d still spoil you because you deserve it. You can help if you want to, but there’s really no need. I doubt two grown women will make much of a mess to worry about.”
Georgia accepted her words and sipped at her tea. It was hot but not too hot, with the perfect splash of cream and sugar like the cup she’d had at Sutton’s estate. How had everything in her life fallen apart since that day? She’d fallen in love, had a breakthrough with Sutton and was really getting somewhere with Misty, and the hospital project was coming along so well. Now she was single, motherless and unemployed.
“Do you have any plans while you’re in Detroit?”
“Not really. I fled here before I really had a game plan. I just knew I had to get out of Chicago. But now that I’m here, I’m starting to wonder if I should go back at all.”
“Why would you say that?”
“There’s nothing for me there. I can unload my loft pretty easily and have my things shipped here. I don’t have a job or friends there. My whole life was about my work. A fresh start in Detroit might be just what I need.”
Sheila didn’t bother to mask her frown. “You’re talking nonsense, honey. For the work you do, Chicago is where you need to be. You love your apartment. You don’t need a car like you would here. You may think there isn’t much for you in Chicago, but there’s certainly more than there is here. All you have in Detroit are bad memories.”
“That’s not true,” Georgia said. “Misty said that I have a brother and sister here in Detroit that she gave up for adoption. I thought I might be able to track them down. Do you think you could help me do that?”
“That’s a tricky thing to do. It depends a lot on how the adoption was done. They might not even know they were adopted if their parents didn’t tell them. I’ll do what I can within the limits of my job, but you might not find what you’re looking for with them, either.”
“What am I looking for?” Georgia asked.
“A family. You didn’t get what you wanted with your mother, and I don’t think it will pan out with your siblings, either. I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and there aren’t a lot of happy endings. If I were you, instead of working so hard and focusing on the past, I’d focus on your future and having a family of your own.”
A family of her own?
Honestly, that was something that had never really taken root in her mind. Her fleeting time with Carson, such as it was, was the closest thing she’d had to a serious relationship. The idea of marriage and commitment was an alien concept, and after her breakup with Carson, it seemed to be that much further away. She didn’t seem to have good judgment when it came to men. Perhaps steering clear for a while was the best idea.
And while the occasional thought of one day when I have kids would pop up from time to time, that day never seemed to arrive. She still had plenty of childbearing years ahead of her, but it already seemed like a lost cause unless she got brave enough to buy sperm and go it alone. That would be a terrible decision. She’d never had a mother, so how would she know how to be one? The last thing she wanted to do was fail at something that important the way her mother had.
“I don’t need a family of my own,” Georgia argued. “I have you.”
Sheila set her tea down on the coffee table and moved over to the couch beside Georgia. She put her arm around her shoulder and hugged her close. “Yes, you do. But you don’t have to be in Detroit for that. You’ll have me wherever you are, Georgia. I know you’ve had a lot of bad things happen all at once, but you can’t just give up on everything you’ve worked for. You could always take the job at Elite Industries, couldn’t you?”
That offer was technically still on the table. If she accepted the position, it would be minus the mistress part, of course. But even if she did feel like she’d had some kind of breakthrough with Sutton, he wouldn’t be around long. She didn’t know Eve well enough, and she wouldn’t want her presumptions about their professional relationship to get her canned again in a few months. “I’m not sure that’s a very good idea.”
“Well, that’s the beauty of a town like Chicago. There is nothing but opportunity there.”
“You’re right,” Georgia agreed. She knew Sheila was right. It just seemed easier to run away than to deal with the mess she’d left behind. In Detroit, she’d never have to worry about running into Carson, and then maybe she could ignore the heartbreak. She felt the prickle of tears sting her eyes again.
“Are you going to be okay, Georgia?”
She shrugged as she looked at her only friend and fought back the tears. “You know, a part of me was always expecting my mother to do what she did. Whether I can blame her or her addiction, it just seemed like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The thing with Carson is that much harder. I thought what we had was… I don’t know. The things he said to me were just so cruel, so unlike the man I knew. He lashed out at me like an abused dog.”
“In that case, do you blame the dog or the owner that abused her?” Sheila asked.
“Carson is too old to blame anyone but himself. But I could tell that I’d hit his hot buttons. It caught me so off guard, you know? He’s handsome, successful, rich, powerful…and yet he seemed to just be waiting for me to turn on him.”
“Sometimes the more successful you are, the more people are waiting around to knock you off your pedestal. Everyone has their issues. His knee-jerk reflex was stronger than most, but it sounds like a pretty hard-wired defense mechanism. Here’s a question for you, though. If he realizes he’s made a mistake and apologizes, would you take him back?”
Georgia had pondered that question since she got to Detroit. “I probably would,” she admitted. “I’ve given everyone else in my life a second chance, even when they didn’t deserve it and I regretted it in the end. Maybe this time will be different. Or not. But either way, I love him. I might be a fool, but I do.”
“Okay,” Sheila said. “So when he has this miraculous revelation and rushes to tell you he’s sorry and how much he loves you, how the heck is he supposed to find you here?”
* * *
The six potential and confirmed children of Sutton Winchester were gathered silently around the old man’s conference room table. No one seemed very keen to chat; they just glared across the table at one another.
The middle sister, Nora, had come from Colorado today. Carson had never seen her before. Since she’d left Chicago, he didn’t run into her at any industry
events the way he tended to bump into Eve. She’d gotten out and he didn’t blame her. She was probably the smartest one of them all.
A moment later, the door opened and Sutton came in with a woman at his side. Carson hoped it wasn’t another mistress. His father didn’t need any more women in his life, and he certainly didn’t need to be flaunting one in front of his kids. Of course, she didn’t really look like his type. This lady was very buttoned up, almost studious looking. She was wearing a light gray suit, and her wheat-blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun.
Sutton pulled back the chair for the woman to take the seat beside him, and he sat at the head of the table. Carson noted a slight tremble in the old man’s hand as he moved. He did look thinner than the last time he’d seen him. Sutton looked like hell, frankly. Georgia had been right: this wasn’t just a stomach bug.
“I’m sure that all of you are curious about why I called you here today,” Sutton began. “If I had time to waste, I’d prolong the suspense, but I don’t, so I’ll get right to the point. I’m dying.”
Carson didn’t react. Instead he turned to watch his three newfound sisters gasp in shock and horror. Nora’s hand flew to cover her mouth, and Grace’s eyes started to well up with tears.
“What?” Eve asked. “Dying? Are you sure?”
“Yes. This is Dr. Wilde,” he said, gesturing to the prim woman beside him. “She’ll be treating me at the Midwest Regional Medical Center for my stage IV lung cancer—not that there’s much that can be done. We’ll try a few things because I hate just lying down and letting cancer win, but I’ve already come to terms with the fact that I won’t see the new year.”
Stage IV. Cancer. Dead before the new year. The words flew around in Carson’s brain as he tried to process it all. Finally he turned to Brooks, and they exchanged a meaningful glance. They’d gone into this thinking they had plenty of time to achieve their goals. Even if Sutton was stubborn, they knew they would eventually convince him to change his will and include them. But now…the clock was ticking. The father they’d just gained would be gone before they knew it.
“I’m getting things in order, and then I’ll be going to the hospital. I’m not sure when I’ll be discharged, if ever,” he continued.
“We’re going to be trying some experimental treatments,” Dr. Wilde said. “At this point, we don’t have anything to lose, and we have everything to gain. But really, all we’re buying your father is time. Eventually he will succumb.”
“Oh, Daddy!” Grace leaped up from her seat and rushed to give her father a hug.
Carson watched with a twinge of jealousy as Sutton gently stroked his daughter’s hair and held her close. He doubted his father would ever hug him like that. They wouldn’t get to that point even if Sutton had decades to live instead of months.
“Don’t you worry about me, Gracie. I’ve lived three lifetimes while I’ve been on this earth.”
“How am I going to handle all of this without you?” Eve said with a startled look in her eye. The pressure of taking over Elite Industries seemed to be weighing as heavily on her shoulders as the loss of her father.
“Oh, please, Eve,” Sutton said with a dismissive tone. “You’re smart and capable. You practically run the company now. You’ll be fine. You will all be just fine without me. I think some of you might even be better off,” Sutton said, pointedly looking at Carson.
It was the first time they’d made eye contact since the truth came out about Carson’s paternity. The first hint of acknowledgment.
“All that said, we have some other business to tend to today.” Sutton held up a package with a logo that Carson recognized from the lab. “It seems we’ve received the test results for Graham and Brooks. Would one of you care to do the honors?”
Brooks took the folder and quickly opened it. Carson just watched Sutton. There was a smugness on his face that convinced him that Sutton had been telling the truth all along. He didn’t need the test results to know the twins weren’t his children. But how could he know for certain?
“Sutton Winchester is not our father,” Brooks said after scanning the document for what seemed like a lifetime.
Sutton sat back in his chair and folded his hands casually over his stomach. There was a small curl of amusement on his lips as he watched Graham and Brooks reel from the news.
Carson wasn’t taking it well, either. He’d spent his whole life feeling different, feeling separated from his brothers. He’d convinced himself that it was just because they were twins and had an extraordinarily close relationship. He’d ignored the fact that he looked different. But now the variations were glaringly obvious.
It just left one question. If Sutton wasn’t their father, then who the hell was? They were back at the drawing board with his brothers’ paternity.
“Well,” Graham said as he turned to Sutton, “now that this is settled, I believe we can move forward with the requested changes to the will.”
“You don’t still expect to be included, do you?” Eve asked.
“No,” Graham said. “Since I am not your half brother, Brooks and I have no claim. But Carson still does. The only difference is that the estate should be divided by four instead of six.”
“This is ridiculous!” one of the sisters shouted.
Carson didn’t bother to look up and see which one it was. Everyone at the table started yelling all at once. He didn’t bother to open his mouth. He let them carry on.
In that moment, none of it really mattered to him. Yes, he was still angry with his father, but it sounded like cancer would get his revenge faster and more thoroughly than Carson ever would. If he got any money out of the estate, he would put it toward the hospital along with the twenty million Sutton had already donated. The children’s hospital built in his mother’s name would be amazing.
And on the day it opened, there would be a different PR director by his side. It seemed wrong that any of it could happen without Georgia. She had been with him since—
The thought was interrupted as a sudden realization hit Carson like a punch to the gut.
She knew.
Georgia knew that Sutton was dying. He didn’t know why Sutton had decided to tell her before he even told his own children, but it had to be the secret she couldn’t share. In an instant, all the pieces of that horrible evening started to fit together. That’s why she was encouraging him to get to know his father, damn near pushing him into it. She knew that he wouldn’t have much time with Sutton.
And perhaps his pending mortality was why Sutton had written such a big check to the foundation. It wasn’t as though he could take it with him, despite his best efforts. Was it possible it had nothing to do with Georgia’s relationship with Sutton at all?
As quickly as it all came together, a final thought entered Carson’s mind—he was a royal jerk. He’d accused her of taking sides, being disloyal to the company and to him, and even suggested she’d been sleeping with Sutton. All this after he’d encouraged her to keep seeing Sutton so Carson could use her for information.
Without thinking, Carson stood suddenly. The whole table stopped squabbling and looked at him in anticipation.
“I have to go.”
Graham reached out and grabbed his arm. “What do you mean, you have to go?”
“I’ve got to find Georgia and apologize.”
Both twins looked at him with aqua eyes that reflected their concern that he’d gone mad. “We’re kind of in the middle of something important. Do you have to go right now?” Brooks asked.
“Absolutely, right now,” Sutton agreed, backing him up in a way Carson hadn’t expected. “Don’t let a jewel like that get away, son.” He winked and gave him a small smile.
Son? A lump formed in Carson’s throat. He couldn’t respond to his brothers or his father. He knew he just had to get out of there. Without anothe
r word, he stepped away from the table and made his way out of the office. He had more important issues to tend to.
He had to track Georgia down.
THIRTEEN
Carson blew into the Newport building like a tornado. The elevator couldn’t move fast enough for him as it raced to the top floor, where their executive offices were.
“Rebecca!” he shouted almost the moment the doors started to part. “Rebecca, I need you!”
By the time he reached his assistant’s desk outside his office, Rebecca’s eyes were wide with surprise and panic. “What is it, sir? Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no,” he said, making a beeline for his door. “Please come in and bring your tablet.”
He settled in at his desk and turned to face Rebecca, who was at the ready, as always. “I need you to help me find Georgia.”
“She’s not in today, Mr. Newport. I actually haven’t seen her this week.”
“Yes, I know. That’s because she quit.”
“Oh no,” she gasped. “When? I hadn’t heard anything about it.”
“A few days ago.”
Rebecca studied him for a moment. “What did you do, sir?”
Carson looked up in surprise. She’d been his assistant for five years now. Apparently she knew him better than he gave her credit for. “Well, you know we were dating, right?”
“Everyone knew, sir.”
“Okay, then. As expected, I put my foot so far into my mouth, I crapped my shoe. It’s all my fault, and I know it. I’m not sure she’ll ever forgive me for being such a jerk, but I’m going to try.”
“Are you in love with her?”
He’d never really had a personal conversation like this with Rebecca. Typically their discussions were work related, or they exchanged casual pleasantries about her kids and how her weekend was. They usually didn’t talk about Carson’s personal life. Of course, Carson hadn’t really had much of a personal life until recently. At a time like this, he needed all the help he could get, especially if it came in the form of feminine relationship wisdom.
Saying Yes to the Boss (Dynasties: The Newports) Page 14
