We've never truly been alone together.
“I know this might be sudden, but Tinsley and I are getting married today. At the courthouse. In an hour. I'd like you to come,” I explain.
Ava's eyes widen in shock.
“You're getting married!”
My daughter squeals and jumps at me.
Ava almost topples us over as she wraps her arms around my neck.
“I knew things would work out for the both of you. Oh, just let me change, I wouldn't miss this for the world!” She screams.
“Thanks,” I reply awkwardly.
“Dad,” Ava smiles at me.
It’s a real smile, more than I’ve gotten in conversation with her.
“You can let your guard down around me; you know that right?” She says.
“I think we're both guilty of being guarded,” My honesty with Ava shows I can reach out to her.
“I guess we are then, aren't we?” Ava smiles.
We embrace again.
“I'll be right back; I'm going to change,” she excuses herself.
When Ava comes out in a navy blue dress with an empire waist, I am quite pleased.
“You look good,” I smile at her.
“Thanks,” she nods in approval.
“I don’t look too pregnant?” She asks.
“Just pregnant enough,” I joke.
Ava swats at me, and I duck so that she misses a smack to my forehead.
“You look radiant,” I correct myself.
“Much better,” Ava beams.
We get into the elevator, where Evan holds it open for us.
“I knew you know,” she tells me.
There’s a little secret smile on her face.
“I always knew that Tinsley and yourself belonged together, this is meant to be, I was sure, even when she wasn’t,” Ava admits.
She’s radiant, and I’m not sure if it’s the pregnant glow or that she’s genuinely happy for us.
“Did you now?” I ask, a little confused.
“Tinsley may have, shared things with me, before I knew who I was,” Ava admits.
A blush rises in her cheeks and we all laugh in the elevator together.
Ava knows she can open up to me.
Maybe in time I can make our relationship what it should’ve been all along.
But not today.
Today I am ready.
But when we get out of the limo, Tinsley is late.
“All brides are late for their wedding day,” Ava smiles brightly.
I stand on the courthouse steps with my children, and wait for the love of my life.
10
Tinsley
July 30, 2017
I’m in the midst of a panic attack in the middle of my closet.
All my attempts at a white outfit that Noah hasn’t seen falls flat.
I want to look perfect.
Then a simple idea strikes me.
That dress, with the cut-outs and the revealing slit up the side.
The one I wore the night we fell together, without the comprehension that we’d tear our worlds apart to be together.
The black dress.
I still remember the day I bought that dress.
Noah said he liked the black one, black it was.
That’s the dress I zip myself into.
It feels perfect.
Now I'm marrying the man of my dreams.
And running late.
“Tinsley where are you... oh,” my mother sighs.
My mother stands still as I'm about to walk out the door.
For a moment she seems to debate what she’s about to say.
“Mother you're not talking me out of this,” My voice is firm.
“Where are you going?” She asks.
As though she doesn’t understand what I’ve attempted to tell her.
“The courthouse,” I explain flatly.
There’s a long pause.
She resigns herself, her shoulders drop ever slightly.
Then her impeccable posture is back.
“Well your father will kill me, but if I can't talk you out of it...,” she sighs heavily.
“The least I can do is go with you,” she admits.
“Really!” I damn near scream.
Never did I imagine my mother would relent.
Not that this is her giving into me.
But it's one step closer to my parents accepting my marriage.
“Just let me change into something more appropriate,” she says.
Then she fluffs her hair and sashays towards her closet.
I nod, still speechless.
When the phone rings, I almost don't pick it up, but I see Bradford on the caller ID.
I can't imagine what Rita Bradford would want with us.
“Hello?” I pick up cautiously.
“Tinsley!” Rita wails.
“Have you heard! Have you seen it?”
My heart drops into my stomach.
Something terrible has happened.
To Connor? To Hazel? To my father?
“What happened?” my voice shakes and I know I do not want the answer.
“You father, Julian...,” she wails again.
“Rita calm down. Deep breaths. What happened?” I reply.
I try to keep my voice level.
I know what she’s about to tell me, but I pray to god that it’s not what I think.
It’s an instinct, I suddenly realize.
The instinct that someone you love dearly has died.
“They've been in a plane crash! They're gone!” she sobs into the phone.
The phone slips from my hand and hits the ground.
I can’t see my face, but I know I’ve gone stark white.
My mother walks in, with the pearl and sapphire earrings she wore at her wedding in her hands.
“What's wrong?” She asks.
She is white as paper.
I know indefinitely that there is an omen of sorts, which comes over you, when you know something awful has happened.
“Dad's dead,” I tell her blankly.
My voice sounds foreign even to my ears.
Then the world goes black.
11
Noah
July 30, 2017
“Something must've happened,” Evan tells me.
That’s no comfort, not in the slightest.
Tinsley is far from late.
She was supposed to be here three hours ago.
Now?
Nothing.
Not even a phone call.
Ava returns with coffee for Evan and me, and I watch as Evan pours something out of a flask into his.
“You want some of this?” he asks.
“Give me the flask,” I huff.
Then I swipe it from him and take a long swig.
It's whiskey.
Perfect.
“I'm sure there's an explanation for everything,” Ava tells me.
She smoothes out her dress awkwardly before she looks to Evan for support.
“We've tried to call,” Evan points out.
“Well, maybe she can't get to the phone,” Ava crosses her arms.
We are still at the courthouse, and I am intent to wait until Tinsley shows up.
I don't believe that she would leave me like this.
Without an explanation?
No word from her?
I wonder if her mother has tied to a chair to prevent this marriage.
But Gianna wouldn't do that.
I've known her a long time, and I know that she genuinely wants her daughter's happiness, despite her husband.
And Jamesen?
He will understand eventually.
As a parent myself, all I want for my children is for them to be happy.
“She'll come,” Ava states.
Her tone doesn't convince me in the slightest.
“Let's go back to the office, make a few phone calls? See maybe if there was an incident of some sort?”
Evan's says awkwardly.
He doesn't know what to say.
So, we go.
When we get to the office, it seems quieter than usual.
Maybe it's just the intense roaring in my ears that's set me off.
It's possible I can't hear the usual din as everyone works around me.
Ava pours me a drink once she closes the door to my corner office.
I take it and look around the expanse of New York; it felt like everything was at my fingertips.
But now?
Tinsley is about to slip away from me.
“Dad I'm sure everything has a perfectly good explanation,” she says again.
When I don't reply she resigns herself to sit in one of my guest chairs and sulk.
Evan swirls his whiskey around in his glass.
I envision my life with Tinsley, as all of it slips away.
Victoire bursts into my office, and I know there's significant news.
She is not the type of woman to just burst in, she knocks first.
“Jamesen Whittaker and Julian Bradford were killed in a plane crash,” she announces.
Her voice is even, maybe almost flat?
I don’t even sense tension.
Maybe because Victoire doesn’t know them?
Then she turns the TV on and flicks to a news channel.
I watch in horror as the news reporter states that a plane from London crashed onto the tarmac early this morning, the crash is still under investigation.
“There is no known cause yet,” The female reporter is somber.
“But what we do know, is those that have survived currently fight for their lives in the wake of this tragedy,” the reporter continues.
Victoire flicks to another channel.
“The sudden death of Jamesen Whittaker and Julian Bradford has shocked all of Wall Street. They were both powerhouse players, with conflicting companies in the Energy sector. Our condolences go out to both of their families, as Wall Street waits patiently for news of what will become of the suspected merger,” The male reporter is somber.
“Holy shit,” Evan swears.
“Fuck,” Ava says.
They both look at me when I say nothing.
I feel nothing but rage; Tinsley will be ripped out of my arms once again!
“Goddamnit!” I scream.
I slam my fist into the desk with so much fury, Evan’s glass shakes right off the desk and hits the floor.
It smashes to pieces and he looks down at it, unsure of what to do.
“God fucking dammit all to hell!” I rage.
“Did I miss something?” Victoire looks at all of us bewildered.
“As if you care,” Evan snorts at her.
He shakes his head, like she’s supposed to know what’s going on.
“Yeah Vic, you missed a lot,” he tells Vic sarcastically.
Then he storms out of my office furious and slams the door behind him.
Victoire runs after him.
“Dad,” Ava’s voice shakes.
I see tears in her eyes.
“I'm sorry,” she tells me.
“Don't be sorry for me,” I tell her.
Even though world just went to hell, the only person I worry for now, is Tinsley.
“It's Tinsley's father who died,” I say, finality in my voice.
Her father’s death just sealed the coffin on our relationship.
Maybe this is just suspicion, but I know that woman exceptionally well.
If she wanted to, she would’ve called me for comfort.
I can’t shake the impression that I’ve lost her
12
Tinsley
July 30, 2017
“Is she okay? Is she okay!” My mother's screams are all I can hear as the paramedics continue taking my vital signs in the emergency ward.
“I told you, I'm fine,” I yell back at her.
“This was hardly necessary,” I add.
The last place I want to be is stuck in this hospital.
“It was essential!” My mother wails again.
“I told you, I'm fine really,” I argue with one of the paramedics.
“We're just going to run some routine tests. You'll be in and out,” The female paramedic smiles.
“I need to be somewhere-” I begin to say.
Then realization hits, and every single plan Noah and I made together crashes to the ground.
My father is dead.
My father is dead, and there's nothing I can do.
Our last words we exchanged?
They were horrible.
Now I'll never have the chance to mend what we broke between us.
I will never have the chance to make him see that Noah and I are destined to be together.
I will never make things right with him.
He died disappointed in me.
Furious! He was in such a rage!
Tears run down my cheeks as I sit in the emergency ward.
“My father died in that plane crash,” I tell the paramedic in a robotic voice.
“The survivors are here,” she tells me gently.
“If you're looking for anyone else,” she adds.
“Hazel. Hazel Bradford,” I tell her automatically.
Fuck Connor.
“I'll have a nurse check and report back,”
“What are we going to do?” my mother sniffles.
I hand her another tissue and try to work through what we have to do.
This isn’t the time to grieve, there’s too much to be done.
“Uncle Robert is the executor of the will. We'll have to call him; we should call the rest of the family too,” I say.
Despite their tumultuous marriage, my mother is sad.
Or is she fearful of what may happen to her now?
That my father is dead?
“Go call your relatives in Italy. Have some of them come if they can. You need them now,” I logically explain.
My tone is still robotic.
She only nods as she grasps her phone in her hands.
“I'll... but I don't want to leave you. You are all I have left,” she laments.
I see the sadness in her eyes.
She must've loved my father.
Enough to mourn him.
Maybe he wasn't always as volatile as I've known him to be.
Am I the one who turned him into the monster I made him out to be?
Would I have learned to love Connor?
Would we have been able to make a marriage work at someone else's will?
None of that seems possible when Noah was in the picture.
Now?
How can I run back to Noah when he's the very reason that my father and I were on such bad terms?
I don't blame him.
I blame myself for a knee-jerk reaction to my father's commands.
If I had just appeased him, our final words would have been much less vitriolic.
Of course, none of my thoughts will change that now.
I want to call Noah.
Desperately.
But I cannot bring myself to pick up the phone and explain myself.
Surely, he has heard the news?
The news that will devastate our relationship in the coming days.
A nurse returns with news of Hazel as I contemplate how to handle my future.
“Hazel Bradford is still in surgery,” she explains.
“But the prognosis isn't good,” she adds.
Hazel is fighting for her life.
Fuck Connor.
I hope he’s dead.
It’s like he knows I’ve thought this, because right on cue my cell phone begins to ring with a number I do not recognize.
“Hello?” I answer hesitantly.
“Tinsley, it’s Connor, is it true? The plane crashed?” His voice sounds strange.
Maybe it’s the connection.
“How? What! Why weren’t you on that plane!” my automatic reaction comes out in a scream
.
“Isn’t it lucky that I wasn’t on the plane?” Connor scoffs at me.
“Where are you?” I ask.
I’m blinded by rage.
“London, isn’t that obvious?” Connor asks.
I hang up the phone.
“Connor? Connor is in London?” my mother gasps.
She gives me a bewildered look.
There isn’t possibly anything I can say that will make this okay.
13
Noah
August 5, 2017
The hardest part of Jamesen's funeral is watching Tinsley's mother break down and sob into her daughter's arms.
I am a few pews away during the service, and I can see Tinsley's eyes are shining.
She glances over at me.
“I'm sorry,” I whisper.
“Thank you,” she whispers back.
We exchange a long glance, full of unsaid words and hurt, before she turns away.
Back towards the front of the church.
We haven't spoken since that day.
She avoids my calls; she won't see me.
The feeling that this might be over devastates me.
How on earth Connor made it through?
That I will never understand.
He is by far the last person that I want Tinsley to be near, but there is nothing I can do.
He's lost his father and wife.
I try to convince myself that Tinsley is just trying to be kind.
That's in her nature.
But deep down in my gut?
I know something is wrong.
It's only at the wake, in the Whittaker apartment, that Tinsley and I finally speak.
“I called,” I tell her.
“I know,” Tinsley acknowledges this.
“But I couldn't, and I can't. I'm sorry,” she says.
Her voice is emotionless, numb.
“Tinsley, I'm here for you,” I begin to tell her; then I see that she's moved her engagement ring to her right hand.
This causes the world to shift like I'm about to fall over for a moment.
I shake my head to clear it.
“Whether or not we are together, I am here for you as your friend,” The words come from my mouth as I try to be a man about this.
The truth, however, is I want her so desperately I want to scream.
Denial_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel Page 6
