Jon stayed back as she was besieged by well-wishers, but his warm gaze enveloped her with a “well done.”
“Later,” she mouthed.
He winked. She knew that meant he wasn’t going anywhere.
Jon was right. Everything worthwhile was worth waiting for—as long as it took.
Even if it meant waiting for at least four years while she carried out her duties as the next president of the United States.
64
A SECURE LOCATION
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA
Drew Simons was ushered into Thomas Rich’s mansion. The two men shook hands warmly, then entered Thomas’s study. He nodded, dismissing his Secret Service detail. Drew smiled and lifted a hand toward the two men. By now they were all old friends.
“So, it is done,” Thomas said. “The assignment you agreed to all those years ago—to protect Sean and his family from harm and to see to their welfare in all ways.”
Drew nodded.
“So what will you do now?” Thomas asked.
“Exactly what I’ve been doing.” Drew cocked his head toward Thomas. “At first it was just a job to work my way into the financial district of New York, as I’d hoped.” He grinned. “It also pleased my father. After all, you, he, and Bill all hung out in the same circles at university. To Dad, there was nothing better than aiding an old friend and helping his son get to where he wanted to go in life.”
“But something changed after your father passed away so suddenly.”
Drew nodded. “Yes. With him gone, and my mother’s death while I was in university, I found myself without family. Bill and Ava took me in—made me part of theirs.”
Thomas chuckled. “The Worthingtons have a way of doing that. Bill and Ava adopted me in university when I was feeling disgruntled and casting about for direction.” He sobered. “You returned the favor when Ava was feeling lost.”
Drew nodded. Yes, he had seen her sorrow in keeping her secret from her husband. He’d seen her loneliness when Bill was on the road and the brave façade she wore. Drew had been drawn to be Will, Sean, and Sarah’s father while Bill was away. He’d grown to fiercely protect them from a world that judged them harshly just because they were wealthy. He also respected Bill and agreed with his life philosophies, with one difference. Drew vowed that when he had his own family, he would be there to walk alongside them, even if his business suffered. After their marriage, Jean too had seen to that.
Aloud, he told Thomas, “By then I was loyal to the Worthington family. Your assignment gave me the resources and financial backing to protect them and ensure their welfare at any cost, wherever they traveled in the world. For that, I thank you.”
For over three decades, the Worthingtons hadn’t known Thomas was watching over them. Then Thomas had given the journal to Sean. But even he hadn’t known the extent of Thomas’s involvement until yesterday.
“And the meeting?” Thomas asked.
With Thomas’s agreement, Drew had gathered Bill, Ava, Will, Sean, and Sarah at his home. It was only the second time in the history of his relationship with the Worthingtons that Drew had called a family meeting. There, with Jean’s support, he had told them the full story of Thomas’s involvement over the years, and his own actions behind the scenes to ensure the safety and welfare of the Worthington family. It was time, he and Jean agreed, to reveal the depth of their love and care for the family. Then it was up to the Worthingtons to decide what to do next.
“They were stunned,” Drew said simply.
“You gave them details?”
“Yes, I fully explained. I told them I would answer any questions they might have. That you would also answer any questions.”
“What did Sean say?” Thomas asked.
“‘All these years, I had two fathers and a beloved mentor watching over me.’”
Thomas’s eyes welled. “You’re all right with the Worthingtons? They know you’re in their court? That you carried out an additional assignment from me simply because you cared so deeply about them? Because you considered them family and wanted to protect them?”
“Yes, I’m all right. And yes, they know. Long ago I chose to step into that unseen role. Now, with their permission, I will remain in that role.”
Yes, he would continue to walk alongside the Worthingtons.
It was his destiny. Drew was confident of that.
Thomas Rich, former president of the United States, stood in the lavish richness of his study after Drew departed. Quiet descended, and with it an unbearable emptiness. His eyes flitted to the secret drawer that had once contained the journal and Sean’s baby items. It now contained only one item—the cell phone that had convinced Spencer to withdraw from the race. It was the record of texts and calls between his son and Frank Stapleton, as well as confirmation of their dealings with ISIS to garner election funds. It also proved that Stapleton had contacted Justin Eliot to change the location of their meeting to the top of the high-rise.
The fact Spencer had morally sunk so low shamed Thomas to the core. Yet because Spencer was his son, Thomas couldn’t bring himself to release the proof publicly. Perhaps it was because Thomas himself had done so much wrong in his life. But he had used that proof privately to remove Spencer from the presidential race. He would use it again, if needed, so Spencer would never hold another public office.
Life certainly hadn’t turned out the way Thomas thought it would. As he absently scanned his office shelves, his attention landed on the book Sean had left behind in Corvo. Thomas scooped it up from where it nestled among the hundreds of books in his voluminous library. Someday he would return it to its rightful owner. Yet he felt strangely reticent to do so, as if he would be losing something precious. Lately an unexplainable force had drawn him again and again toward the book, as if it had the trajectory of a burning arrow.
He flipped to the inscription.
To Sean. Light for your path. Love you to the moon and back. Sarah.
Thomas didn’t even have to read the words anymore. He knew them by heart, because they had burned into his heart and mind. He needed light for his path, and somehow just the presence of that book in his library had provided that in his darkest hours in the last few months. Still, he couldn’t escape the niggling thought that he was being pursued by something much greater than himself. Perhaps someday he’d make his peace with that.
“One day I hope you will,” Sean had told him. In the meanwhile, Thomas had decided that the secret drawer would never hold any secrets other than the cell phone he needed to keep for now. The only other secret would remain privately between himself and the Worthington family—that of Sean’s parentage.
One night of moral weakness had altered his friendship with Bill and Ava Worthington. It had torn the fabric of trust they’d had at the university. Thomas had once thought that trust irreparable. But now he stood united with Ava and Bill again as their friend, their history swept aside in an act of forgiveness that had shaken him to the core.
He’d never forget the day Bill and Ava had called him after their family meeting, when they knew that the photos of Sean with the Polar Bear Bomber could be released to the media.
“You were my best friend,” Bill had said.
“And mine,” Ava added.
They had missed him, they said.
“Forgive me,” Bill said in a broken voice. “For not staying at Camp David. For putting the two of you in that situation. For wasting so many years because I guessed but was afraid to confront the truth. Afraid to lose Ava’s love.”
“And forgive me,” Ava whispered, “for not being courageous enough to tell Bill the truth. You should have been a part of Sean’s growing up.”
Thomas was overwhelmed. His throat tightened. “I was so needy. Lonely. Lacking for love. Missing friendship.”
“We forgive you,” Bill said. “Will you forgive us? Can we start over?”
Tears trickled unheeded down Thomas’s cheeks. “Yes.” Silence reigned for a moment before he added
, “But there is something I must do first. Ava, do you remember the promise you asked me to make when you sent Sean’s baby shoe and shirt to me?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“It’s time for me to do what is right. I must sacrifice one son to save another—and to pave the way for our new relationship.”
So Thomas had done what was right, and lost the only family he had on paper. His wife, Victoria, had been the easier of the two. She was already cut off from him, enamored with her new lover. She had been surprised when he granted her 50 percent of his wealth without a fight. Their divorce was already finalized.
His son Spencer was another matter. When Thomas had entered the White House for a private conversation with his son, he didn’t tell Spencer he knew about the note sent to Jon. All he said, with deep regret, was how disappointed he was in the man Spencer had become.
When Spencer flung Thomas’s words back in his face, blaming his father for everything that had gone wrong in his own life, Thomas simply said, “You’re right. I should have been there for you in your childhood. I wasn’t. And I accept the blame for that. But what you have done since—that is on your head.”
Then he had turned on his heel and walked out of the Oval Office, leaving a for once speechless Spencer staring after him.
The single greatest mistake he’d ever made, Thomas noted, was the way he’d reared Spencer—to believe that he was the center of the universe. It brought Thomas no joy to take down his own son. In fact, his heart was weighed with grief. But he knew it was the right thing to do.
Thomas looked now at the new but old photo that graced his desk. A university photo of three best friends, heads together, laughing and exchanging heartfelt dreams with each other. A photo he thought he’d never see again, after letting it slip below the waters of Lake Chautauqua. Bill and Ava had sent him the old photo in a new frame the week after the three friends had made their peace.
Thomas picked up the photo and read the inscription on the back.
To Thomas. Old friends, new beginnings. Love always, Bill and Ava.
Thomas squared his shoulders. For the first time since that night so long ago, he was stepping into the future again without trepidation.
The worst had been faced. The best, he was convinced, was yet to come.
Epilogue
WASHINGTON, D.C.
On a blustery January 20, Sarah Katherine Worthington took the presidential oath: “I do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Afterward, as the new president of the United States, she scanned the enthusiastically clapping crowd.
Sean and Elizabeth grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Ex-president Thomas Rich sat comfortably next to Sean, nodding in satisfaction. The press could talk all they wanted, but they would only gather that Thomas was an old friend of the Worthingtons, and he was showing his support.
Even the stoic Will stepped out of character and winked at her.
Drew smiled. “Well done,” his keen blue-gray eyes said. “I knew you could do it.”
Sarah’s mother sat primly in her suit purchased just for the occasion. She wiped away a tear.
Her father beamed at Sarah. “I believe in you,” that proud expression said. “You are one of us. A Worthington.”
In that moment, Sarah’s heart overflowed, her desire for acceptance and respect from her father met at last. But this time it wasn’t based on what she did but on who she was.
Her gaze moved next to Jon, and her eyes misted.
He was signing, “I love you.”
Bonus Feature
Birth Order Secrets
Have you ever felt compelled to act a certain way, as if you’ve been programmed?
The Worthington siblings—Will, Sean, and Sarah—grew up side by side in the same family, yet each sees life through a completely different lens. As a result, they respond to events differently.
Have you wondered why your sister or your brother is so polar opposite to you in lifestyle, behavior, and everything else? Why you’re a neat freak and your sibling is messy? Why you’re a procrastinator and your sibling is a finisher? Why you pick the friends you do? Why you’re driven to succeed? Why you’re less comfortable around your peers and more at ease around people older than you? Why you’re attracted to a certain type of person, or to a specific occupation? Why you struggle day to day with never being good enough? Why you’re always the one mediating between warring family members or co-workers?
The answers to these questions have everything to do with birth order secrets. Your place in the family has a lot to say about why you do what you do. It gives you important clues about your personality, your relationships, the kind of job you seek, and how you handle problem solving.
This Birth Order Secrets bonus feature highlights key traits of firstborns, onlyborns, middleborns, and lastborns. You don’t have to meet all the criteria in a certain list to be a specific birth order. In fact, if you don’t, there are reasons for that too. (For more intrigue, read The Birth Order Book.)
Discovering and understanding the secrets of birth order can powerfully change your life and revolutionize your relationships at home and at work.
Millions of people have already seen the results. You can too.
I guarantee it.
Dr. Kevin Leman
Firstborn
First on the scene.
Held to a higher standard.
Star of the show.
If you’re a firstborn:
You are a natural-born leader. People look up to you.
You have a strong sense of what is right and just.
You love details and facts.
You like to know what’s expected of you and have high expectations for yourself and everyone else.
You love rules . . . well, you call them “guidelines.” In fact, you may have a few too many.
You always feel under pressure to perform.
You don’t like surprises because you’re a planner and organizer.
Books are some of your best friends.
Onlyborn
Goal-oriented.
Self-motivated.
High-flying achiever.
If you’re an onlyborn:
You are a planner and an organizer and work well independently.
You have high expectations for yourself and others. The word failure is not in your vocabulary.
You were your parents’ first and only guinea pig in child rearing.
You were a little adult by age seven, comfortable with those older than you but not always at ease with your peers.
You find yourself saying always and never a lot.
Add very or really in front of any firstborn trait, and that describes you.
You are extremely conscientious and reliable.
Books are your best friends.
Middleborn
Navigator.
Negotiator.
Relational genius.
If you’re a middleborn:
You’re determined to choose your own path.
You’re pretty good at avoiding conflict.
You’re even-keeled, the mediator, the peacekeeper. You see all sides of an argument.
You sail through life with calm and a sense of balance.
You thrive on relationships.
Friends are your lifeline.
No one in the family ever asked you, “What do you think we should do?”
You navigate life’s seas in your own subtle way—although you may be the only one who realizes you’re the peanut butter and jelly of the family sandwich.
Lastborn
Winsome.
Natural entertainer.
Rule breaker.
If you’re a lastborn:
You’re great at reading people.
You’ve never met a stranger.
You can be very persuasi
ve.
Admit it—you like to be the center of attention.
You’re good at getting other people to do what you want them to.
You’re a natural salesperson.
Many people still call you by your pet name, even if you’re an adult.
You love surprises!
Although you don’t like to admit it, you were just a little bit spoiled.
Acknowledgments
Grateful thanks to:
All who read our books, enjoy the journey, and find their own “aha moments.” You make writing worthwhile.
Our family members, who each relentlessly pursue making a difference in the world in their own unique ways.
The Revell team, especially Lonnie Hull DuPont and Jessica English, for their enthusiastic support of this publishing dream.
Our longtime editor Ramona Cramer Tucker, who is the peanut butter and jelly of our sandwich.
About Dr. Kevin Leman
An internationally known psychologist, radio and television personality, speaker, educator, and humorist, Dr. Kevin Leman has taught and entertained audiences worldwide with his wit and commonsense psychology.
The New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of over 50 titles, including The Birth Order Book, Have a New Kid by Friday, and Sheet Music, has made thousands of house calls through radio and television programs, including Fox & Friends, The Real Story, The View, Fox’s The Morning Show, Today, Morning in America, The 700 Club, CBS’s The Early Show, Janet Parshall, CNN, and Focus on the Family. Dr. Leman has served as a contributing family psychologist to Good Morning America and frequently speaks to schools and businesses, including Fortune 500 companies such as YPO, Million Dollar Round Table, Top of the Table, and other CEO groups.
Dr. Leman’s professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association, SAG-AFTRA, and the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award (1993) and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree (2010) from North Park University; and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and later his master’s and doctorate degrees, as well as the Alumni Achievement Award (2003), from the University of Arizona. Dr. Leman is also the founder and chairman of the board of the Leman Academy of Excellence (www.lemanacademy.com).
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