by Marie Force
Stephanie smiled at him as she accepted the glass of lemonade he’d poured for her.
“I’m actually glad you came by,” he said. “I was going to call you today to tell you I’ll be off the island for the next week or so.”
“Where’re you going?”
“To Virginia with Sarah and Owen. Her ex-husband is going on trial for beating her up last fall.”
“What?” Stephanie asked with a gasp as she sat down hard on a chair at the table.
Charlie brought his drink to the table to join her.
Her mind whirled as she tried to absorb that the woman she’d come to know so well through her dad and working close to her at the hotel had been abused. “Did you know?”
“Not until the other day. I suspected, though. She’s always so timid and skittish. I hated to think that was the reason.”
“I had no idea.”
“It’s not something she or Owen speak freely about. I guess it was pretty bad when he and his siblings were growing up.”
“God, poor Owen—and Sarah. He seems like such a happy, laid-back kind of guy. I never would’ve guessed. And I never heard a word about Sarah either.”
“They’ve been private about it, for obvious reasons, and they’re doing well now. We just have to get them through this next week or so, and then they can get on with their lives.”
“I’m glad you’re going with her.”
“So am I. I’m glad she told me about it and is letting me be there for her.”
“So things are good with you guys?”
“You could say that. She stayed here last night.”
Stephanie’s mouth fell open before she quickly closed it. “Really? Do tell.”
“That’s all you’re getting.”
“Oh come on!”
“End it,” he said with a playful scowl. “What brings you over here, and don’t tell me you missed me. You just saw me.”
“Don’t be so saucy,” Stephanie said, amused by his gruffness. “I came to share some good news with you. Grant and I have set a wedding date. Labor Day.”
“This year?”
“Yep.”
“Good for you, honey. I’m happy for you. I was wondering when he was going to get around to making a real commitment to you.”
“He wasn’t the holdup. I was. He’s been wanting to set a date for almost as long as we’ve been engaged.” She slid a finger up and down the side of the glass, moving the condensation around. “I’ve wasted a lot of that time worrying that I might turn out to be more like my mother—”
“Whoa! Wait, what did you just say?”
“That I might turn out to be like her, which had me worried about having kids of my own.”
“You are nothing like her. Nothing. If I hadn’t seen pictures of her holding you as a newborn, I’d never have believed you were really hers—and I thought that from the time I first met you two. She was always a bit of a mess, and you… Even as a little kid, you were so incredibly smart and capable. There’s no comparison, Steph. None.”
Stunned by the emphatic, impassioned speech that was wildly out of character for her quiet stepfather, Stephanie slumped in her chair. “I let the fear get the better of me, and it feels sort of silly now that I finally aired it all out with Grant last night.”
“He was good to you, I hope?”
“Yeah,” Stephanie said softly. “He’s always good to me. It’s been hard, though, you know… To give him everything.”
“You were holding something back, protecting yourself in case it fell apart, right?”
She could hardly be surprised that he understood so well after what he’d endured at the hands of her mother. “Yes.”
“Classic defense mechanism. I know it well.”
“You would, wouldn’t you?”
“Look, we’re both conditioned to expect it all to go to shit because that’s what’s always happened in the past. I’m choosing to believe that’s not going to happen this time with Sarah. You should do the same with Grant. Despite the absolutely amazing thing he did to help me, I’ll admit I wasn’t a hundred percent sold on him for you when I first met him. He seemed kind of… I don’t know… Fancy, I guess. I wondered if a guy like him could be happy with the simple life you need.”
“You never told me any of this.”
“You were ass over teakettle for the guy. Would it have mattered?”
“Yes! It would’ve mattered! You have no idea, do you?”
Charlie’s brows knitted with confusion. “About what?”
“The whole time you were locked up, your voice was in my head. You were always my compass, even when I couldn’t see you any time I wanted to. It would’ve mattered to me that you didn’t think he was right for me.”
“I never said he wasn’t right for you. I said I wasn’t sure at the beginning, but I trusted you to know your own heart, and over time I’ve come to see he’s perfect for you in all the ways that matter most. The two of you… You complement each other.” Charlie took her hand. “He comes from good people. That matters, too.”
“They’re very good people. I love them almost as much as I love him.”
“You need to allow yourself to be happy, honey.”
“I’m learning how to do that.”
“Won’t happen overnight, but we both deserve it, wouldn’t you say?”
“Absolutely.” Feeling suddenly shy, she glanced at him. “You’ll give me away on Labor Day, won’t you?”
“I’d be so very honored. Come here and give your old man a hug.”
She went to him and let him wrap his strong arms around her, surrounding her with the unconditional love he’d given her long before he’d made the huge mistake of marrying her mother. “Love you, Charlie bear,” she whispered, using her childhood nickname for him. She was so damned grateful to be able to hug him any time she wanted or needed to.
“Love you, too, Stephie Lou.”
Chapter 15
Charlie walked Stephanie out to her car and gave her another hug before he sent her on her way with a wave. He was so damned proud of her. She’d been a bright, happy, joyful kid growing up in the midst of a nightmare with an abusive, neglectful, drug-addicted mother. After her mother had accused him of kidnapping and abusing her, they’d walked together through the fires of hell and made it to the other side, somehow still whole and healthy despite their ordeal.
He hadn’t thought about Renee in a long time. In fact, he went out of his way to never think about the day he’d walked in on her beating the hell out of the girl he’d come to love as a daughter. He’d done what anyone would do in that situation—he’d gotten Stephanie out of there and had paid for that decision with fourteen years of his life behind bars. Seeing her now, grown up, beautiful, glowing with happiness and in love with a great guy, Charlie knew he’d do it all over again if he had to. She was worth every minute he’d spent locked up.
As he was about to resume his yard work, another car pulled into the driveway, this one a low-slung black Porsche that made Charlie want to drool with envy every time he laid eyes on it. He’d always appreciated cars, and Dan Torrington’s car was one of his favorites. It suited the LA lawyer to a T.
Charlie had learned the hard way to be wary and cautious around lawyers, who were often out to protect their own interests over those of their clients. Dan was a notable exception. Charlie owed him everything. With one phone call from the notoriously successful attorney, Charlie had suddenly been granted the hearing he’d been denied for years, at which Dan had successfully argued for his release.
“Hey, Charlie,” Dan said when he unfolded himself from the car. He’d once told Charlie the car had originally belonged to his brother Dylan, who’d been killed in Afghanistan. Charlie had seen the depths of Dan’s grief and the pain of his loss that day when he talked about his only brother.
Charlie shook the hand he offered. “Counselor. What brings you out this way?”
“A rather intriguing phone call from a fri
end of mine in the state attorney general’s office.”
“On a Sunday? You all never take a day off, huh?”
Dan was another one Charlie had found to be a bit fancy, until he got to know him better and came to appreciate the man beneath the urbane veneer. “We’re both off today, but he wanted to give me a heads-up that the state is preparing to offer a settlement in your unlawful imprisonment claim.”
Charlie had resisted filing that claim until Dan, Stephanie and even Grant had compelled him to consider it. After all, the original proceedings had completely disregarded the testimony of the girl he’d supposedly abused, who’d pleaded with someone, anyone, to hear her assertions that he’d actually saved her, that her mother had been the abuser, not her stepfather.
Renee had died a short time after he was charged without ever admitting she’d lied about what happened that day in their home. She’d condemned him to hell without an ounce of remorse, as if she’d never professed to love him when she was clean and sober.
“What kind of offer?” Charlie asked hesitantly. He’d told himself over and over that it didn’t matter if anyone ever paid for what he’d been forced to endure. He had his freedom and his daughter was back in his everyday life. What else mattered?
“This is strictly off the record because it’s not an official offer yet, but he heard they’re going to come back with half a million for every year you spent in jail.”
Seven million. Holy shit.
“I still think we could get more,” Dan said. “This is just their preliminary offer, and they’ll expect us to come back with a higher number.”
“No,” Charlie said.
“Um, no? What do you mean?”
“No higher numbers. That’s more than enough. How much of that do you get?”
“None of it. I don’t want it, and I don’t need it.”
“I don’t get you. Why aren’t you like all the other hucksters out there who’d have their hands so deep into a settlement like this, I’d be lucky to be able to buy a hamburger when they were done?”
Dan tipped his head back and laughed. “Don’t think too much of my profession, do you?”
“Can you blame me?”
“Not one bit. You and most of the people I work with these days have seen the worst of us. I like to show you the best. I made a fortune as a corporate lawyer before I started the innocence project. I’m not in it for the money, but if you want to donate to the project so we can help others who’ve been unjustly convicted, I won’t say no to that.”
“Done.”
“I wish all my clients were as easy to please as you are, Charlie.”
“It doesn’t take much to make me happy these days.”
“I bet it doesn’t. I’m happy for you. A thousand times more wouldn’t fully compensate you for what was lost.”
“Maybe not, but seven million will keep me pretty well for the rest of my life and give me something to leave my daughter someday, too.”
“Good enough. I’ll let you know when I receive the official offer.”
“You’re going to Virginia with Sarah and Owen, right?”
“I am. Are you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see you Tuesday morning, then.”
“I’ll be there. You’ll be looking out for her, won’t you?” Judging by the fierce expression on Dan’s face, Charlie didn’t need to elaborate any further.
“You bet your ass I will. That’s why I’m going. I’ve been overseeing the divorce, and that husband of hers is a real piece of work. I’m not taking any chances that he’s going to pull anything on her. I’ll be right there the whole time.”
“Makes me feel better to know you’re on her side.”
“Always.” Dan offered his hand again.
Charlie grasped it with both hands. “I’ll never be able to properly thank you for all you’ve done for me—and for Stephanie. We’ll always be grateful.”
“Believe me when I tell you, Charlie, it was indeed my pleasure. See you at the party later?”
“We’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it.”
Charlie waved to Dan when he drove off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.
Seven million dollars.
While part of him wanted to say fuck them and their money, the other part of him—the part that had once been an intellectual, a teacher and a fairly decent human being before life ripped the rug out from under him—would never say that. He could do a lot of good with that kind of money, for himself and the people he loved.
He could buy Sarah any house she wanted, he thought with a smile, imagining her reaction to hearing that she could have her pick of anything she’d ever wanted. That thought brought a smile to his face and had him once again thinking about the night they’d spent together.
She’d surprised the hell out of him when she asked him for more, and though he burned with the desire to do everything with her, he hadn’t given in completely to those desires, as he was still afraid of scaring her or moving too fast after all she’d been through.
They’d still managed to have one hell of a good time together, and sleeping with her in his arms had been one of the best experiences of his life—even if they hadn’t actually had sex. They’d come awfully close to that, and he had every reason to believe it would happen soon. At least he hoped so.
As much as he’d once loved Renee, this was different. With her, the slope had always been slippery. Even before he discovered her addiction issues, she’d been unpredictable, prone to irrational bouts of anger that kept him—and Stephanie—constantly off balance, waiting for the next explosion.
Sarah had her own experiences with waiting for the anger and living on the edge. Other than an occasional flinch when she was touched, you’d never know it to be around her. She was serene and peaceful and delighted with the simple things in life. Like him, she was grateful to be free of a past that had kept her every bit as imprisoned as he had once been.
Now that he’d been able to tell her—and show her—how much he loved her, he was hoping they’d get to spend the rest of their lives together. Once she got past the trial and her divorce was final, it would be time to make some plans. Charlie couldn’t wait for that day. It was nice to have something to look forward to again.
* * *
After sending his wife a text asking her to meet him at home, Big Mac went to the house to wait for her. His mind raced with questions and implications and worries. He was deeply concerned about how Linda would react to hearing he’d fathered a child with another woman. Granted, it had happened before he met her, but still… He knew his wife and was worried the news would upset her.
Though it was only ten thirty, he thought about having a drink to calm his nerves but decided against it. He wanted to be at his best for this conversation. His thoughts kept wandering back to the beautiful young woman who’d appeared out of nowhere bearing life-changing news for him and everyone he loved. Had he been foolish not to agree to her wishes to let her go without anyone the wiser that she even existed?
“No,” he said out loud. He’d never have a minute’s peace if a child of his were walking around alone in the world when she could’ve been part of his large and loving family. Blowing out a deep breath, he ran his fingers through thick, wiry gray hair as he thought about the time he’d spent with her mother.
Theirs had been a brief fling, spanning most of the winter before he met Linda, the day before he closed on the marina. Neither he nor Diana had taken their relationship all that seriously, and when it came time to move on, they’d done so with no ill will or hard feelings.
He recalled Diana as a dark-haired, vivacious beauty with a zest for life and a yearning for adventure. She’d talked about the traveling she wanted to do and the places she hoped to see. None of her plans had fit with his goal of building his ramshackle marina on Gansett Island into a flourishing business. In fact, she’d teased him that he would lose his mind on the isolated island. But he’d been determined to pursue his d
reams, as had she, so they’d gone their separate ways when it became obvious that their divergent dreams would never jell.
He’d liked her a lot, but he hadn’t loved her. Probably because he’d always suspected theirs was a temporary relationship at best. When he met Linda, he’d immediately seen the potential for much more than he’d ever had with Diana or anyone else for that matter. Following his instincts where Linda was concerned had resulted in the kind of love most people could only dream about. And here they were, going strong thirty-nine years later, and he’d never had a single regret where she was concerned.
Despite their fleeting relationship, it saddened him to hear that Diana had died. In her letter, she’d told Mallory that she’d been tied to her home and her family, which was why she’d been unable to pursue a relationship with him. There’d been no mention of travel or adventure. He wondered if she’d gotten to do any of those things she’d wanted so badly or if taking care of their child had derailed all her hopes and plans. The thought of that possibility pained him greatly.
The screen door slapping against the doorframe, a sound as familiar to him as anything in his life, indicated Linda’s arrival.
“Honestly, Mac. I was right in the middle of coffee with Doro when I got your text. I’m enjoying our summer of love as much as you are, but I do have commitments, you know.” She stopped short in front of him and looked up, expectantly. “Well? I’m here.” She ran her finger down the center of his chest and then hooked it into the waistband of his shorts. “You said it was urgent.”
She was so damned beautiful, and when she looked at him that way, he would give her anything. He had to force himself to say the words. “I need to talk to you.”
Before his eyes, she took a closer look and registered something amiss. “What’s wrong?”
“Something happened today.”
“The kids?”
“Are all fine. It was something else, something completely unexpected and out of the blue.”
“Okay…”
“The winter before I met you, I dated a woman named Diana Vaughn for a couple of months.”
