“Did they get suspicious after there weren’t any children?” Rafe asked.
“Oh, she had children. Two, as matter of fact, but neither of them are mine.”
“Are you sure?” Basil asked.
“Yes, the old man’s will required a blood test to confirm that his blood flowed through their veins. His attorney had the test administered, and because of the stipulations of the will, the children are not of his blood, so they aren’t entitled to the money set aside for them from his estate.”
Rafe burst out laughing.
After dinner and coffee, Chester announced the time had arrived for them to leave. “I want to thank all of you for allowing us to come here tonight and for just being there for my daughter.”
“Chester, we love Andréa as if she’s our own, and with the love and joy she’s brought to our lives; we are blessed,” Nicolai said.
“I look forward to an invitation to the wedding,” Brian said as he slipped into his coat.
“Oh, wait! You forgot the pictures,” Andréa said, handing the envelope out to him.
“No, baby, those are yours. I want you to have them.”
Andréa walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Chester hesitated for a brief second before his arms closed around her. “Thank you,” he whispered.
Chapter Twenty
Eleanor sat in the parlor watching the television. She remembered hearing mention of the huge dedication ceremony for the new home for abused women and children. They would be showing the home that her granddaughter had designed, and she hoped her granddaughter would be there so she’d get a chance to see her, even if it was only on TV. She turned up the sound just as the founder stepped up to the podium.
“I want to thank all of you for joining us today for this special occasion. I am Nola York and I am one of the founders of Safe Haven. We are proud to reveal a place where we hope women and children can feel safe. Before the tour, I’d like to introduce the person who designed Safe Haven, well beyond what my partners and I could have ever imagined. The wonderful and talented designer is Andréa Morgan, soon to be Andréa York.”
Eleanor’s breath caught in her chest, and her eyes filled with tears. The sight of her granddaughter filled her with both joy and pain. Joy at knowing her son had a child from the only woman he’d ever loved, and pain for all of the years he’d missed of his daughter’s life as she grew up. Her eyes sparkled just like her son’s used to—before her husband and father-in-law had manipulated his life. She’d bet her father-in-law rolled over in his grave in anger at knowing that his plan hadn’t worked as he’d hoped.
Her gaze refocused on the television. The crowd left the podium area and headed towards the house. She spotted her son standing just behind his daughter. Chester held the ribbon while she cut it, and before all watching she turned and kissed him on the cheek.
“Who in the hell is that?” Theodore yelled as he entered the room.
“I wouldn’t know,” Eleanor responded. Quickly, she gathered her needlepoint and walked regally out of the room.
Theodore walked over to the phone, snatched up the receiver, and called his investigator. “My son’s at the dedication for that new Safe Haven place. He assisted a young woman with cutting the ribbon, and I want to know who in the hell she is,” he demanded before ending the call.
Within ten minutes, he received a call back, but he wasn’t happy with the information given, which wasn’t much. His investigator gave him her name and occupation and that she’d grown up in an orphanage. Damn, he’d have to get the information from his son. I’ll demand that he tell me who the young woman is and her relationship to him. His phone rang again. He snatched it up, and his anger spiked at the sound of Maureen’s voice.
“Who in the hell is that woman with Chester, and why in the hell is he at the dedication for Safe Haven?” she demanded.
“The hell if I know. Why are you calling me?”
“I’m calling to find out who that woman is and to find out how soon I’ll be getting the money you and your father promised me.”
“You aren’t getting any money. You should have kept your legs closed to every other man but my son. Since you didn’t, you aren’t entitled to any of the old man’s cash. Why couldn’t you just wait until you’d had his children before you spread your legs for your lover?” Theodore snapped.
“I did, you bastard! For the first two years of our marriage I slept with that son of yours and nothing came out of it, that’s why I turned to my lover to give me what your son couldn’t. How in the hell could I have known the old man would require blood tests to prove Chester was their father?”
“Well, he did, and therefore the old man’s attorney refuses to give you a dime, so you and your lover will have to look elsewhere for money to live off of. Our business is finished, so I’d appreciate it if you forgot this number.”
Chester’s heart swelled with pride as he toured the new home of Safe Haven, the home his little girl had designed. The words that came to mind to describe the home were beautiful and welcoming and inviting. He was sure the occupants of the house would need for nothing. He had been just as impressed with the house his daughter had designed for her future husband. Sebastian had given him a tour of the house that she would be moving into tomorrow. He would be there to help them move her things from her apartment to the new house. Chester could already hear the questions being whispered about him being here and the kiss he and his daughter had shared. He would follow her lead if she wanted everyone to know his relationship to her. He would allow her to reveal it because he didn’t want to disrupt her life any more than he already had.
Once the tour had been completed, he stood back and watched his daughter and the other women of Safe Haven stand to take pictures.
Sebastian walked over to where he stood and patted him on the shoulder. “She’s glad that you came.”
Chester turned to face Sebastian, his mouth agape. “Did she say that?”
“Yes, she did, and I think she’s more excited about you being here than she is about the dedication.”
“I’m worried about those reporters. I know they’re going to be waiting to pounce once we leave,” Chester said.
“Do you have a problem with the world knowing that she is your daughter?” Sebastian asked.
“Hell no! I’m so damn proud of her I’d love to shout it to the world, but I don’t want her life to be turned upside down by all of the questions.”
“Well, don’t worry. That daughter of yours will meet the reporters head-on and will announce that you are her father. I fear for anyone that tries to get more out of you or her.”
Chester laughed, knowing his daughter got her strength and forwardness from her mother.
Nola joined them, a huge smile on her face. “The house turned out better than we expected, and we owe all to Andréa and Mack. They worried about how the house would feel, but I didn’t doubt for a minute that with Andréa’s talent it would make everyone who stays here welcomed and safe, unlike a lot of the other shelters.”
Sebastian slipped his arm around his mother’s shoulders.
“I wish your father could have been here,” she said, “but I know he didn’t want the importance of the home overshadowed by his presence.”
“Well, I think we’ve shown off enough. Let’s get everyone out and get you home to Dad so you guys can celebrate,” Sebastian said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Just as Chester had predicted, reporters waited and fired questions as soon as they walked outside of Safe Haven.
“Mr. Holloway, what is your connection to Safe Haven?” one yelled out.
Chester looked to Andréa, and the smile she gave him along with the slight nod filled his heart to bursting.
“My connection to Safe Haven is the fact that my daughter designed it and I had to be here at the dedication for her.”
Another reporter fired another question.
Chester stopped them. “Sorr
y, but now isn’t the time or the place for the questions you are asking. This is about a home that is designed to be a safe place for abused and battered women and their children. We have a group of women that used their own money to fund and build this home without any government assistance or outside donations. These women recognized the need and stepped up and took on a job without having to be asked.” Chester hid his smile at the sheepish looks on the reporter’s faces after he’d put them in their place. Thanking them for their time, Chester linked arms with his daughter, and they left.
Two days later, the newspapers ran several stories regarding Chester Holloway’s beautiful daughter and speculations as to who her mother could be. In his study, Theodore stared unbelieving at the article naming the black woman as his son’s daughter. He wondered how in the hell he and his father had missed this. They should have kept a close eye on the black woman his son had fancied himself in love with. Had they known about the child they could have made sure no one would have found out about it. Well, there wasn’t anything he could do about it now but face the music of the scandal.
My son, the heir to the Holloway fortune, has a bastard daughter. No use denying it—she has his damn eyes.
The sound of the front door opening and his son’s footfalls as he walked into the foyer reached him.
“So you have child after all,” he called out.
Chester’s footsteps paused at his father’s statement then resumed until he entered the study. “Yes, I do, and she is a beauty, just like her mother. Isn’t it amazing how fate works? You and the old man tried to manipulate things to the way you wanted it, but it all went to hell in a handbasket, and the one thing you tried to deprive me of came to me in spite of all that the two of you did. I may not have had forever with the woman I loved, but I do have the child that we created together in my life.” Chester turned and started towards the stairs. He paused and turned back to his father with a warning: “If you have any ideas about trying to scare her off, I’d suggest you forget them. You’d have me out for you, but you’d also have my future son-in-law’s family, and the Yorks aren’t people you want to get on the bad side of.”
His mother met Chester at the top of the stairs. “Do you think that I could meet your daughter?” she asked.
“Yes, Mom, I’m sure she would love to meet you. I’ll set something up with her and let you know. It may take a few days because right now she’s planning the wedding and getting moved into their new house, but I will get the two of you together,” he promised.
Andréa sat down on the side of the huge, custom-made sleigh bed situated in the center of the master bedroom and allowed exhaustion to take over as she fell back against the feather-soft pillows. She couldn’t understand why she’d been so tired all of a sudden; well, for the past couple of days she’d been getting to where she couldn’t keep her eyes open by eight o’clock in the evening. With a deep, cleansing sigh, she drifted off to sleep.
“Where’s Nico?” Chester asked in his daughter’s new kitchen as he accepted a bottle of water from Mack.
“He’s at school.” Sebastian explained the school for the gifted that his son attended and that the founder been Andréa and Teresa’s mentor at the orphanage.
Mack looked around. “Where is Andréa?”
“She’s slipped upstairs for a quick nap,” Sebastian answered.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, she’s been up late at night working on a tree house for Nico and Basil’s boys to play in, and you can be sure it won’t be an ordinary tree house either.”
“I’d better make sure my calendar is clear, because you know if she wants one built here, she’s going to want one built at Teresa’s place also,” Mack said, laughing.
“I don’t appreciate all of you talking about me while I’m trying to get a little cat nap,” Andréa warned, joining them in the kitchen.
Rafe walked over and answered the door at the sound of someone knocking. It surprised everyone to see Clarke standing on the other side.
“Hi, everyone,” he said upon entering. “I went by your parents’ house and found out you’d moved into your new home. I thought I’d swing by to see if you needed any help.”
“Thanks, Clarke, but everything is all moved in.”
“You must be Mr. Holloway,” he said, extending his hand to Chester. “Sebastian, man, you’re forever lucking out. Did you know about Mr. Holloway being her father at the time you guys started dating?”
Before Sebastian could speak, Andréa answered for him.
“You know what, you bastard, that’s the last snide comment I’d better hear out of your mouth. I let the comment you made at the dinner party pass because I didn’t want to make a scene at my mother-in-law’s dinner, but you’re in our house now, and I’m not worried about making a scene. I understand you’re jealous because the woman you want doesn’t want you, but that is between you and the bitch and has nothing to do with Sebastian. Now, I suggest you go and continue being a lapdog for her or you can man up and find someone that wants you and stop running behind someone that wants something that she’ll never have.” Andréa walked over to the door and opened it. “It’s time for you to leave, and please know that you’re not welcome here ever again.”
With his face beet red, Clarke turned and walked out without a backward glance. Andréa slammed the door shut and turned to see her future husband along with her father, Mack, and Rafe staring at her as if she had two heads.
“Is there a problem?” she asked.
“Um, no,” Mack said, clearing his throat.
Andréa stalked from the kitchen.
“Man, I thought she’d been about to kick his ass,” Mack whispered.
“Bro, I hope you never piss her off, or she may just fuck you up,” Rafe added between chuckles. “Man, she scared the hell out of me,” he added just as Andréa reentered.
Chester couldn’t help but laugh at his daughter. Each time he was with her she showed more and more of her mother’s traits and made him very proud. “I see so much of my April in her that it’s uncanny. She would have done the same thing that Andréa just did. By the way, Andréa, your grandmother would like to meet you.” He turned to her. “You don’t have to meet her if you don’t want to…”
“Do you want me to meet her?” Andréa asked.
Chester sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “I’d love for you to meet my mother, if it’s something you’re comfortable with. I don’t want you doing anything you don’t want to just because you think it’s what I want you to do. I’m just pleased that you’re allowing me to be a part of your life.”
Andréa smiled at him and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.
“I’d love to meet my grandmother,” she stated, earning a huge smile from her father.
Chapter Twenty-One
Eleanor patted her hair as she waited in the parlor for Chester to arrive with his daughter. My granddaughter! She heard the front door open and waited until her son entered the parlor with the beautiful young woman at his side. Eleanor glanced at the handsome young man that stood behind her granddaughter, but her gaze went back to the gorgeous lady with her son’s eyes.
“Mother, I’d like for you to meet Andréa Morgan, my daughter.”
Eleanor had promised herself that she would be strong, but she couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes. “Oh my god, Chester, she’s beautiful,” she whispered. “I was glued to the television watching the dedication ceremony, and as soon as I saw your eyes I could tell you belonged to Chester,” Eleanor confessed.
Andréa walked over to her grandmother and hugged her.
Eleanor broke down and cried in her arms. “I’m sorry about what my husband allowed his father to do to you and your mother and father—but to you especially.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Grandmother. Things happen for a reason. We may never know what that reason is, but I do know that knowing that I wasn’t an unwanted child is a wonderful thing and having my fa
ther in my life makes up for all the years I missed growing up.”
After they ate, Eleanor couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a memorable dinner, and she owed it all to her granddaughter. “I want to thank you for being who you are and I wish that I’d had the pleasure of meeting your mother.”
“I do as well, but my dad has told me all about her, and for that I’m grateful. But I’m glad I have you and Dad in my life, and along with Sebastian, Nico, and the rest of the York clan I couldn’t want for anything more. Now, I expect to see you at the wedding in two weeks,” Andréa said and promised to have a car pick her grandmother up and deliver her to the wedding.
After their guests left, Eleanor turned to Chester. “She is a beautiful person inside and out, and I see a lot of you in her—and I’m not just talking about her having your eyes.”
“I see a lot of April in her, and the more time I spend with her, getting to know her, it seems as if I’ve known her all her life. I know I missed out on her childhood, but she still looks up at me as if I had a hand in the sun rising. Did I tell you I have a grandson? Sebastian’s little boy said that since Andréa’s his mommy and I’m her daddy, that made me his granddad and I just have to accept it,” he said, laughing.
“I’m so glad you found her and that you’re a part of her life. You should be very proud of the woman she is today. I know that I am.”
“Who are you proud of?” Theodore asked as he entered.
“My granddaughter. You just missed her and her fiancé,” Eleanor informed him.
“Is that so? I suppose you’ll make sure she gets your grandfather’s money,” Theodore commented.
Chester chuckled at his father, too happy to allow the old man’s comments to get to him.
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