I smiled at the thought of her beautiful face as she’d watched me blow out the flames. Her eyes sparkled, and she had a huge grin on her face – it was glaringly obvious that El loved birthdays.
My phone rang loud and shrill from my pocket. I sat my beer down and pulled it out. ‘Mom’ flashed across the screen.
Weird... she already called.
“Hey, Mom,” I answered. “What’s up?”
“Lawson.” Her voice was choked with tears.
I was up and out of my seat in a flash. I stalked into my office and shut the door behind me.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Oh, Lawson,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”
“What? What’s happened? You need to talk to me.”
“It’s your father.” Her voice was no more than a whisper.
My father?
“I don’t have a father.” My voice was laced with venom.
“Michael. I’m talking about Michael.”
“I’m aware of that. What the fuck has he done to you now?”
I hated the man. He had treated us like dirt; he’d left us when we needed him. He wasn’t worth anything to me, and I was furious that he was still able to cause my mother pain.
“He’s dead.” Her sobs filled the line as I bounced the words back and forth in my head.
Dead?
I heard the door open behind me and spun around to see El pop her head in the room. She must have seen the confused expression on my face; she slid through the door and shut it softly behind her.
“He’s dead,” I repeated. I didn’t know if I was talking to my mother or to El. I just needed to hear the words come out of my mouth.
My mother didn’t respond.
“Lawson?” El asked softly. I met her big blue eyes and saw how worried she was. “Are you okay?” She walked slowly towards me.
“He’s dead,” I repeated again. “My father... Michael. He’s dead.”
I heard El’s gasp and felt her hands wrap around my waist. It took me a moment to recognize it as her comforting me, for the father I’d just lost. But that wasn’t the case. The man was nothing but a sperm donor – he was a stranger to me. I felt nothing.
“How?” I asked.
“Car accident. A woman was killed too... I need to tell Quinn.” My mother choked out.
“I’ll tell her,” I told her sternly. “She’s here with me now.” There was no way I wanted her calling Quinn while she was in this state.
I got no response, but I could imagine her nodding into the phone.
“I have to go, Mom, I’m sorry, I’ll call you tomorrow. Can you call Aunt Carol? Have her come and stay with you?” I asked her gently. I knew my mom still loved Michael Pierce. I had no fucking clue why – the man was an asshole, but the fact of the matter was that she did, and I knew she was hurting.
“She’s on her way over here now.”
Hearing that had me feeling a lot better about things. I didn’t want my mom on her own dealing with her grief.
“Okay, good. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I dropped my phone on the desk and tugged on Ellerslie’s hair so that her face tilted up towards mine.
“I’m okay, baby. He hasn’t been my father for a long time.”
She nodded. “I know. But he’s still your dad. I’m sorry, Lawson.”
I pulled her back in close and rested my chin on the crown of her head. “Could you please go and get Q, baby?”
“Of course.” El pulled back away from me. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
I wasn’t sure how Quinn would take it. I knew she shared some of my hatred for the man. But just how she would feel... I didn’t know. She was younger when he left, and she didn’t remember a thing about him.
“I don’t know, pretty girl.” I sighed. “I sure hope so.”
El came back a few minutes later with a confused-looking Quinn.
“What the hell is going on?” Quinn demanded with her hands on her hips.
“I’ll give you two some space,” El said quietly, shooting me a sympathetic glance.
“No!” I told her quickly, reaching for her hand. “Stay. You’re part of our family too.”
El gave me a small nod, but I saw the fire blazing in her eyes – she loved the idea of that as much as I did.
“Mom just called me. She’s had some bad news.” I gently led Quinn by the elbow and sat her in one of the armchairs. I sat in the other, and El perched on the arm of Quinn’s chair.
“Okay...” Quinn glanced back and forth between El and I. “Is Mom okay? Fuck, she’s not sick, is she?” I saw the panic in my sister’s face.
“She’s fine,” I reassured her. I squeezed her hand. “It’s Michael.”
“Our dad?” Quinn asked, clearly confused by the mention of his name.
I took a deep breath and looked Quinn straight in the eyes. “He’s been killed in a car accident. I don’t know much more than that... just that there was a woman killed too.”
Quinn opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.
I squeezed her hand and El wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Q.”
I watched a single tear fall from Quinn’s eye and roll down her cheek. It broke my heart more than the news of our father’s death ever could.
“God, I’m so stupid,” Quinn spat out suddenly, wiping the tear from her face. “I didn’t even know him.”
“It’s okay to be upset, honey,” El told her softly, hugging her shoulders.
“But I shouldn’t be! He’s never been anything to me – to us.” Quinn looked back at me. “He’s not our father.”
I shook my head. “He gave up that right a long time ago.”
Quinn let out a short, bitter laugh. “I guess I just assumed that one day he’d wake up and realize he’d fucked it all up. He’d turn back up in our lives and I’d at least get a choice.” She sniveled and wiped her nose on her hand. “I would have told him to fuck off – but still, at least it would have been my choice.”
I understood what Quinn was feeling. Hell, I’d been there myself. Five years ago, I’d even gone so far as to dig into his whereabouts. I found out what he did for a job, where he lived, if he was married...
At the time, he lived a couple of hours away from where we grew up; he was single and was in charge of a large company. He was doing well for himself. He’d never had any more children.
I hadn’t told Quinn about any of it – I’d been embarrassed by my curiosity towards the man who’d abandoned us and left my mom heartbroken. I’d seen enough. The only thing that had stuck with me was the photo I’d seen of him; it was like looking into a mirror. I had his eyes, his skin tone, his hair... I was the spitting image of Michael Pierce.
“It’s his loss,” I told Quinn. “He’s missed out on seeing how amazing you are. He’s not worth knowing, you didn’t miss out on a single thing.”
“What happens now?” she asked quietly.
“I have absolutely no idea. I’ll call Mom tomorrow and see if she knows anything more.”
“I’m going to go and tell everyone that we’ll call it a night. Do you want to stay the night, Q?” El stood as she spoke.
Quinn nodded. “I’d like that.”
El gave me a small smile and left the room.
“Will you want to go to the funeral?” I asked Quinn after El shut the door.
“I have no idea. I don’t even know where he lives.”
“Still where he’s always been I presume.”
She looked at me in question.
I sighed. “I tracked him down a few years back. I don’t even know why I did it.” I scrubbed my hands over my face.
“What else do you know?”
“He was single, no other children, big CEO, flash house...” I told her. “I look like him,” I added quietly.
She nodded. “Mom told me that. She said you were the exact image of him. She said that our eyes are from him.”
&n
bsp; I nodded. Looking at the picture of my father had been like looking at a future version of myself.
***
I watched as El opened her eyes, blinked a couple of times and snuggled back into her pillow. I chuckled as I felt her fingers reaching out, blindly feeling around for mine.
I rolled over and clasped her hand in both of mine. “Good morning, pretty girl.”
She yawned loudly and opened her eyes again. “Good morning.” Her eyes assessed me and narrowed. “You didn’t sleep,” she accused.
I shook my head. “Not really. I was thinking about Quinn and Mom. Then I started to worry about Frank downstairs in his crate, so I had to go and check on him.”
“You need to sleep,” she scolded me – the softness in her eyes telling me she wasn’t really mad, just worried.
I knew she was right; the next few days would be hard on my mom. I needed to be strong to support her.
“I’ll take a nap later, after I find out if Mom knows anything more.”
“How did she know in the first place?”
I shrugged. I had no idea and I hadn’t even thought to ask her.
I had a lot of questions, and I needed some answers.
***
“Hey, Mom. How are you?”
“I’m okay, honey. How are you and your sister holding up?”
“I’m doing alright,” I told her. “Quinn stayed last night. She’s having some breakfast with Ells... she’s doing okay.” I couldn’t help the warmth that seeped into my voice at the mention of my fiancée’s name.
“Good. That’s good.”
“Mom... how did you hear about the accident?”
“Michael’s attorney called me. Apparently in the event of his death, I was to be contacted and informed, and I was to be the one to inform you both... I took to Google after that, that’s how I knew that a woman had been killed too. It was all very vague – no names.”
“Why?” I asked bluntly. He’d never made contact before. I couldn’t understand why we would need to know that he was dead.
“I don’t know. But the attorney did say he would be in touch with you as soon as he had everything put into place.”
“With me? What the fuck for?”
“Lawson Pierce,” my mother snapped. “Don’t you use that language with me. I have no idea what your father has done or why. This is not my doing.”
I sighed. It didn’t matter how old I was, nothing made me feel like a child quite like a good telling off from Whitney Adams.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I just hate not knowing.”
“I know.” She let out a breath. “I’ll call you if I find out more and I expect the same from you.”
“Of course. Take care okay, Mom?”
“I will. Give that baby girl of mine a kiss for me.”
“Sure thing. I’ll talk to you soon.”
I hung up and ran a hand through my hair. None of this shit made any sense. I was intrigued by the attorney’s intention to contact me. The only thing I could think of was that Michael had left Quinn and I something in his will.
I abandoned my thoughts, no doubt I’d find out soon enough.
I followed the sound of the girls talking in the kitchen. I stopped and gave Q a kiss on the head. “From Mom,” I prompted.
“I should call her,” Quinn commented nonchalantly.
El nodded with enthusiasm. “Go call her, honey. Talking to your mom might help you to feel better about things.”
Quinn slid off the stool, dialing our mother as she walked out of the room.
“What did your mom say?” El asked as she pressed herself against me.
I tugged her in even closer and kissed her forehead. “She was contacted by Michael’s attorney, and asked to inform me and Quinn. I don’t understand any of it... apparently this guy plans to call me.”
El looked up at me and frowned. “That’s weird.”
“It’s fucking weird alright.” We stood still, holding one another for a few minutes.
“Coffee?” El asked me in a hopeful voice. I knew she was trying to distract me.
“Sounds good, baby.”
She poured me a cup and I’d just lifted it to my mouth when my phone rang. The phone number was blocked.
“Lawson Pierce.”
“Good morning, Mr. Pierce, this is Samuel Terry speaking.”
“Good morning, Mr. Terry, how can I help you?”
“I’m calling as your father, Michael Pierce’s attorney. Please accept my condolences on his passing.”
“Thank you,” I muttered. “Can I ask why you’re calling me?”
“I think that would be better discussed in person, if you don’t object.”
What the fuck is going on here?
“I’m assuming Michael didn’t live locally? Unfortunately, that’s not exactly convenient for my sister and me.”
“I’m aware of your location, Mr. Pierce, I’ve actually just stepped off a flight – I’m here.”
“You’re here?” I asked, shock and disbelief coloring my voice.
“Indeed I am. I was given a very specific set of instructions by your father.”
“Okay?” I wasn’t sure what the hell to do now. “Where can we meet you?”
“I’d prefer if I could come to your home. It really is a matter that needs to be discussed in private. Is that suitable?”
Jesus.
“Ah... yeah... sure?” My reply came out as a question.
“I’m very sorry for the intrusion Mr. Pierce, I have your address down as 145 Summerset Road, is that correct?”
How the fuck does he know that?
“That’s correct.”
“And can I assume that Miss Pierce and Miss Rush will both be present for this meeting?”
“How do you know about Ellerslie?” I spat, suddenly worried for the safety of my girl.
El shot me a ‘what the fuck’ look, and I shrugged.
“I apologize, I can assure you that I’ll explain everything in person, is an hour’s time okay?”
“Fine,” I snapped. I was nearly shaking with anger. The sooner I found out what the hell was going on, and straightened this all out, the better.
I hung up and looked at El, I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. “I have no fucking idea what just happened. He knew our address; he knew about you...he’s coming here in an hour.”
“Well...” El huffed. “I guess we wait and see.”
4. Ellerslie
Samuel Terry was a short, bald man, who wore thick-rimmed glasses. He looked around 60 years old and spoke with precision and knowledge.
Lawson had introduced Quinn and I, although I was confident Samuel needed no introductions – he knew exactly who he was dealing with, it unnerved me just how much he seemed to know about us all.
I passed him a glass of water and sat down next to Lawson on the couch. Samuel occupied one armchair and Quinn was in another.
“Once again, I offer my sincerest condolences on the passing of your father.” He looked between Quinn and Lawson.
They both nodded in response.
“Can you tell us about what happened to him?” Quinn asked as she crossed her legs.
“I can.” Samuel nodded. “Michael was in a car accident yesterday morning. The vehicle was struck by a truck, and he and his wife, Cassandra, were both killed instantly.” His face was solemn.
“Hold on, back up a minute... his wife?” Lawson frowned.
“Yes, his wife. Michael Pierce married Cassandra Rose two years ago.”
“Huh...” Quinn thought aloud.
“How old was she?” I asked when neither Quinn nor Lawson spoke again.
“She was only thirty years old.” Samuel shook his head, his grief obvious.
“That’s younger than me!” Lawson hissed.
I grabbed his hand in mine and squeezed. I could feel how angry he was becoming.
“I still don’t understand why you’re here, Mr. Terry?” Quinn asked, narrowing her eyes at t
he small man in front of us.
“Yes... well. I’m afraid there is more.”
We all stared in silence, waiting for him to go on.
“Michael and Cassandra had a child, a daughter named Stella.”
Samuel’s words hung in the air. I gaped at Lawson. His jaw had dropped, and he stared directly back at me, lost for words.
The crash...
“Oh god,” I whimpered. “She wasn’t—”
“No,” Samuel interrupted me. “She wasn’t involved in the accident. She was with a sitter at the time of the crash.
I let out a relieved breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Lawson and Q have a sister...
“What will happen to her? Does she have family to go to?” Quinn asked hurriedly.
Samuel nodded, sweat beading on his forehead. “She does.”
Quinn’s body sagged in relief.
“That’s actually why I’m here. Michael and Cassandra had very specific instructions should anything happen to the both of them.”
I felt Lawson tense next to me. “When you say that’s why you’re here...”
He nodded. “Mr. and Mrs. Pierce requested that their daughter, Stella Pierce, be placed in the care of you, Lawson – you and Ellerslie. They wanted for you to adopt her.”
The whole world froze around me.
Me and Lawson... a kid? What the hell?
“What? No. Fuck... what?” Lawson stammered. “Surely Cassandra had some family?”
Samuel shook his head. “She did not. Her parents were quite old when she was born, and they have both since passed away. She was an only child. Your father’s mother has also passed away, and his father has Alzheimer’s. He was also an only child.” He gestured to Lawson and Quinn. “The two of you are her only other living relatives.”
“I’m confused,” I blurted out.
“What are you unsure about, Miss Rush?”
“Call me El,” I told him instinctively. “You said they appointed Lawson and me as her guardians. How did they know anything about me?” Why would they trust a stranger with their child?”
“Michael has kept a very close eye on both Lawson and Quinn. He was made aware of the fact that Lawson had proposed marriage to you, Ellerslie, and he only very recently adjusted his will accordingly.” He picked up a folder from the coffee table. “And like I said, they didn’t have any other family to consider.”
Love like Yours Series (Box Set #1-4) Page 39