He hadn't said anything to her about it, or given her any hint at all that he had been thinking it. They both had enough to think about as it was, without adding more fuel to the fire. His greatest concern at that point was Lance, and wondering when his brother would return, and wondering what would happen when he did.
He didn't have to wait long.
One month later, Grace was walking down the stairs from her room when the front door opened and Lance walked in and looked up at her in shock. She stopped almost in mid-step and her heart began to pound. He was home. It was time.
Lance's face twisted in annoyance and he closed the front door behind him and took a few steps into the foyer, his eyes locked on her. “What in the hell are you doing here in my house?" he asked with a raised voice.
She hadn't known what to expect, but his obvious irritation had not been one of the reactions she assumed he might have.
Not knowing quite what to say or how to handle it on her own, she stammered and told him the truth. "I... I live here now. This is my home, too," she told him with a stronger voice than she felt. It was true, it was her home; both Henry and Oliver had made it that way, and had done such a welcoming job of it that she felt every bit of confidence in announcing it to Lance as he stood there glaring at her.
"You live here? When the hell did that happen?" he snapped angrily. "Who the hell told you that you could live here?"
She felt anger rising up in her. She was not about to be bullied by him because he was threatened by her presence or her baby. She began to descend the stairs again, walking down them toward him, speaking as she moved.
"Henry and Oliver both invited me to live her, and they have both made it abundantly clear that I am welcome to live here as long as I want with our baby, and I fully intend on living here for quite some time!" she answered firmly.
He shook his head in disgust. "That's not going to happen. Not while I'm here. You can take yourself and that kid right the hell out of here, right now. I don't know what you did to trick my father and brother into believing your little lie about that bastard kid being mine, but it isn't, and I'm going to have you thrown out of here right now, so you might as well take your ass back upstairs and start packing, because you are gone."
With that he turned and marched straight toward his father's office, leaving Grace standing there in shock and pain, not knowing what to do. She was blinded by her sudden tears, and lost her breath as her heart raced and adrenaline coursed through her body. She laid her hand on her heart and closed her eyes, willing herself to breath deeply and calm down.
His appearance and harshness had been sudden, and in the element of surprise and his unexpected anger, she had lost her own security for a moment, but he was gone, and common sense came back to her slowly as she told herself over and over in her mind that Henry and Oliver wanted her there in the house, they wanted the baby there, and nothing Lance said to either of them was going to change that.
She opened her eyes and took a long, slow, deep breath. She let it out and walked down the rest of the steps into the foyer and headed directly for Oliver's office, hoping with all of her heart to find him there for solace and support.
Chapter 7
Lance opened the door to Henry's office, stepped inside, and then shut it firmly behind him. Henry looked up from his desktop and a smile formed on his face as he gazed at his son. The look of fury on Lance's face was confounding to Henry.
"Welcome home, son," he said as he stood up and walked around the desk toward him, reaching his arms out to embrace him. "It's been a long time. I'm glad that you finally made it home," he said warmly as he hugged Lance and then stood back to look at him. He saw the ire in Lance's eyes. "What seems to be bothering you, my boy?" he asked as he let him go and leaned back against his own desk. Lance knew better than to explode in anger at his father. He knew he had to handle it with care.
"I'm just shocked to see a strange woman here in our home, father. What is she doing here?" he asked in a cool, level tone.
Henry frowned. "Grace lives here, Lance. If you had stayed a little longer you would have known that. She was invited to live here by both Oliver and myself. I'm glad you brought her up, son, your situation with her is something that I have been wanting to discuss with you." Henry said meaningfully. "Have a seat, please," he suggested, looking pointedly at the chairs before his desk.
Lance frowned then, but he sat down and looked at his father. Henry took his own seat across from Lance, and folded his hands on the desk before him.
"Just before you left, I told you that I was considering your requests while I am rewriting my will. Your inheritance, as you recall, is dependent on what I rule on in the will." He raised his eyebrows and looked earnestly at his son. "Well, my boy, things have definitely changed since we last spoke about it, and those things have to be taken into consideration."
Lance watched and listened silently.
"You are going to be a father. In four short months, your son will be here, and the family name will be carried on through him, and that is the most significant change you will ever experience in your life. There is nothing that will ever happen to you that will affect you more than becoming a father and having a child. I know. I did it twice. Now, you too will have that same tremendous blessing, and you too will know the joys and powerful love of being a father." He leaned forward a little further, wanting to be certain that Lance truly heard everything he was saying to him.
"I want to help you with this new epoch of your life, Lance. I want to enable you and Grace and your son to have all that you might need and much more while this baby grows up and in the years to come. I have given this considerable thought, and I have decided to change my will."
Lance sat up and looked directly into his father's eyes. "What do you mean? What are you talking about? What changes are you making?"
Henry took a deep breath and continued. "I realize I am an old man, and that my own values and beliefs are old fashioned, but it is important to me that you step up and take responsibility for your actions and your child. I know that it's a lot to request, and that you might have had other ideas, but I do not want this child born without our family name, and I do not want Grace to be shamed by having a child out of wedlock. I am asking that you marry her. Give her the honor and the title that she deserves. Give her the home she deserves. Help her build the family that you have both created. Marry her and you will receive the bulk of the wealth of the family and your inheritance, including this house and all the property."
Lance could not believe his ears or his father. He sat stunned and staring as his father continued. "Your brother is a man of his own means; he has acquired a good deal of his own wealth, in addition to the inheritance that he will receive from me, but the bulk of what I was planning on splitting between the two of you would go to you and Grace, should you marry her and become a family. That's just what we need here, Lance, a strong solid family to carry on our legacy, the Carter legacy that you were born into and are an integral part of. You are having a son. You have an opportunity to build that legacy, and you have a responsibility to Grace, to your child, and you have an obligation to me and to your heritage. If you do not marry Grace, that money will be given to her alone so that she will always have the means to support herself and your child. The choice is yours to make, and as I said, I realize that it's old fashioned of me to want you two wedded before the baby is born, but that's what I would like to see, and that is what the bulk of the inheritance of my estate will be contingent on."
Lance's mind was going a million miles an hour. "Have you told Grace this yet? What has she said about it?" he asked, his hands resting lightly on the front of his knees as he sat at the edge of his chair.
Henry shook his head and leaned back. "I haven't said anything to Grace about it. I haven't said anything to anyone about it. I wanted to talk with you first to offer you the chance before I make any other moves or decisions." He folded his hands over his small belly and he smiled at La
nce.
"She is a wonderful woman, Grace is. I've grown to care for her as a daughter. She's bright and sweet and good, just like your mother was in many ways, and she is going to be a good mother to your son. She would be an excellent wife to you, Lance, and I could wish for no better partner for my own son than Grace. You would be lucky to have her at your side for the rest of your life. I'm not forcing you to marry her, you have a choice, but I did want you to know what I have decided about the inheritance if you choose not to marry her. She will get the bulk of it for her and for my grandson." He leaned forward again, resting his hands on the desk.
"What are your thoughts?" he asked seriously.
Lance had been thinking. He had been thinking as fast as he could about everything his father had just told him. "Well, father, I am surprised to hear your position on this, but... I'm... I'm glad to hear it as well, because I've been thinking about her and the baby the whole time I've been gone. You know," he said, standing up and walking toward the bar casually, "when she came here and told me that she was carrying my child, it came as quite a shock. I wasn't prepared at all for that." He poured himself a glass tumbler full of whiskey and took a long pull of it, draining almost half of it before he lowered his hand.
His father watched him with a slight frown.
"I just... wasn't expecting that kind of news at all. I thought I would have a few more years to... you know... be young and... carefree, but she changed all of that with her visit and then I had some time away in the tropics to think about it."
He had not thought of it once the entire time he was gone. He had been focused on all the women he had toyed with and bedded, and when he wasn't burying himself inside a woman, he was racing boats and drinking heavily.
"I spent so much time just going over the incredible news that I was going to be a father; it came as such a shock to me that I didn't know how to handle it at first. Then the more I thought about it, and thought about her, the more I realized that I have a responsibility to you and this family, and to that.... child she's carrying."
He took another long pull off of the glass in his hand and then sat before his father again. "I thought of you, Dad, and what an excellent father you've been to us, and I realized that I was going to have to come back here and try to be half the father to that baby that you have been to me. That was intimidating, and so was the prospect of what lay ahead of me, but I have actually already decided to ask Grace to marry me, and to give her my name and give the baby my name, as well as my full support. You're asking of me what I have already decided to do, father. I want to do what's right and marry her. I want to be a husband to her and a loving father to my son, and now that I am back, that is exactly what I am going to do, and shifting the bulk of the inheritance to Grace and I would be the most helpful thing that you could do as we start our new family and begin a life together. Thank you for your incredible thoughtfulness and generosity, Dad. I hope I'm half as good a father as you are."
Henry could not be more pleased to hear what Lance had told him. He rose up from his seat as Lance drained the last of his alcohol and set the tumbler on the desk in front of him.
Lance stood up and as his father came around the desk for another hug, he hugged him back. "Thank you, Dad," he said warmly, though the look on his face as it leaned over his father's shoulder said otherwise.
"You are so very welcome, my son. I am sure that you will be a fine husband to Grace, and a good father to your son. Let me know when you propose to her, won't you? Would you like your mother's wedding ring to give to her?" Henry asked, looking happily at his son.
Lance almost shuddered. The thought of the whore in the other room wearing his mother's ring nearly made him vomit. "No, Dad, thanks. I think we'll save that for Oliver when he gets married. I want to choose a special ring for Grace. Thank you, though. You are always so thoughtful and generous."
Henry nodded and beamed at his son. "Well, I'd better let you get to your tasks then, and I will contact the attorney and get the changes started on the will. Welcome home, Lance. I'll see you at dinner."
"See you then, Dad." Lance said as he turned and walked out of the office, closing the door softly behind him.
***
Oliver looked up from his desk as Grace walked through the door, and at first he smiled, thinking that she might be coming to spend a little intimate time with him, but then he saw the distraught look on her face and his smile fell.
He rose up from his chair, worry creasing his brow. "What is it? What's happened?" he asked in a tight voice as she hurried toward him and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
The surprise and anger she had felt on the steps with Lance came rushing full force to the surface and was released in a torrent of tears. His hands canvassed her back, rubbing it gently as he comforted her and kissed her head.
"What is it?" he asked, fear beginning to form in a cold heavy ball in his stomach. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"
Grace sobbed for a moment, shaking her head slightly, and then she drew a deep shaking breath and raised her head, looking up at Oliver. "Lance is back." she began, and Oliver felt the ball in his stomach begin to grow exponentially larger.
"He's back? Are you sure?" he asked, hoping both that she was wrong and right. He wanted to talk to Lance about marrying Grace, but the longer Lance was away, the longer he could keep Grace and the baby to himself, pretending that they were both his own.
"I'm sure. I was coming downstairs when he came in. He didn't know I was here and he was so angry about it! He was furious! I told him that you and your father had asked me to live here, but he told me-" she could not hold in another sob, and it took her a moment to recover, "he told me that I have to get out! He's throwing me out!" She wept bitterly as she leaned in to Oliver's chest again and cried more.
Oliver gritted his teeth. His brother was home alright. "Grace," he said, rubbing her back and massaging her shoulders, "honey, don't cry. It's going to be okay. He isn't making you leave. You'll be here as long as you want to be here, and father and I do want you here. He's probably just surprised to see you and was caught off guard. I'm sure he didn't mean it and he probably just needs to get used to the fact that you’re here now, that's all. It's probably just an adjustment for him, like the baby was. I'm sure he'll warm right up to you in no time. I promise. Okay? Trust me? He'll be glad you and the baby are living here in no time."
She leaned her head up and looked at him through her wet eyelashes. "Do you think so?" After all, she realized, she didn't know Lance at all. Perhaps she had misunderstood what happened at the door.
"I'm sure of it," Oliver told her confidently, not sure at all. "I'll talk with him myself. There's something important that I wanted to discuss with him anyway. I'll take care of it all; don't worry. Okay?" He smiled at her and she looked up at him and nodded.
"Thank you, Oliver. I'm so grateful to be here and to have you. I love you so much," she told him in relief. She had never been more grateful for anything than having him in her life and her life with him there in his home as she brought her baby into the world.
"I love you, too," he told her as he leaned down and kissed her softly. She felt the familiar warm sensation of his love through his kiss as it flooded her body, and she reached around him and held him close to her.
His lips parted hers and his tongue turned and twisted around hers as one hand gently squeezed her breast and then slid down to her hip, pulling her against his hardening groin. She moaned softly into their kiss and he pressed his erection against her, rubbing it gently. She reached for his tie, pulling it off of him and unbuttoning his shirt to his waist. She had just pushed it aside to reveal his bare chest when the door of the office opened and they both jumped and broke apart, staring wide eyed at Lance as he glared hard at them both.
"What in the hell is going on in here?" he demanded, looking at each of them for an explanation. Grace's hand flew to her mouth in shock and Oliver gasped as he began t
o hurriedly button his shirt back up and tuck it into his pants again. He closed his jacket over his waist and buttoned it, hoping to hide his rock solid erection.
The time to talk with Lance was at hand, and as awkward as he might feel, he knew he had to do it right then. "Grace, could you please give us a few moments?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, Grace..." Lance added with a sweet smile in her direction, "I need to talk with my brother, and then, my dear, I need to speak with you."
Oliver frowned and steadied himself. Grace shared a nervous look with him, and then she turned and walked out of the room, surprised at the warm smile that Lance gave her as she left. She thought to herself that she must have misunderstood his anger in the foyer. She closed the door behind her and Lance turned back to face Oliver.
"What in the hell are you doing with her?" he demanded again. He walked toward Oliver and though he wasn't much taller, he drew himself up and seemed to tower over Oliver.
Oliver took a deep breath and sighed, running his hand through his hair as he looked at Lance. "I'm sorry, brother, I just... we couldn't help it. We... we fell in love while you were gone."
There was no way to ease into it. There was no way to segue into the fact that Oliver wanted to marry her. The best way to handle it, especially with Lance, was to just tell him right away, swift and honest, like ripping off a band-aid.
Lance looked stunned. "You stole her away from me! You greedy, selfish, thoughtless bastard! How could you do that? She's carrying my baby! She was my girl! She is the mother of my child! How could you be so low as to go behind my back while I am gone and steal her from your own brother? Have you no family loyalty whatsoever?"
It was Oliver who was stunned when Lance stopped speaking. He hadn't expected that kind of a response at all from his brother, and the comments about his disregarding family loyalty cut him to the quick. "You left! Lance, you didn't want her! You didn't claim the baby, you said it was someone else's, you called her horrible names and you told me to take care of it and then you left!"
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