With that he looked away from his son, turning his chair to the side and reaching for Grace's file, which he took and held in his hands solemnly as Lance stared hard at his father for a moment, not quite believing what he had heard, and realizing too late that it was the final straw, and he was no longer a member of the Carter family. It was almost beyond belief for him. He stood up unsteadily from his chair and picked up the file in front of him, his eyes locked on his father until he turned around and faced the office door, walking to it for the last time, and closing it behind him wordlessly. It was over.
***
Oliver knocked on the door to his father's office. He heard his father beckon him in, and he stepped in and closed the door behind him.
"You wanted to see me, Father?" he asked politely.
Henry nodded and waved him over. "I did. Please, come have a seat." Oliver walked to the desk and sat down.
Henry looked carefully at his son in silence, and then he sighed heavily and rested his hands on the desk in front of him.
"Have you talked with Lance since you left the library?" he asked.
Oliver looked at him in surprise. "No, I haven't." he answered. "How did you know we were in the library?"
"I was listening at the door. I saw Lance come down the stairs and head in there, and I decided to follow him. I'm both very sorry and very glad that I did, because it was quite illuminating for me," he said honestly.
Oliver's heart began to beat faster as he realized everything that his father must have heard.
"I have some sad news for you about your brother," Henry told him quietly.
"What is it?" Oliver asked in trepidation.
Henry rubbed his hand over his tired old eyes for a moment and then leaned back in his chair, looking at Oliver. "He's no longer a member of this family. I have told him to take the inheritance he had coming, which I just gave to him myself, and then I told him to pack his things and leave, and never come back. I mean never, Oliver, I don't mean until I die and he is broke because he blew through the money he had and he returns here looking for help; I mean never. He may never come back. Do you understand?" His father looked at him carefully.
Oliver nodded. "Yes, sir, I do." He was in shock. He couldn't believe that Lance had finally actually done something that had gotten their father angry enough to kick him out of the house and out of the family, but Oliver had to admit, this time, he wasn't sorry. Not after what Lance had done to Grace and Mason. He didn't deserve to be in the house or the family any longer. Mason didn't need to grow up around a man like Lance.
"It's the hardest thing I've ever done, sending my own flesh and blood out into the world, never to return," Henry said quietly and sadly. "He left me no choice."
Oliver looked earnestly at his father. "I agree with you, Dad, he didn't leave any choice, and he went much too far over the line this time."
Henry leaned forward again. "He did, which leaves me at my next order of business today. He is gone, and you are here, and now I need to ask you a serious question."
"What is it, father?" Oliver asked curiously.
"I need to know about your affair with Grace. I want you to tell me what happened." He looked intently at his son, and Oliver felt a little ill as he realized that his father probably knew more about it already than he wanted to tell him.
"Well, when she first arrived here and told Lance that she was pregnant, he didn't want anything to do with her, claiming that she must have slept around and that the baby couldn't possibly be his. He said he was leaving and he dumped the whole situation and responsibility in my lap and told me to deal with it and with her. That was when I came to you and told you that she was moving in. That was how I dealt with it," he said quietly.
His father frowned at him. "You didn't tell me that Lance said the baby wasn't his or that he left you to deal with it. You said Lance asked if she could be here, and that he was taking responsibility for her. You said he wanted her here because she was pregnant with his baby and he just couldn't be here to take care of it himself because he had to go out of town. You lied to me."
Oliver sank slightly in his chair. "I did, Father, and for that I am sorry. I didn't want to take the risk that you might feel the same as he did, thinking that the woman had just gotten pregnant by anyone and then showed up on the doorstep pregnant and looking for help. I wanted you to believe that she was pregnant with Lance's baby, too, so she could stay here."
Henry tilted his head. "What made you believe her?" he asked quizzically.
Oliver pursed his lips and shook his head. "I believed her right from the moment she said she was pregnant. I just knew that she wasn't lying and that it was Lance's baby. All the same, and maybe it's just my businessman sense, but I just believe that it would be better to be wrong and have helped a woman who needed it, even though it wasn't his baby, rather than to be right and to have thrown out a woman who was pregnant with his child and have our family heir out there God knows where barely scraping by, or adopted by some other family or something like that. It made the most sense to keep her here. Plus, as I said, I believed her."
Henry nodded and smiled slightly. "A wise decision, my boy. What happened then?"
Oliver's mind went back to the days before Lance returned home. The golden days. "I did everything I could to help her, and so did you, actually. I spent time with her and talked with her often, and we... went for walks all over the property..." he trailed off a moment thinking of it.
"I saw you two on your walks many times." Henry smiled. "It reminded me of your mother and I."
Oliver smiled back. It made his heart happy to hear that from his father. He continued. "We just became really good friends, and then, as friendship often can between two people like us, it grew to something more. I tried to fight it at first. I tried to make myself stay out of love with her, and I just couldn't... she is so... incredible. She's so special. I just couldn't help falling in love with her, and she fell in love with me, too. We had a wonderful time with each other, and we had a wonderful time getting ready for Mason to be born. We grew so very close.
“Then Lance came home and destroyed it. He told me that I had stolen away his chances for a family, that I had stolen his girl, that I was trying to steal his baby, and I felt wretched; I just... felt horribly guilty, and when he told me that I had to let her go for the sake of family honor and to give him the chance to be a good husband to her and a good father to Mason, I felt like I was obligated to do it, so I broke it off with her, and we went our separate ways. He asked her to marry him, and she said yes, and I thought my life would end. Then he cheated on her and I guess you know the rest of it."
Henry nodded. "I do indeed. I also know now why you never left her side from the moment you ran out into the rain to get her, until Lance came home and discovered his son had been born."
Oliver thought about it and laughed. "Well, except for the moment when she woke up... I wasn't there for that, somehow, but I was there for the rest of it."
"You were there. You cut that baby's umbilical cord and you've done everything to help her with our little Mason. How do you feel about her now?" he asked, watching his son carefully.
Oliver smiled and shook his head. "I love her. I love her with everything in me, and there is nothing in the world that I would not do for her, or for Mason. He's like my own son. I wish he was my son."
"Would you marry her if you could?" Henry asked quietly.
Oliver didn't hesitated. "Absolutely I would. In fact, when Lance got home and found out that she was here, that was what I was going to talk with him about, but you saw him first and he found out about the money he could have, so when I saw him after that, I had intended to ask him for his blessing to marry her, and instead he gave me the riot act and told me I had no business stealing his life from him." He looked back up at his father and smiled a little. "Yes, Dad, I would marry her in a heartbeat. I want her for the rest of my life, and I will always want her, whether it's just as friends, or as much mo
re. I will have her in my life. If I can ever find her again." He looked glum for a moment.
Henry smiled a little. Then he asked Oliver, "Does she love you?"
Oliver nodded. "She does. We share a mutual love, greater than anything either of us has ever known." He thought of it, remembering all of the promises that they had made, and the love they had shared. He smiled at his memories, and his father saw it.
"Oliver," Henry said with a smile, "I've watched you closely, and I've seen you with Grace and with Mason, and I have to tell you, I think that the three of you make a beautiful family."
Oliver shrugged and shook his head. "I love them both more than anything. They're all I want; they mean everything to me."
Henry nodded resolutely. "Then I will give you and Grace the full inheritance. You two get everything; on one condition."
Oliver stared at his father. He had never expected it. "What's that?"
Henry smiled. "That you two get married and raise Mason together. Give my grandson a loving home with two good parents. Can you do that?"
Oliver laughed and nodded. "I would love to do that, if I can just find her. I've got to try to figure out where she went and find her somehow. I've called her a hundred times, but she just won't answer the phone. I've left voicemails for her, and sent her texts, but to no avail. She isn't answering at all. I am so worried that Lance actually scared her off for good."
Henry smiled at him. "I wouldn't worry about it, son. You know I bought that car she has, don't you?"
Oliver nodded. "Yes..."
"Well, it has a tracking device installed in it. I couldn't have my only grandson riding around in a car without knowing where he is, just in case anything ever happened, you know. So, I had a tracking device installed before I ever gave it to her. I sent Wilson to get her a while ago. He's going to explain everything to her and bring her home to us. I don't think that they will be too much longer actually. She wasn't very far from here. She went to some small business that had shut down. A flower shop, I think... by the name of..." his father trailed off as he looked at his cell phone for the information.
"Maya's," Oliver said with a wide smile. "She went to go see Maya. Of course. Maya was her closest friend here."
Henry laughed lightly and nodded. "It was Maya's indeed. I'm quite proud of you son. Well done. I have to say it, I'm glad that you get the girl. She is a very special lady indeed."
Relief washed through Oliver at the realization that Wilson was going to be bringing Grace home any time.
"Wait!" Oliver said looking slightly ill. "What about the little nanny upstairs with Mason? Amy... I think her name is. I caught her sleeping with Lance this morning."
Henry shrugged. "She's already gone. I dismissed her after I heard about everything in the library. I actually hired a nanny myself after the first one left. She was coming in today anyway because I didn't know that Lance had hired a second girl."
Oliver looked at him in surprise. "You hired a nanny?"
"Well of course I did! I had to make sure Mason was well looked after, didn't I?" Henry said slightly affronted.
"Who is it?" Oliver asked, trying to hide his amusement.
Henry smiled. "Her name is Mary. She's British. I had her carefully screened. I think you'll approve. I believe she is already upstairs with Mason, so you and Grace can meet her when Grace returns home."
Oliver moved to stand up and his father paused him a moment.
"Oliver, wait one moment. I have one more question for you." Henry asked with pink cheeks and a big smile beneath his white mustache.
Oliver sat back down and looked at his father. "Yes?"
Henry's eyes twinkled a little. "Would you like your mother's wedding ring to propose to Grace with?"
Oliver grinned and nodded. "I'd love that. Yes, I'd really love that, and do you know, I think she would, too."
Henry nodded and reached into his desk drawer, pulling out a little black box. He held it carefully in his hand, admiring it for a long moment, and then he gently pulled the lid back and revealed the ring inside. It was two carats, princess cut, with little heart shaped diamonds around the center diamond.
Oliver saw it and tears sprung to his eyes as his throat closed up just a little. "I haven't seen that since mom..." he couldn't finish speaking.
"I know. I've had it tucked away, thinking that someday I would like it if one of you boys gave it to a woman you loved as much as I loved your mother. As it turns out, it's going to the right son, for the right girl, for the right reasons, and your mother would just love that. She was such a hopeless romantic. This would really make her happy." His father handed the ring to him and he took it gingerly and held it in his hands.
"Thank you more than I can say, Father. This means more than you'll ever know." Oliver spoke to him from the heart.
"It's my pleasure, son. Now, go get the girl," Henry told him with a wink.
He stood up to go and before he reached the door, his father called out to him once more.
"Oliver?"
He turned and looked over his shoulder. "Yes, Father?"
"I had Wilson put my wedding portrait in your office. That was all you wanted for your inheritance, wasn't it? The wedding portrait of me and your mother?" Henry asked with a smile tucked beneath his mustache again.
Oliver grinned and nodded. "Yes, that was all I asked for. Thank you again, Father, so much." With that he turned and walked out of the door.
***
Two hours later, Grace came through the garage door into the house, carrying several bags with her, which she set on the floor when she saw Oliver coming toward her. Tears filled her eyes and she looked at him in sorrow and shame.
He rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her. "You're back! You came back... thank God...."
She buried her head in the wall of his chest. "I'm so sorry I left. I thought I had to! I thought that he had given me no choice. I'm so sorry..." She began to cry, and Oliver rubbed her back for a moment and told her, "Please don't cry, Grace. You're home!"
She nodded and grinned and then looked up the stairs. "Is Mason here? Is he alright?" she asked worriedly.
Oliver laughed a little. "Yes, Mason is here. Actually, as I understand it, he's upstairs with the new nanny."
"We have another new nanny?" she asked as they began to walk up the stairs.
Oliver nodded. "I have it on good authority that she's the only nanny we will ever need."
"Is she a college cheerleader?" Grace asked with a groan.
Oliver laughed. "No, I doubt she is. You missed the redhead, though."
She frowned at him. "The redhead? We had a redheaded nanny?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes. Amy. She was after Dana and before our British nanny, Mary, and she basically went out the same time Lance did, for the same reasons that Dana went." Oliver smiled at her in chagrin.
Grace looked at him with a frown. "Wilson told me what happened. Actually, he took me for coffee and explained everything, and then asked me to come back, and told me that you and Henry wanted me back. So, I came right back. Besides, I was miserable being away from here, especially from Mason."
Oliver nodded. "He needs you. We all need you and want you here."
She grinned as he took her hand in his and held it. "I'm glad. Hey... did you know that Wilson knows everything that goes on here? I mean... everything. There's nothing that gets by that man. I had no idea. I was a little embarrassed to tell you the truth."
Oliver laughed and nodded. "Yeah... we figured that out too, when we were kids. We learned really fast that there wasn't anything we were going to get away with. You should have seen his wife, Jean. You think he knows it all.. pfft. He didn't know half as much as she did."
Grace laughed and they reached the nursery. They walked in to find an older lady sitting in the rocking chair, gliding back and forth, humming a tune to Mason as he slept on her chest.
She stood up slowly and carefully and brought him to Grace, who nearly wept, s
he was so happy to see him. She took him with her one good arm and held him close to her, smelling him and kissing him as he slept peacefully. It was like heaven being back in his room and holding him against her. There was no joy in the world for her like him.
She held him a long while, and then she let Mary take him back, and Oliver took her by the hand and looked at her with a smile and a sparkle in his green eyes.
"Come for a walk with me?" he asked her happily.
She nodded and they headed out of the back door and down the old familiar path that wound around the property and went to the duck pond beneath the weeping willow tree. The days were short and cool, and winter was on its way, but it was still a beautiful day out, and Grace and Oliver were both plenty warm as they walked hand in hand toward the pond.
They sat together and he wrapped his arm around her and held her close.
"It's been a while since we said it, but did you know that I love you more today than I ever did, and more than I ever loved anyone in my life?" He smiled at her and she looked up at him and smiled back; she had so much to be blissfully happy for, and he was one of the things that made her happiest.
"I did know that, or at least part of it. I love you, too, Oliver," she answered him.
He turned to face her and took her hand into his. "I know I need to ask you for your forgiveness for breaking things off with you when Lance came home, and for breaking your heart, and mine right along with it, and for everything wrong that happened after that, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry for those things."
She bit her lip and wiped a tear from her eye. "I forgive you," she told him, and for the first time in a very long time, she leaned close to him, closing her eyes and pressing her lips to his. Her kiss was soft and sweet, and they were breathless and blissful when she leaned back to look at him.
The Baby Shower Page 68