by Lee, Nadia
“It’s not a big deal. I mean… I don’t care.” His boyishly soft lips were tight. “If he didn’t want to be my dad, I don’t want to be his son either.”
“Eric—”
“You should flip them or they’re going to burn.” He indicated the griddle with his chin. “Anyway,” Eric continued, as she started flipping the pancakes, “then he wanted to know if I was adopted.”
She almost dropped the spatula. “What?”
“I told him I wasn’t, because I have my mom. But he looked like he really wanted me to say that I was adopted or something. And then he was all like I was too young to know anything.” Eric made a face. “He got kind of sarcastic. Zack called him an asshole.”
“Eric! We don’t use words like that.”
“But—”
“No buts.” That man was lucky she was hearing about this after the fact. Otherwise she would’ve driven to the park and swung her cast iron skillet at his hateful mouth. Nobody could say such a hurtful thing to her son and get away with it.
On the other hand, she felt awfully responsible. It was her own fault that Eric had to suffer like that. How humiliating to have some stranger talk to him that way in front of his friends. Thankfully they were a good group of boys, and she knew they wouldn’t mock or bully Eric over it…but it was still unfair.
She forced a smile. “You know what? Forget that jerk. The first batch of pancakes is almost done.” She gestured. “What do you think? They look sort of plain, don’t they?”
“I don’t know.” He studied them with solemn intensity. “They look okay.”
“I’m thinking the next batch could use some chocolate chips.”
Eric’s eyes instantly brightened. “Yes!”
“Why don’t you get me a bag from the freezer while I set these boring ones aside?”
“Man.” Eric gave her a tight hug. “You’re the best, Mom!”
* * *
Daniel parked his Maserati in front of Merry’s townhouse. For an heiress, she lived in a remarkably humble home. Three stories. End unit. Wine-colored brick exterior. Some squat evergreen bushes out in front, and a Mercedes parked in the driveway. It wasn’t shabby by any means, but it was no fancier than the home of any member of the suburban upper middle class. He’d seen people with far less money live in swankier homes with pricier cars.
His knuckles whitened around the steering wheel. What the hell was he doing sitting in front of her home like some clueless teenage boy?
The curtains shifted and Bear’s face appeared. He saw Daniel’s car and started barking silently. Then they were pulled back, revealing the face of Eric. He peered out, his eyes wide and curious. Something dark was smudged at the corner of his mouth, and he licked it. Then both the boy and the dog disappeared, the curtains falling back into place.
Daniel scowled. Had Eric recognized him? The boy didn’t know what Daniel drove, but the Maserati stood out in this neighborhood. Daniel wouldn’t be surprised if Eric knew all about fancy sports cars. He’d probably been promised one for his sixteenth birthday if he behaved and got good grades or something. Or least that was how things had been with many of Daniel’s friends.
The door to her house opened, revealing Merry in a yellow, long-sleeve tunic and boot-cut jeans. A cheery green apron with a red apple pattern was wrapped around her.
He got out, mentally kicking himself. Men ran like hell to avoid morning-after situations, and here he was, asking for it.
“Hey,” Merry said with a wave. “I wouldn’t have known you were out here if it weren’t for Bear barking. He’s pretty protective of his territory. And he wants to meet visitors.”
Daniel walked over. The dog was still barking somewhere inside the house. The smell of chocolate and pancakes came from the still-open door behind Merry. White powder dusted the tip of her nose. He swiped it off gently with a forefinger.
“Want to come in?” she asked finally, her face glowing rose.
“Sure,” he said. Despite her smile, he couldn’t help but sense an undercurrent of tension in her. Did she expect him to want a repeat of the night before while her son was in the house?
But then maybe she did, given the things she’d undoubtedly heard about his father from Judy. He’d dismissed his children in a heartbeat if they were in the way of what he wanted. Nobody had stopped Daniel Aylster II from getting his way.
They stepped out of the morning sun and into the cool confines of Merry’s house. The interior matched the exterior in its homey, upper-middle-class décor. The floors were mostly hardwood with some rugs; the white couches stuff you could buy from any furniture store. The prints on the walls too were fairly standard variety—no Monet or van Gogh originals—and an acoustic piano occupied a corner in the living room. “You still play?” Daniel asked. Merry and Judy used to play together all the time.
“When I can, but it’s really for Eric. He’s been taking lessons for a few years now.” She returned to the open kitchen. “Oh, before I forget, thank you for the flowers. They’re lovely. It was thoughtful of you.”
He nodded. He couldn’t not send them to her, after lying in his bed alone thinking about her all night long. He couldn’t believe a woman as passionate as Merry had gone without for so long. He’d wondered if their time together at the party had been some kind of fluke, never to repeat itself again, and he hated the idea of Merry finding some other man to share her life with. If he were slightly more selfish he’d wish for her to never find a man worthy of spending the rest of her life with, but that’d be unfair and cruel. So instead he’d fantasized that he might be the one.
Which was the damnedest thing ever, since he’d never fantasized about such a ridiculous scenario, and if any woman he’d dated had hinted at it, he would’ve run away faster than a bullet.
“Would you like some chocolate chip pancakes?” Merry was saying, running her hands down the sides of her apron. “We were supposed to go to my mom’s but apparently she’s not feeling well, so we’re going to make do at home. Normally we might’ve gone to Ethan and Kerri’s, but we figured maybe they want a quiet morning after the party. I didn’t make enough for three, but I can always increase the batter, it’s no problem—”
He put a finger over her lips. “I’d love that. Thank you.”
“Okay.” She gave him a shaky smile.
Chapter Sixteen
“Why are you so nervous?” Daniel asked.
Meredith blinked at the question. Was it that obvious? She’d had to invite him in because there was no other socially acceptable response to his appearance at her doorstep, but she worried about Eric. There was so much Aylster in him—the color of his hair, the shape of his nose and mouth. He had the Aylster eyes, with that particular shade of stunning ocean blue Meredith had always found mesmerizing. She was sure if Daniel looked closer, he would see them and realize the truth.
But he hadn’t noticed them earlier, had he? He might not notice yet again.
“If you’re hungry, you can have some of my pancakes,” Eric said from the table. “I can wait for the next batch.”
She tensed as Daniel turned toward her son. “That’s very generous. Thank you, Eric.”
Daniel joined Eric at the table, and they shared the pancakes. She couldn’t believe how natural Daniel looked in her home. The occasional other men she’d dated had never made it inside her house, but part of that was because she knew they would have stood out like neon green lampshades in her place. It probably didn’t help that Gavin and well-meaning friends had set her up with men they thought would give her the kind of life she deserved—a castle on a hundred acres of land, with hot and cold running serfs.
She joined them at the table with the final batch of pancakes.
“I see culinary talent runs in the family,” Daniel said. “These are delicious.”
“It doesn’t. A few simple things like pancakes are all I can manage. Gavin can’t cook much either, which is why he has a housekeeper who cooks for him and his wife. Ethan�
�s the chef.”
“What about Jacob?”
Meredith made a face. “What about him?”
“Grandma said he was a disgrace, unfit for our family name. I don’t think we’re supposed to talk about him,” Eric said in a hushed voice. He turned to Meredith. “May I be excused?”
Meredith couldn’t have been more relieved to hear those words. “You may. Why don’t you go play with Bear in the backyard?”
“Okay.” He nodded at Daniel and ran off with Bear, who was reluctant to leave the table until Eric waved some bacon-flavored treats in front of his nose.
“So you guys really disowned him?” Daniel said. “He’ll never be welcome again?”
“Never. And now that Eric’s gone, I’ll tell you: Jacob’s the kind of asshole who would put in the time and effort to learn how to cook, and then refuse to do it just because he knew it would piss you off,” Meredith said, hoping Daniel would be distracted. Jacob’s scandal was still fresh enough that everyone was curious about him. “If his mistakes had been easily fixable, sure. If he’d tried to stay and mend his fences, we would’ve found a way to forgive him. But how do you fix having two wives, not to mention the mess he left behind with TLD? How can he redeem himself after he ran? For years he knew the company wasn’t doing well, but he refused to seek help to correct the situation. That doesn’t fly in my family. If you screw up, you have to own it.”
“And fix it?”
“If possible.”
“On your own?”
“Ideally. But if you can’t, of course we expect you to ask for help. That’s what families are for. Do you think Ethan or Gavin would’ve ignored Jacob if he’d gone to one of them? We know what it means to be a part of this family.”
“And what’s that?”
An easy question. Without hesitation she said, “It comes with certain obligations.”
* * *
Daniel raised his eyebrows. That was the last thing he’d expected to hear. “So it’s all about what you owe your family?” Was that why she was trying to fix TLD—a sense of obligation?
“No, it also comes with the sense of belonging, knowing that you’re never alone. That the family stands with you. We always take care of our own, come hell or high water.”
“Like in Istanbul.”
Merry flinched, paling slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I heard stories about how you had some trouble with Eric’s papers, and your family’s lawyers descended upon the city and the State Department to get you and your baby home. Ethan apparently took care of it himself.”
“Yes, he did.” She sighed. “My big brother, the troubleshooter of the family.”
Unlike me, Daniel thought. He’d failed Judy in her final moments. He should’ve been there at the hospital. “It must be nice to have a brother like that.”
“He’s great. One of those people who can do no wrong.”
“The kind of brother Judy should’ve had,” Daniel murmured, unable to help himself.
“Oh, Daniel.” Merry reached out and laid her hand over his. “Please don’t. She thought the world of you.”
“I should’ve been in Istanbul.” He couldn’t stop himself now that he’d finally started talking about how he’d felt all those years ago. “I should’ve been with Judy.”
“But you didn’t know. Ella told me nobody called to let you know.”
Even with Merry’s soothing hand on his, tension gripped him, and he made fists. “That’s a lie!”
“What?”
He tasted such bitterness he nearly gagged. “When Dad called, Rissa answered. She was my girlfriend back then. He told her the news, but asked her to keep it quiet for at least a week.”
“And…did she?” Merry asked with a small gasp.
He nodded. “She needed money badly. She had a serious spending problem, and Dad promised to pay off her credit card debt if she would keep her mouth shut. She said she had a vacation, and we went to the Aylster Resort in Bali.” They’d screwed each other like mindless hamsters, and all the while Judy had lain alone in some hospital in a faraway country. “Then when I found out about Judy when the morning paper was delivered to our suite, Rissa casually said, ‘Oh, I forgot to mention, but your dad called earlier and said your sister died in Istanbul.’”
Merry gasped.
“I almost hit her. It was all I could do not to raise my hand. If Dad had been standing there, I would have killed him.” And from time to time, he regretted he hadn’t killed his father for what he’d done. If Daniel had known the depth of his father’s nastiness toward Judy in Istanbul, he might have.
“I’m sorry,” Merry said, tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry he did that to you.”
Daniel shrugged. “It’s all right. It’s in the past, and the son of a bitch is dead now.”
And his father had taught him three important lessons, ones that had served as the foundation for his adult life.
One: People could be bought quite easily.
Two: Contrary to popular belief, women didn’t need to feel anything to have sex with a man.
Three: Nobody cared. About anything. Not even something as irrevocable as death could make people give a damn.
Those lessons had served him well…except that now Merry kept challenging his foundation, making him wonder if the lessons somehow didn’t apply to her and her family.
He took her hand. “Really. It’s okay.”
“Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re trying to comfort me,” Merry said. “You’re the one who suffered.”
“A long time ago.”
“But it must still hurt. Otherwise you wouldn’t have said anything.” Merry brought her face close, until he could see every fleck of gold in her eyes. “Your dad wasn’t able to hurt Judy. She was beyond his reach by the time he came. The doctors couldn’t save her and I sat with her as she drew her final breath.”
“Thank you.” He pushed the words through the thick lump in his throat.
“She loved you so much. She probably knew what was in your heart. I’m sure she’s watching you from heaven and knows she’s the most beloved sister in the world.”
As the lovely image created by Merry’s words registered in his mind, Daniel felt his eyes grow hot with tears. He wanted his sister to have known how special she was. That he hadn’t abandoned her in her final moments. If only he could believe it…
“It’s the truth.” Her breath fanned his lips as she spoke. “She called you her knight and protector.”
Unable to bear the sweet intensity of the moment, he kissed her. As her mouth softened and she pressed against him, his heart thundered. Merry, Merry, Merry.
He didn’t know how he’d lived all those years without her. How he’d looked at her simply as “Judy’s little friend.” There was so much warmth and love in Merry… He wished he could take some of it, so he wouldn’t feel so cold and empty in his soul.
What if she changes? What if she’s just as bad as Rissa? Can you read what’s in her mind?
He shoved the doubts aside. Nobody could fake goodness so long and so completely. Even before he’d accosted Merry at the airport, she’d been involved in charities and causes that helped women and children. Instead of firing Rob Benson for screwing up, she’d given him another chance because she felt compassion for the man’s terrible situation. And the man had repaid her kindness in return—the project was now on schedule.
Merry was the real thing. She had to be.
Her soft moan went straight to his head, and he felt himself stirring. He reached for the hem of her tunic—
Suddenly a loud bark shattered the moment. Stomping feet came running down the hall, and Merry pulled away hastily before Eric showed up with Bear. “Mom, can I go over to Zack’s? He asked me yesterday if I wanted to go play baseball but I told him no because I thought we were going to be at Grandma’s. Please?”
“It’s all right with me, but let me call his mom first, okay?” Merry got up to grab her phone. Meanwhile Dani
el studied the boy again. Something about him looked oddly familiar, but Daniel couldn’t place it.
Eric noticed Daniel watching, then his gaze fell on the flowers. The boy leaned across the table and whispered, “They’re nice. Aunt Kerri would approve.”
“You think so?” Daniel asked, unsure how Kerri was related to all this.
“Yeah, because that’s what boyfriends do to show that they aren’t cheap. Aunt Kerri said boyfriends shouldn’t be pushovers, but they shouldn’t be cheap.”
“Well, she’s right about that.”
“Or weak.”
Daniel nodded. “Your aunt’s a smart woman.”
“I won’t mind if you’re a pushover, as long as you’re not cheap or weak.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
“I don’t want Mom to argue with her boyfriend. So he can be a pushover. But he can’t be weak because he has to defend her. And cheap is just bad.” Eric wrinkled his nose.
“Cheap is terrible,” Daniel agreed.
“Are you going home for Thanksgiving?”
“No,” Daniel said. He’d spent the holiday alone since Judy’s death.
“We’re going to Barron’s place in Houston because it’s warmer than here and his house is big enough for everyone. It’s going to be awesome. Uncle Ethan said he’s going to make all the fixings, while Grandma makes the turkey. She’s a really good cook.” Suddenly Eric looked worried. “Actually, Barron said he’d make mashed potatoes, which are my favorite. But I don’t know if he’s any good. I’ve never seen him cook anything before.”
“I’m sure he’s good if he volunteered.” Or the old man would get his housekeeper to make them so he could save face.
“If you want, you can come to ours,” Eric said. “I’m sure Barron won’t mind.”
Daniel smiled. “I appreciate the thought, but it’s never a good idea to invite yourself to these sorts of things.” Daniel had never met the infamous billionaire, even though he’d been at Kerri’s wedding. Justin had mentioned introducing him, but with all the hundreds of guests the opportunity had never arisen.