“Jenny just sent me a text.” Damien pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Can you read it for me?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and took his phone. “Uh…”
“Is something wrong?” He glanced over at me.
“We need to go to Carson Cove General Hospital.” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Jenny got a call from your grandfather’s doctor...”
“Fucking hell.” Damien looked up and shook his head. “This is the worst week ever. He’s been in bad shape for a while—it was only a matter of time.”
“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his arm. “I know you used to be close with him.”
“Yeah,” Damien sighed.
The information we found while going through Sinn Technology’s server and Edgar’s personal emails suggested that Damien’s grandfather wasn’t directly involved in the arrangement Edgar had with the De Luca family. Most of the activity ceased when Edgar went to prison and didn’t start up again until he was named CEO. Gordon Sinn was going to die—or had already died—an innocent man. That wasn’t going to make it any easier for Damien. He had a strong connection with his grandfather before his life fell apart after Caroline’s death.
“Do you want me to park the car so you can just go inside?” I looked over at Damien.
“Nah, if he’s gone—getting there faster isn’t going to matter.” He sighed. “Even if he’s barely hanging on, I think he’s been gone for a long time.”
Damien found a parking place, and I held his hand as we walked into the hospital. He was trying to put on a brave face, but I saw the pain in his eyes. His grandfather may have lost his mental capacity due to his age, but that was a lot different than planning a funeral. We checked in at the front desk, and the nurse gave us the floor number. Damien tensed up when the elevator stopped, and I squeezed his hand as tight as I could. The doors opened, and we saw Jenny—she started walking towards us immediately.
“Damien!” She hugged him, and he let go of my hand to embrace his sister.
“Is he gone?” Damien looked down the hallway.
“No.” She leaned back and looked up at him. “Damien—he’s asking for you.”
“What?” Damien’s head snapped back. “I went to see him not to long ago. There’s no way he has been asking for anything.”
“You need to go talk to him.” Jenny pointed down the hallway. “Just trust me.”
“Okay...” Damien gave her a confused stare, but then he walked towards his grandfather’s room.
“Are you okay?” Jenny turned towards me and tilted her head inquisitively. “You look like you’ve been crying.”
“I’m fine.” I nodded. “It’s been a long day. When we saw your text message, we both assumed the worst.”
Damien was alone with his grandfather for nearly thirty minutes before he opened the door and motioned for me. I had to assume that the oldest member of the Sinn family was not knocking on death’s door if he was able to hold a conversation for that long, but I was still a little concerned. I certainly wasn’t expecting to walk into the room and meet a man who was agitated over the fact that he was in the hospital and trying to unhook his IV. He didn’t look like he was anywhere close to dying—he appeared to be quite lucid.
“Grandpa.” Damien took my hand, and we walked closer. “This is Leigh. She’s the one who did all of this.”
“I had a lot of help.” I looked down for a moment. “It’s—very nice to meet you, Mr. Sinn.”
“I’ll hug you when I’m not connected to a bunch of damn wires.” He narrowed his eyes at the machines.
“Uh…” I looked at Damien. “Can you explain what is going on here—please?”
“Right after my father was arrested, the nurse that was staying with my grandfather mysteriously disappeared.” Damien squeezed my hand. “She was drugging him…”
“One day, I was the CEO of Sinn Technology, and the next day, I could barely remember my own damn name.” Damien’s grandfather shook his head angrily. “I should have known that little snake was responsible—god damn it.”
“I tried to tell you that you were making an enormous mistake when you named him as your successor.” Damien sighed. “You wouldn’t listen to me…”
“Yeah, I didn’t listen—I know.” Damien’s grandfather nodded quickly. “You were just dealing with so much, and Edgar was finally ready to step up and lead after never showing any interest in doing anything except figuring out which one of the interns he wanted to see after work. I should have known he had an ulterior motive.”
“I’ll bring you up to speed when they let you out of here.” Damien walked over and put his hand on his grandfather’s shoulder. “Try to get some rest—seriously.”
“I’ve had enough rest.” Damien’s grandfather scoffed. “I’m ready to get back to work! Somebody has to clean up the damn mess your father made at Sinn Technology.”
“You’re the man for the job.” Damien nodded.
“I could use your help.” The older man looked up at him. “If you’re not too busy trying to run Alcott Inc.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that.” Damien shook his head. “Maybe one day we can sit down and have a conversation about it.”
“For what it’s worth.” Damien’s grandfather sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“He was your son.” Damien shrugged. “You were supposed to believe in him.”
“That’s what I get for marrying a damn Devereaux. Edgar’s mother was crazy—and apparently he is too.” Damien’s grandfather leaned his head back against his pillow. “Tell the doctor I want to go home on your way out—maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Damien took my hand and waved goodbye to his grandfather.
We walked back to the waiting area and talked with Jenny for a few minutes before we took the elevator back down to the hospital lobby. It had been an emotional day for both of us—we needed a bottle of wine, possibly two, and some time to decompress. The future wasn’t completely sorted out, and there were a few challenges in front of us that we would have to work through, but I felt confident that we could handle them. The important thing was that we were together. We were forging our own destiny, and the past wasn’t going to decide the rest of our lives. That was up to us—the way it should have been for everyone. Maybe we were just lucky enough to realize it while they struggled with the concept.
“Are we not going to spend the night at the villa?” I looked over at Damien when he drove past the turn that would take us to Carson Bay.
“No.” He reached over and took my hand. “We’re going home.”
I really liked the sound of that…
Epilogue
Leigh
One year later
“Are you ready?” Damien walked up and put his arms around my waist. “You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”
“No. I’m not going to leave you standing at altar.” I smiled and leaned back against him. “I love you too much.”
“I love you too.” He pressed his lips to my neck. “Do we really have to spend the night before our wedding in separate beds?”
“Yes.” I turned towards him, and our lips came together for a kiss. “We have the rest of our lives to share the same bed—one night isn’t going to kill us.”
“Fine.” Damien looked down and exhaled sharply. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I would have loved to spend the evening in Damien’s arms, but I thought that spending it apart would make our wedding night even better. It would also make things a little less stressful, since I wanted to go over the plans for our big day a few times before I went to bed—I didn’t believe there would be any issues, but it would have been hard to sleep unless I allowed myself to be preoccupied for a couple of hours.
I knew I wanted to be Damien’s wife long before he got down on one knee, but once the ring was on my finger, I decided that I didn’t want a lengthy engagement. I was ready to be his bride, and having the wedding at the end o
f the school years was perfect—we would be able to have a very nice honeymoon before my classes started back up again.
“Are you ready to go?” Jenny walked into the living room with my overnight bag. “The car is waiting.”
“Yes.” I nodded at her. “Your brother was just trying to convince me to stay home tonight.”
“No way.” She shook her head back and forth. “You’re not missing your own bachelorette party.”
“I told you that I didn’t want a bachelorette party…” I tilted my head inquisitively. “What did you do?”
“It’s just a few friends—and several bottles of wine.” She motioned to me. “It’s very low-key, I promise.”
“Did you invite anyone other than me that’s old enough to actually drink that wine.” I narrowed my eyes at Jenny.
“Taylor’s coming.” She nodded. “And your mother—I hope that’s okay.”
“You actually invited her?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
“Weddings have a way of bringing people together.” She shrugged. “We both love you—we’ve got that in common, I guess.”
“Thank you.” I walked up and squeezed her hand.
My relationship with my mother would never be what it once was, but I couldn’t cut her out of my life entirely. It was several months before we spoke again after our conversation at Sinn Manor. She moved back to our old house and decided that she wasn’t going to date anyone for a while—she wanted to learn to stand on her own two feet first. I thought that was a step in the right direction, and she did seem to be committed to it. She was even spending more time with her parents, which was different, considering that the only time she normally saw my grandparents was when she needed something.
We had been able to talk about normal things instead of who she was dating or which wealthy man in Carson Cove might be single. She had a new job, was trying out a couple of hobbies, and truthfully—I had never seen her happier. I hoped it would last and the new leaf would be completely turned over before she got involved with someone else.
“Are you sure it’s not going to be awkward tomorrow?” I looked over at Jenny once we were in the car. “My mom—your mom… They seemed to be okay at the rehearsal dinner, but I’m still worried. Maybe I should redo the seating arrangement and sit my grandparents on either side of her just to be safe.”
“Nah, that shouldn’t be necessary. Damien and I talked with our mom. I don’t think there will be any issues.” Jenny shook her head back and forth. “She doesn’t blame your mother for what happened—if anything, I believe she blames herself now—for staying with our father after she saw glimpses of who he really was.”
“Speaking of him, did you end up going to watch his sentencing?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively.
“No. I really thought about it, but I decided that I didn’t even want to give him the satisfaction of thinking anyone cared.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t like I needed to hear them sentence him to life in prison—we knew that was the only alternative after he chose to plead guilty.”
“I would have preferred life with no possibility of parole.” I sighed. “I know Damien was hoping for that…”
“It’ll be fifteen years before he’s even eligible, and I don’t know that anyone will think he deserves to see the light of day after everything he’s done.” Jenny looked out the window.
“I hope you’re right.” I nodded.
The Sinn family was recovering from Edgar’s cruelty the best that they could. Damien’s mother stayed at Juniper Health for a couple of months after she found out what her ex-husband had done, but her doctors did think that having visitors would help with her recovery. I still saw the pain in her eyes from time-to-time, but she was moving on with her life. She even helped with the wedding plans when we were still trying to figure out our venue and color scheme. The most important thing was that she was doing her best to take care of her daughter, and I felt like Jenny needed the support.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much the ordeal we went through had impacted Jenny. She put on a brave face and acted like it was just another day in Carson Cove, but there was no way that she walked away unscathed. All I could do was offer her my support if she needed it, and I knew Damien would always be there for her. She was planning to leave Carson Cove after she graduated from high school, and I couldn’t exactly blame her for wanting to attend college as far away from the memories as she could get.
I was on that same path myself before I met Damien…
“I thought we were spending the night at the Pembroke Hotel?” I looked over at Jenny when the car drove past the turn that would take us there.
“I’ve got somewhere better than that.” She winked at me. “We just finished the renovations on my grandfather’s villa.”
“Really?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “I thought it was going to be another month?”
“They got done early.” She laughed under her breath. “Or maybe I just told you that it was going to take another month on purpose…”
“Why?” I tilted my head inquisitively.
“Well.” She reached forward and dug into her purse. “Because it’s a gift.”
“A gift?” I blinked in confusion.
“A wedding present.” She put a key in my hand. “And a thank you.”
“I guess we won’t have to go very far when we want to get away for the weekend.” I tucked the key into my purse.
We do have a lot of good memories at Carson Cove Beach…
Damien
Two years later
“Where’s your bag? I swear I left it by the door!” I looked at my wife with panic in my eyes.
“You moved it to the living room.” Leigh’s breaths got quicker, and she put her hand on her stomach.
“Okay, let’s go!” I put my hand around her waist and helped her walk to the door.
“Please don’t hit any bumps on the way.” She grimaced. “Otherwise, I’m going to have this baby before we get to the hospital.”
“I told you we should have left when the contractions started.” I looked at her and smiled. “You’re the one that said it was another false alarm—and sent me to get another bowl of ice cream.”
“You get to be right this time.” She glared at me. “Don’t get used to it.”
I drove to the hospital as fast as possible—without hitting any bumps on the way. Leigh spent the whole way there texting everyone who had begged for us to let them know when it was time for the baby to come. Her water breaking had confirmed that it wasn’t going to be a false alarm—we weren’t leaving the hospital until the newest member of our family arrived. Our daughter would get to meet most of the people who were eager to spoil her rotten before she even got a chance to see the nursery that we had worked so hard on.
“Okay, we’re almost there!” I pointed to Carson Cove General Hospital. “Just a few more minutes…”
“Yeah, you tell your daughter to wait a few minutes.” Leigh’s breathing got faster, and she dug her nails into my arm.
The wheelchair was waiting for us as soon as the car came to a stop in front of the hospital. I helped Leigh get situated, and then we were rushed inside. Thirty minutes later, I was standing beside Leigh’s bed, hoping that she didn’t break my hand before she finally gave birth—or divorce me. The doctor told her to push, and she cursed me. He told her to breathe, and she muttered something that I didn’t understand, but I didn’t even consider asking her to repeat herself—it was probably better if I pretended that she was just telling me how much she loved me.
“You’re doing a great job.” I looked down at her and smiled.
“I know.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’m doing all the work!”
The labor lasted for almost an hour before I heard my daughter’s first whimper—and then she started crying. It was a beautiful sound, and my eyes filled up with tears. A nurse came over with a warm washcloth and cleaned our daughter up before she placed our beautiful bundle of joy in Leigh�
��s arms. All of Leigh’s frustration and pain seemed to melt away the moment she held our daughter for the very first time. The doctor allowed me to cut the umbilical cord, and then I leaned forward to press my lips to Leigh’s forehead.
“You did it.” I looked at our baby and tried to hold back the tears that didn’t seem to want to stop. “She’s beautiful.”
“We did it.” Leigh tilted her arm so that our daughter was looking in my direction. “That’s your daddy, Caroline. You’ve already got him wrapped around your little finger.”
I hope she learns to wield that power wisely—because I can already tell that she’s going to get anything that her heart desires…
The End
Once Upon A Daddy
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Also by Kelli Callahan
Devious Intentions
Once Upon A Daddy
Secret Indiscretions
Forbidden Kiss
Obsessed With A Daddy
Indebted To A Daddy
Beast Daddy
My Bully’s Daddy
Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Sandals Book 3) Page 25