Chapter 15
Liberty sipped her coffee and stared at the two men she loved the most.
Miles and her brother.
Gabriel scarfed down his bowl of cereal like he hadn’t eaten in days, while Miles pressed an earbud in his ear and listened to the news.
They hadn’t kept anything about Charlie or Oswald’s arrests from Gabriel, but she had wanted to keep her father’s return from her brother.
Yet in the morning light, she wasn’t so sure.
She’d tossed and turned all night, thinking about all the things her father had done, both good and bad. She’d slipped from the bed at three in the morning and googled her mother. What she’d found had been utterly horrifying. That bitch had changed her name and her history, erasing her dad, her, and Gabriel from her life. She’d created a completely new identity for herself and now lived in Denver, married to some man twelve years younger than her, helping to raise his three kids.
Bitch wasn’t a strong enough word.
When Miles had found her, he tried to stop her from continuing down the rabbit hole, but she was obsessed. So, he sent a message to his brother, Rhett. Who found out even more.
It had been her mother who had gone to Charlie. Her mom who had informed Charlie of the deal her father made with Old Man Livingston. And her mother had her own deal with Charlie. She got a payout when Charlie got his hands on Livingston Development.
The problem, though, was she’d done nothing illegal and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to her mother. Miles had told her through the wee hours of the morning that karma was a bitch and karma would catch her mom eventually.
God, she hoped so.
She leaned across the counter and pulled out Miles’ earbud.
“Hey. I was listening to that.” He glared.
“I might need a little help with something.” She turned her attention to her brother. “Gabriel, I need to talk to you about something.”
“I really hate it when you start conversations like that.” Gabriel dropped his spoon in his bowl. “And if you’re going to treat me like a child, I’m going to go play video games.”
“I’m not going to do that,” she said. “Now that Charlie has been arrested and is out of our lives, I need to tell you how that was possible, because I don’t want secrets between us.”
Miles set his phone on the counter and cocked a brow. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“As sure as I’m in love with you.” She sipped her coffee, daring him to comment on that.
He didn’t.
But Gabriel smiled like a big kid in a candy store. “Love. That’s a big word.”
“It is and I wouldn’t use it if I didn’t mean it,” she said.
“Do you love my sister?” Gabriel asked, staring at Miles.
“I do.” Miles nodded. “And I love you too.”
“We’re a package deal,” Gabriel said. “But if you hurt my sister, I’m coming for you.”
Miles wiped his face with his hand. “I hope that never happens.”
“Okay. Now that we have that out of the way,” Liberty said. “While Miles’ family was looking for you, we had to do some digging to find out all the things that Charlie was doing that were illegal, which led us way back into the past.”
“Don’t talk in circles. I hate that.” Gabriel fisted his hands.
“All right. I had to reach out to Dad,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Daddy? You spoke to our dad?” Gabriel asked softly as he rocked back and forth. “Did you talk to Mom too?”
“I did not.”
“Good.” Gabriel let out a long breath. “I don’t like Mom. She was mean. She locked me in my bedroom when people came over and wouldn’t let me out. But Daddy would come in and play games with me. He would tell me that he thought Mommy was mean too and that he didn’t want to hang out with those stuffy people anyway.”
Liberty gasped. “You never told me that before.”
“You never asked.” Gabriel stopped rocking.
“I guess I didn’t,” she said. “You should know that Mom and Dad are divorced and they don’t speak at all anymore.”
“Good for Dad.” Gabriel nodded.
This was not what she expected from her little brother.
“Mommy was so mean to Dad. She called him stupid. I don’t know why. He was always so smart.” Gabriel smiled. “But he could never beat me at chess. I was too good, even for him.”
Miles chuckled. “You are a wizard when it comes to that game, that’s for sure.”
“Anyway. I saw Dad. I got to speak with him and while I can’t forgive him for leaving us, I don’t have the right to make that decision for you.” She reached out and took her brother’s hand. “He’s in Lighthouse Cove and I know he’d like to see you. That is if you want to see him.”
“You’d let me?” Gabriel blinked.
“It’s not for me to decide,” she said.
“What do you think I should do? I mean, he left us alone. He left you to take care of me. I know you’ve always said you never minded, but I also know you don’t like him much for doing that.” Gabriel rubbed his hands on his shirt.
“Our father has made a lot of mistakes. Some of them were to protect us from our mother. And others were because after he left, he felt like he couldn’t come back.” She squeezed her brother’s hand. “I’m not going to stand in the way of you getting to know Dad again, if that’s what you want.”
“Miles?” Gabriel turned his head. “What’s your feeling on this?”
“Buddy, my opinion doesn’t matter,” Miles said.
“It does to him.” Liberty glared.
“Okay.” Miles let out a long breath. “If you want to see your dad, then you should. My only advice would be to leave the past where it belongs and start fresh.” He lifted his gaze. “That goes for both of you.”
“I want to see my dad.” Gabriel stood. “I’ll go get dressed.” Gabriel raced toward the stairs.
“I guess I better call my father and tell him we’re coming.” Liberty picked up her cell and tapped her dad’s number.
Straight to voicemail.
“Maybe he’s in the shower,” Miles said. “Call the B and B. Melinda will patch you through to his room.”
Liberty found the number and Melinda answered on the second ring.
“Hi. This is Liberty Blue. I’m trying to reach my father. Harvey Blue.” Liberty’s heart hammered in her chest.
“I’m sorry, but he checked out a half hour ago. I think he was headed to the airport.”
Miles was on his feet. “He came by private jet. I’ll get my mom to stop him. Let’s go.”
“She can do that?”
“She’s the chief of police. At least for two more weeks. She can do anything she wants, within reason.” Miles moved to the bottom of the stairs. “Hurry up, Gabriel. We have to roll, now.”
“You really are my knight in shining armor.”
Miles laughed. “I’m just a grease monkey who has family in high places.”
Liberty’s heart beat so fast it caught in her throat as they pulled into the private airport twenty-five miles from Lighthouse Cove. Her father’s plane, which still had the words, Liberty Gabriel proudly displayed on the side, was parked not far from the runway.
“Well, that’s a bold statement.” Miles took her hand and kissed it. “He never forgot.”
“I still want to hate him,” she mumbled. “Those are just letters on metal.”
“That mean something when said out loud.” He kissed her hand before glancing over his shoulder. “Are you ready?”
“What do I say?” Gabriel asked.
“Whatever you feel like,” Miles said. He opened the door.
Liberty slid from the passenger seat and few seconds later, her father appeared at the entrance of the plane. He climbed down the stairs and took two steps across the pavement.
Gabriel bolted from the back of Miles’ truck. “Daddy!” He ran like a big goofy kid with his arms flapping wildly at his sides. “Daddy!”
Her six-foot-three dad stopped dead in his tracks as Gabriel, all five foot ten and one hundred ninety pounds of him came barreling at him. Her dad reached for the railing of the airplane’s staircase but missed and lost his footing.
“You came back.” Gabriel hurled himself at his father, wrapping his arms around him, knocking them both to the hard ground with a massive thud.
“Shit.” Liberty took off running, Miles at her heels.
“Gabriel. Dad. Are you two okay?” She knelt, trying to untangle her brother from her dad, but Gabriel wouldn’t let him go.
Her father grunted as he lay flat on his back. “Gabriel, son, you’re crushing me.”
“Let me help.” Miles did his best to unwrap Gabriel’s arms, but even he couldn’t do it. “Gabriel, dude. You’ve got to give your dad some breathing room.”
Reluctantly, Gabriel eased his grip and rolled to the side.
“Damn, boy. You’ve grown.” Her dad took Miles’ hand and slowly got to his feet, arching his back.
“Anything broken?” Miles asked.
“Nah. I’ll live,” her dad said, hoisting Gabriel off the pavement. “Let me get a good look at you.” He held Gabriel by the shoulders. “Wow. You’re all grown up.” He ruffled Gabriel’s hair.
“Dad. Stop that. I’m not a little boy anymore. I’m a man.” Gabriel pushed his father’s hand away.
Her dad chuckled. “I can see that.”
“I should be so mad at you.” He stomped his feet and clenched his fists. “What you did was wrong. You hurt Liberty. She ended up marrying a very bad man because of you and Charlie hurt her in the worst way. I should hate you for that. But I don’t.” He slumped his shoulders and relaxed his hands. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you and your sister so much.” Her dad rested his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. He’d always had a way with him, even she couldn’t deny that. “I’m sorry I left you. I wish I could go back in time and do it all over again, but I’m so glad you two had each other.”
“Why are you leaving again?” Gabriel sniffled.
Her dad shifted his gaze from him to her and cleared his throat. “I don’t have to, but to be honest, Gabriel, that’s going to be up to Liberty.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. You can’t put this one on me,” she mumbled.
“I have to.” He palmed her face. “You’ve been the one taking care of both of you all these years. It’s not my place anymore to waltz into your life like I belong.” He kissed her temple. “I will stay, but only if you say it’s okay,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her dad.
Her father.
“It’s okay,” she said.
Her dad hugged her back.
She took a step back. “How long can you stay?”
“As long as you’ll have me. Someone has to run the office here now.” He shrugged. “But I’d have to go back and forth between here and South Carolina for a while and there is Sandra to consider.”
“I’m sure she can help you remotely,” Liberty said.
Her father shook his head. “We’re engaged, so she would be coming with me.”
“Well, that’s an interesting turn of events.” Liberty smiled.
“I like Sandra.” Gabriel looped his arm through Liberty’s. “So, Miles, when are you going to ask my sister to marry you?”
“Yeah, son. When’s that happening?” Her dad smacked Miles on the back.
He coughed, pounding on his chest.
All she could do was grin from ear to ear.
Not all was forgiven.
But the past was behind them.
This was a fresh start. A clean slate. A new beginning.
And Miles was hers to love.