Chapter 20
Cole was in a bear of a mood when Frankie called to say the limo was ready for pick up.
Cole pulled Ky from the convenience store long enough to drive him to the garage to drop him off, and then Cole drove the limo back to park it along the outside of the rental business.
He made his way inside and found Gage, Brooks, and Alec in the office at the back of the convenience store. “Limo’s ready to go.”
“Just in time for Christmas and New Years,” Alec said.
“And hopefully an exclusive contract with the new hotel,” Gage said. “Get them on board and we might need a second vehicle.”
Cole saw Alec do a double take and frown.
“You okay? You look like you haven’t slept in a month.”
Alec’s statement drew the attention of the other two. “Bad couple of nights.”
He hadn’t slept Saturday night after Ben’s stunt because he’d spent most of the night talking to Ben and making sure there weren’t any repeat performances. And last night— Ana appeared in his mind, and he wiped a hand over his face.
“What’s going on?” Alec asked as he leaned back in his chair.
Cole was too tired and too frustrated by what had happened to guard the details. Maybe their opinions could help him sort through the mess he’d made of things. “I might have screwed up.”
“Might have? Or did?” Brooks asked.
Cole ran his hands over his face and rubbed hard, the scene from Ana’s return replaying in his head like it had all night. “I don’t know. My gut says I did the right thing, but Ana made it clear she feels differently.”
“This about what happened Saturday night?” Brooks asked.
When Alec and Gage stared at them in question, Cole sighed and explained how Brooks had spotted Ben and the hours that followed. “If you could’ve seen Ben… I know I did the right thing, but Ana says it wasn’t my call to make.”
“It wasn’t,” Alec said.
“I think Cole’s right,” Brooks said. “For whatever reason, Ben obviously needed to see the guy in person.”
“You still should’ve called her,” Alec said. “Ran it by her first. She’s his mom, and she had a right to know. Finding out her child snuck out was bad enough. That was strike one because you didn’t inform her. But to add to that, you then took an emotionally fragile teenager to see someone who had abandoned him. What if Ben confronted the guy? Or the guy recognized Ben and made it clear he wanted nothing to do with him? Or that he did want contact after all these years? The situation could’ve escalated easily, and Ana wasn’t even there.”
Cole shut his gritty eyes and groaned. “I get it, but I think any of those scenarios could’ve played out, and it still would’ve been better for Ben than going through life pretending the guy doesn’t exist when he lives in the same area.”
“Ben doesn’t need him,” Brooks said.
“He doesn’t— That’s why I told Ben we’re his family now,” Cole said. “That no matter what happens with me and Ana, Ben has me—all of us—if and when he ever needs something.”
“Good,” Brooks said, nodding. “Blood doesn’t make a family, and that loser who fathered him certainly isn’t his.”
“Is Ana going to be okay with that?” Gage asked, doubt heavy in his tone.
“We didn’t discuss it, but either way Ben still has to work off the debt, so we’ll see him here. We’ll make it work. Plus I’d already told him he could come to the Christmas party and bring a few friends.”
“We were already keeping an eye on him, but we can step it up and make a point to spend a little extra time and attention on him,” Alec said. “That’s not going to help your situation with Ana though.”
Brooks leaned forward and planted his elbows on his desk. “If Ben tells her the truth about why he did it, she’ll see she’s wrong.”
“That—or she’ll dig in her heels and double down because she feels threatened,” Cole murmured. “Which is…what I saw the other night when she ordered me to leave them both alone.”
“Ah, man. Sorry,” Brooks said without his usual snark.
Gage stood and stretched his arms overhead. “This is why I’ll never get married. You helped her son and kept him out of jail even though she ended things with you, and she’s still mad at you.”
“Yeah, that’s why,” Brooks said with a mocking snort.
“Life is complicated,” Alec added before the other two could start bickering.
“I don’t want Ana feeling indebted to me. That’s not why I helped her—or Ben,” Cole said.
Alec stared at Cole from across the desk. “So what happens now?”
Cole pressed his palms to his eyes and rubbed. “God only knows. Maybe she’ll come to the Christmas party with Ben, and I can talk to her then. Try to smooth things over once she’s had time to process things.”
“Sounds safe,” Brooks says.
Cole lowered his hands and glanced at Brooks in question.
“She can’t kill you there. Too many witnesses.”
* * *
The last person Ana ever expected to see inside her boutique was her father. But as she stepped out of the office to make her way onto the sales floor, she stumbled at the sight of him. “Dad? What are you doing here?”
Her father turned away from the jewelry display and walked to where she’d moved behind the checkout counter, leaning against it for support.
“I need to talk to you, Analise.”
Yeah, she was not in the mood for one of her father’s lectures. “Now’s not a good time. I’m busy.”
Her father lifted a thick eyebrow high and purposefully glanced at the interior of the empty boutique.
“I have online orders to prep,” she said, wincing when she heard how defensive she sounded.
It wasn’t a lie. It was Cyber Monday and she did have orders to do…but nothing that couldn’t wait a few moments.
“I won’t take much of your time. Perhaps we could get some coffee?”
Ana swallowed and shook her head. “I can’t leave the store. Sasha has today off since she covered for me all weekend.”
“Yes, the bachelorette. That’s why I’m… I was disappointed to discover Ben didn’t ask to stay with us, but I suppose that’s my fault.”
“You could suppose that,” she said, somehow managing to keep her tone even. “What do you want?”
Her father locked his hands behind his back, looking every bit as uncomfortable as she felt.
“After church last evening, someone pulled me aside to speak with me. I keep a picture of Ben on my desk at work. This person recognized Ben when they saw him at a restaurant with a man on Saturday night and that Ben seemed to be upset.”
She so didn’t have the patience for this today. “Ben…was upset,” she said softly. “Look, Dad, I know about the restaurant and what happened, but I can assure you??—”
“Let me finish,” her father said, apparently sensing her desire to end the conversation. “My friend is…observant and was concerned, so he followed them to the parking lot when they left. He kept his distance to give himself time to assess the situation when he overheard the reasons for Ben’s upset.”
Ben had told her bits and pieces of that conversation. How Cole had said family wasn’t only made by blood. “Dad, Ben has been going through some things lately. If his behavior somehow embarrassed you…” You’ll have to get over yourself.
“I am embarrassed by my own behavior, Analise.”
Shock rocked her to her soul. Her father wasn’t a quiet man. He was large and loud with a deep voice that carried authority and strength. Except now he spoke softly, the deep tone trembling with the words.
“Your mother has very astutely pointed out that I have failed you and Ben in so many ways. I’ve let my pride keep me from seeing…so many things. Kept me from being the man I needed to be for my family.”
It had. His pride had won out because his pregnant teenage daughter, the college drop-out and single mother, had embarrassed her very conservative, very prominent and very driven father. “Your friend told you why Ben was there that night?”
Her father’s chin trembled as he visibly struggled to control his emotions. Ana took a slow, deep breath and forced herself to walk across the sales floor to the door, locking it and flipping the Closed sign. That done, she dimmed the lights and retraced her steps on shaky legs, leading the way toward the far side of the space where two chairs sat near a full-length mirror outside the changing rooms. “Sit down, Dad.”
Her father did as requested and seated himself on the edge of the elegant chair with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. She inhaled and sighed again. “Your friend…must have been someone close to you if he recognized Ben.”
A low huff emerged from his chest, and he nodded. “My bailiff. I’ve spent more time with him over the last twenty years than your mother.”
“I’m still surprised he would recognize Ben.” She didn’t send her parents pictures. Hadn’t because of their response to her pregnancy and the aftermath and the years of discord ever since. They weren’t the card-and-picture-exchanging type of family.
“I download and print Ben’s photos from social media. Kids these days post a lot of pictures.”
His words brought a reluctant smile to her lips. “That they do.”
“Ana, your mother told me about the conversation you had at the bridal shower for Quinley. She wanted Thanksgiving to go well, and I-I didn’t allow that to happen. I can’t say that I won’t have opinions on things, but in the future, I will try my best to offer them only when asked, and I’d like to formerly apologize as well for…everything that happened between us back then. There are graceful ways of handling situations such as the one we found ourselves in, and I didn’t handle any of it with grace. I have numerous regrets for how I treated you, the things I said in my anger and upset. If there is any way we could put our differences aside and start fresh, I would very much like to do so.”
She stared at her father in silent shock. He seemed sincere. As genuine and apologetic as she had ever known him to be in her life. He looked wrecked, broken and nothing like the man who couldn’t accept that his baby girl had fallen off the pedestal he’d put her on and proven she was human after all.
But did he truly mean what he said? “I know where Ben was and why. But I can’t help but wonder if hearing your friend say Cole was there with Ben during that moment didn’t simply…bruise your pride again?”
To her horror, tears filled her father’s gaze, and a rough sound left him.
“My pride, no. My heart? It destroyed me. Because it should have been me, Analise. I should have been the one at Ben’s side when he sought out his father, and in my foolishness and stupidity, I wasn’t even a thought. I know I was wrong. I was wrong about so many things. I see that now. But knowing neither of you feel that you can depend on me for help or…anything, it breaks my very soul. If you’d allow me, I’d like to offer again, to pay for the damages done to Cole’s business.”
“No.” She fisted her hands and shook her head. Letting him pay for the damages would end her contact with Cole, but she couldn’t allow it. Ben had a lesson to learn from what he’d done, and despite what had happened, Ben needed to work off what he owed. Even if it meant spending more time with Cole. As hard as it was to hear Ben say how much it meant to him that Cole had understood, she couldn’t—wouldn’t—take that time away from Ben. Not when her son needed it so badly. “If that’s a condition of your apology, I don’t want it.”
“It’s not a condition, Analise. Just an offer. It’s hard getting a business off the ground, and I would imagine money is tight right now. I’d like to help.”
“The answer is no. Ben is working off the cost and being held responsible for his actions. I believe it’s good for him. He needs to do this. Please respect that and don’t ask again.”
Her father was visibly reluctant, but he nodded. “I understand.”
She rubbed her sweaty palms along her thighs and nodded. “Then I accept your apology and would like to put the past behind us.”
He looked so relieved and so happy at her response that her eyes stung with heat and the prickle of tears.
“Thank you, Analise. I would love that and I know your mother would too. I should also say that I understand now. More than ever.”
“Understand what?”
“Why you loved Cole so much. I was wrong about him.”
She plucked at an imaginary piece of lint, needing to shift her gaze from her father’s face in order to steady herself in the face of that revelation.
“You were too young for marriage. I stand by that belief. But Cole turned out to be quite a good man. A better man to you and Ben than I have been. And I will live with that knowledge for the rest of my life.”
“Cole isn’t perfect.”
“What man is? My point is that if even a third of what my bailiff said is true about the discussion he overheard, I’m glad Cole is back in your life regardless of how he came to be there. I think he’s good for Ben…and for you.”
Ana sank her teeth into her lower lip and bit hard enough to focus on the momentary pain rather than the shredding of her heart. Cole’s decision to take her son to see his father without so much as a call or a text… Fury engulfed her now just thinking about it. “Cole and I aren’t together, Dad. But I suppose you could say he and his brothers have taken Ben under their wing.”
“I was told Cole told Ben that he was his family that night. Not biologically,” her father said with a shake of his head. “I know Cole isn’t Ben’s father, but it’s obvious he feels fondly toward Ben. A man doesn’t say those things unless he’s invested, Analise.”
This time Ana didn’t look away. She met her father’s gaze and held it. “It is sweet and kind of Cole to look out for Ben. Cole and I have our differences, but he’s been good to Ben for the most part.”
“The most part?”
Ana stood to pace off her nervous energy.
“You’re angry with Cole because of what he said to Ben?”
“I don’t want to discuss it.” She turned after saying the words and caught the flash of pain on her father’s face that she wouldn’t share her thoughts with him.
Her father stared at her a long moment, and then his gaze narrowed.
“You were out of town.” Her father sat back in the chair, his hands falling to the arms to grip them. “I see.”
“And what do you see?” she asked with more than a little of the attitude she’d like to leave in the past.
Her father stood and moved to where she’d paced. He cradled her face in his large palms, his hands smooth from years behind a desk as he ruled over people’s lives.
“I see that I am not the only one struggling with pride.”
Something inside her broke at his words. Her eyes flooded, the tears coming too fast for her to hide them.
“Oh, Analise.”
Her father pulled her into his arms and hugged her, held her, and Ana struggled to wrap her mind around the show of affection after so many years of strain and distance. She’d been daddy’s little girl growing up. Until she wasn’t. Now this. The whiplash was intense.
When he loosened his hold, she quickly swiped at the moisture beneath her lashes and shook her head. “I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m fine. I’m upset because Cole overstepped and made a decision he had no right to make.”
“About Ben wanting to see his father?”
Of course the judge would put things together quickly. He heard it every day in his courtroom and had to be able to quickly cipher through the lies to the truth. She stared up at her dad and sniffled. “Your friend really did eavesdrop.”
“He was concerned, like I said. As to Cole… I imagine that was a hard decision for him to make considering he had to know how upset you’d be with him.”
“Then why do it? Why not call me and tell me what was going on?”
Something flashed across her father’s face, an expression she couldn’t make out.
“Is it possible Cole reacted the way he did because he considers himself close enough to you and Ben that he feels like he is Ben’s family? Perhaps he sees himself as part of your future?”
“What do you mean?” she asked in a small voice.
Her father inhaled and took a step back. “Do you remember when you were little and you wanted to learn to surf, so your mother signed you up for swim lessons?”
“What does that have to do with Ben?”
Her father lifted his hand in the classic slow-down motion. “You wanted to surf, but you couldn’t swim. And since your mother knew there would come a day when you’d go into the water with or without permission, she wanted you to be prepared. She didn’t call me and ask me about it first. She just did it—knowing there would come a day when you’d run headfirst into that surf, and those lessons might be the only thing to save you.”
Her shoulders sagged. “You’re saying Cole made the decision to try to protect Ben from future pain.”
“Am I?”
Her father winked at her, and the familiar gesture once again transported her back to those years before everything had changed. “Do you think I overreacted?”
“Only you can judge that,” he said. “But I don’t believe Cole made the decision with malicious intent. Only to spare you the pain of seeing someone you’ve avoided all these years while helping Ben at the same time.”
“You’re a lot easier to deal with when you’re being totally irrational,” she muttered.
The judge’s booming laugh filled the boutique, and he tugged her back into his arms for another hug. “Like father, like daughter, I suppose. I love you, Analise.”
“I love you, too, Daddy,” she said, her words muffled against his suit jacketed arm. “You know we’re going to fight again though, right? I don’t want you going behind my back to pay the damages or anything. I mean it.”
She knew she’d guessed right when her father tensed slightly and then relaxed as he released a chuckle.
“I hope you’ll change your mind and allow me to help, but I won’t go behind your back to pay the damages, either.”
“Good. You know, Mama might be right in that we’re a little too much alike.” Because truthfully she’d probably do the same thing if she had the money. She’d want to help.
She felt her father press a kiss to the top of her head.
“She might be right about a lot of things. But don’t ever tell her I said that.”
* * *
The next few days passed in a blur for Ana. She worked, picked up Ben after work without leaving the safety of her vehicle so she could avoid Cole and tried to deep dive into the gamut of emotions bombarding her from every direction.
Her conversation with Ben had made it clear he’d done something he needed for his emotional wellbeing, and she couldn’t fault him for that, but that still didn’t change the fact that she felt Cole had overstepped and interfered in something he shouldn’t have. Crossed a boundary he had no right to cross.
Her father’s statements hadn’t helped with her confusion, though. Her upset with Cole simmered despite the time apart, and no amount of self-reflection seemed to dim the intensity as she zipped from being angry to confused to torn. Ben’s defense of Cole didn’t help the raging torment either.
“Mom, are you ready?”
Ben and friends entered the boutique with grins and interest on their handsome young faces. The fourth member of the group, a girl, followed.
That had been a new development as well. Apparently a discussion with kids in his art class about a popular video game had led to sitting with those kids at lunch instead of with Mason and the others involved in the drama of the party held the night of the opening gala.
Ben had told Ana and his counselor that he didn’t want to be friends with people he couldn’t trust and when Mason had come back around acting as though nothing had happened and he’d done nothing wrong, Ben had made his feelings clear. Mason had promised to make it up to Ben, but only time would tell.
Ana was glad to see Ben moving on and the teens with him now seemed like a good match. Ana eyed the girl as she blushed every time Ben glanced her way.
The sight left Ana faltering, but only because she remembered feeling, behaving, the same way when she’d first met Cole that day on the boardwalk. “Ready when you are.”
This evening was the big Blackwell Enterprises holiday party. Ben had invited his new friends and had even gone as far as to invite her to come as one of his pluses as well.
Ana grabbed the envelope of information on the advertising campaign Quinley had put together for Cole and said goodbye to Sasha.
Ana couldn’t help but smile when the four teens teased each other about who was going to beat whom at what. But her heart tugged when they got to the vehicle, and Ben told one of his buddies to sit up front with her while he chose to sit in the back with the girl squished between the other friend.
In the rearview mirror, Ana watched as Ben and the girl whispered and laughed and snuck glances at each other when they thought no one was looking.
The drive to downtown Wilmington took a while with the evening traffic, but it gave her time to enjoy being a part of the fun. She knew once Ben could drive, these moments would end. It was yet another thing to appreciate compared to the man who’d fathered Ben and missed out on them all.
The teens talked and sang along to the songs Ben played off his phone. Instead of just dropping them off in front of the building, she parked and grabbed the envelope.
“You’re going to stay?” Ben asked.
He sounded hopeful, and her heart pinched at the thought of disappointing him. “I’m just dropping this off.”
Ben’s expression darkened, and she hated that her disagreement with Cole had the power to dampen Ben’s fun.
Inside, the darkened interior and noise did nothing to help the stress and headache plaguing her. She scanned the groups and quickly found Cole standing and talking to Alec.
She made her way over, forcing herself to breathe the moment Cole spotted her and straightened to his full height.
Alec turned to see what had taken Cole’s attention. Alec nodded at her, clapped a hand over Cole’s shoulder and then walked away.
She held out the envelope. “It’s the advertising campaign I owe you. I went back and made even more detailed notes.”
“Ana, can we talk?”
She looked around at the people and the noise and even though a part of her felt that she might be able to have that comprehensive discussion with Cole about her boundaries and her son, the other part of her knew she still wasn’t ready. “I can’t stay.”
She pressed the oversized envelope against Cole’s broad chest until he finally lifted a hand to grasp it.
“Soon?” he asked.
The way he looked at her rocked her and told her he hadn’t meant to hurt her even though he had. “I don’t know.”
“Ana...”
She shook her head, unable to bear the pain in his voice. “Goodbye, Cole.”