A Forever Family (Forever #6) (7 page)

Collin

People were scattered throughout the first level of the house and outside in the back where my grandmother had set up fancy tables, centerpieces, and tents throughout her massive backyard.

“Is this a funeral luncheon or a party?” Amelia asked as we looked around outside.

“My grandmother goes over the top with everything. Obviously, funeral luncheons aren’t any different.”

We walked around and visited with some of the guests that showed up, including Ashley and Ariel Braxton.

“Wow. Your grandmother sure knows how to put on a funeral luncheon.” Ariel smiled as she gave me a light hug.

“We were just talking about that. I know I already sent you my congratulations, but now that you’re here, I can give you a real one.” I reached over and gave Ashley a hug. “You looked amazing on the cover of
Elle
Magazine.”

“Thanks, Collin. It was a lot of fun.”

“How’s Alan doing?”

“We broke up a few weeks ago. I finally realized, after two years of my dad telling me what an asshole he was, that he was. I’m much happier now that he’s out of my life.”

“And what about you, Ariel? How’s Brandon doing? I heard he just got traded and now he’s playing for the LA Kings.”

“Yes, and I couldn’t be happier. He’ll finally be back in L.A. where he belongs,” she said with excitement.

The four of us talked for a while until I looked across the large, manicured yard and saw my dad sitting alone on a bench in the garden.

“Excuse me ladies. I need to go talk to my dad.”

I made my way through the crowd of people and took a seat next to him.

“You okay, Dad?”

“Yeah, son. I just can’t stop thinking about that guy at the funeral. I don’t know why and I can’t put my finger on it. There was something about him.”

“I think you’re obsessing too much over this. Maybe Grandpa helped him once and he wanted to pay his respects.”

“Then why stand back in the crowd and not talk to anyone? Especially the family?”

“Maybe he’s shy.” I put my arm around him. “Come on, Dad. Let’s get back to the luncheon. There’s a whole lot of people to talk to.”

He looked at me with a small smile. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

We walked back to the house and my dad went to find my mom while I stopped and talked to my friend, Liam Wyatt.

“Liam, my friend. Thanks for coming.” I gave him a light hug.

“So sorry about your grandfather.”

“Thanks. I saw you at the funeral, but things have been a little crazy. I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to talk to you.”

“Nah. No worries. Oliver and Delilah send their condolences. They’d be here if they could, but they took Sophie to Disney World. Hey, I know this is weird and all, but is something wrong with Hailey?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“I saw her in the house and she was acting weird. It’s like she’s on something.”

“Julia said the same thing a few days ago. I don’t know and, to be honest, I don’t really care.”

Amelia walked over to us, holding Brayden. “Hi, Liam.” She smiled.

“Hi, Amelia. Congratulations on marrying this fool.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Laughter escaped her lips. “Thank you.”

As we stood there talking, another good friend of ours walked over to us.

“Collin. We’re so sorry for your loss,” Max and Emma spoke as they both gave me a light hug.

“Thank you. I’m glad you guys are here. Hey there, Sarah.” I smiled as she held out her arms and I took her from Max. “You are getting way too big too fast.”

Amelia and Emma walked away and left us guys to talk.

“Any kids in your future?” Max asked.

“Someday. I would like to wait a couple of years.”

“All my friends are off getting married and having babies, and I’m still trying to find that perfect girl.” Liam pouted.

Max hooked his arm around him. “I just saw you the other night with that smoking hot chick at the restaurant.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Oh, she was hot and she knew it. She spent a majority of the night taking selfies and snap chatting. For a woman who was twenty-four, she acted like she was sixteen. I couldn’t get her home fast enough.”

Max and I chuckled and Sarah started to fuss and wanted to go back to Max. “I better go find Emma. Sarah’s getting tired.”

“Thanks again for coming. I appreciate it.” I gave him a pat on the back.

“No problem, friend. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Liam and I talked for a few more minutes and then he had to get to the office and take care of a few things since Oliver was out of town. We said goodbye, and when I went to find Amelia, I found her talking to Hailey.

“Hey.” I wrapped my arm around Amelia’s waist.

“Hey.” Hailey excused herself, and when she began to walk away, she dropped her purse and the contents spilled onto the floor. I bent down to help her pick it up and saw four prescription bottles full of pills and a small zippered baggie with a white powder in it.

“What are these?” I asked her as I picked up the bottles.

“Nothing.” She grabbed them from my hands and nervously shoved everything back in her purse. “I’ll talk to you guys later.” She stood up and walked away.

“Maybe you should talk to her parents,” Amelia spoke.

“It’s none of our business, Amelia. Please. I don’t want to discuss this again.”

She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her cheek against my chest. “You always help people, Collin. That is one of the things I love most about you.”

An anger began to brew inside of me. I was sick and tired of people trying to shove Hailey down my throat. I broke our embrace.

“Why can’t you leave it alone?! I just lost my grandfather. Hailey is the last fucking person on this Earth I want to talk about!” I spoke in a raised voice.

I ran my hand through my hair and walked away to get some air. I stepped outside on the porch and sat down on the swing. I felt bad for raising my voice at my wife and, judging from the expression on her face, she was hurt. As I was sitting there thinking of a million ways to apologize to her, my mom came out and sat down next to me, taking hold of my hand.

“What’s going on, Collin? I saw you storm out and Amelia standing in the middle of the room. Did you two have an argument?”

I sighed. “No, Mom. It was more of me just being an insensitive asshole.”

“Tell me what’s going on. You know you can talk to me.”

“Something’s going on with Hailey and everyone is expecting me to fix it.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s doing drugs, Mom.”

“I see. Do you know that for sure?”

“Yes. Julia saw her doing coke in the bathroom at Peyton’s birthday party and earlier, she dropped her purse. When I bent down to help her pick her things up, she had four bottles of pills and a baggie with coke in it. Julia and Amelia both want me to talk to her. It’s none of my business. She’s not my concern and I don’t want to get involved.”

She gave my hand a squeeze. “Between you and me, Peyton expressed her concern about Hailey a couple of days ago. She and Henry don’t like this guy she’s with. I know your history with Hailey isn’t good, considering what you went through, but sometimes, we need to put the past behind us.”

“So you’re saying you put what happened with Ashlyn behind you?”

“God no! She’s different. She’s a psychotic bitch who tried to hurt my family. Hailey isn’t like that. She’s a good person, Collin. She’s just lost right now.”

I let out a sigh. “I hope she finds her way back someday, but I’m not going to be the one to show her the way.”

“I understand.”

Amelia walked out on the porch as my mom gave me a kiss on the cheek and went back inside the house. I held out my hand to her.

“I’m sorry, Amelia. I didn’t mean to yell at you like I did.”

She sat down beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. “I know you didn’t. I shouldn’t have pushed you like that. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

Connor

My mom decided to take a little weekend trip to Cape Cod with Cassidy, Ben, and Camden. She asked me if I would go through my dad’s office and clean it out for her. She had already cleaned out his personal stuff, but the business was never her thing. She wanted everything out of there so she could turn his office into a sitting room. It was a Saturday morning and Ellery and I met Collin and Amelia for breakfast before we headed to the house. Collin drove himself, and after we finished breakfast, he drove us to the house while Ralph took the women into the city to do some shopping for the day.

“Thanks for coming and helping me with this, son.”

“No problem, Dad.”

While Collin was going through the filing cabinet, I cleaned out the bookshelf. As I pulled some books from the shelf, a white envelope fell from one of them and onto the floor. I bent down to pick it up and noticed it was filled with pictures. Sitting down in his chair, I opened the envelope and pulled out a picture of me and my brother Collin at the beach. It was taken the day he died. As I sat and stared at it, an overwhelming sadness washed over me.

“What is that, Dad?”

“A picture of me and your Uncle Collin.” I handed the picture to him.

“Wow. Look at the two of you. I know he was your twin brother, but you almost look identical.”

I gave him a small smile as I looked at the other photographs. There was one of our family and my mom holding Cassidy on her christening day.

“Dad, you dropped one,” Collin spoke as he bent down and picked it up. He stared at it for a moment before handing it to me.

“Is this you or Aunt Cassidy?” he asked.

I took the photograph from his hand and looked at it in confusion. It was a picture of my father holding a baby in front of a house I didn’t recognize. “It’s neither of us. My father is a lot older in this picture.”

“Then who is it? Is it Camden?”

“No.” I looked through the remaining pictures. I stumbled across one of me and my dad at a banquet when he won the Businessman of the Year award. I held it next to the picture of him holding the baby and he looked the same. A sickness rose inside of me when my mind went to the place of something I didn’t want to believe.

“Collin, I think my father had another child.”

He laughed. “Dad, now you’re getting crazy. Grandpa would never have cheated on Grandma.”

“But he did, son, and I knew about it.”

Shock swept over his face as he stood there and stared at me. “Who was she?”

“I don’t know who she was. All I know is that he spent a month with her in the Caribbean while Black Enterprises was failing.”

“Dad, I’m sorry.”

I looked down at the desk and tried to pull open the bottom drawer. It was locked and I couldn’t find the key.

“Go ask Juan for a screwdriver. I want to know what’s in this bottom drawer.”

A few moments later, Collin came back with a screwdriver. I shoved it in and busted the lock. When I opened the drawer, I found a file for the purchase of a house in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, dating back twenty-eight years ago. I gave the paper to Collin as I rummaged through the rest of the files.

“I didn’t know Grandpa had a house in Cherry Hill.”

“I didn’t either. Let’s go, son.” I got up from the chair and walked out of the office.

“Where are we going?”

“To Cherry Hill, New Jersey.”

* * * *

Collin pulled up to the curb of the house and we sat there a moment while I pulled out the picture of my father. It was the same house the picture was taken in front of. A small half brick, half vinyl-sided house with a bay window and a porch with a white railing. I swallowed hard as I got out of the Range Rover.

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“Hopefully getting some answers,” I replied as I walked up the driveway and to the steps of the house.

“You can’t just go up to someone’s house like that.” He followed behind me.

“I can and I will.” I knocked on the door and waited a few moments. There was no answer, so I rang the doorbell. Still no answer.

“Fuck!” I ran my hand through my hair as I stepped off the porch and looked around.

“Can I help you with something?” an older woman asked as she was watering her flowers next door.

“I was wondering who lived here,” I replied as I walked over to her.

“The Vines live there. Do you know them?”

“No. I don’t think so.” I handed her the picture. “Do you know this man and child?”

She looked at the photograph and then up at me. “You must be Mr. Black.”

I was stunned and then startled when my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket. It was Ellery. “Excuse me one moment. I need to take this.” She nodded her head and continued to water her flowers.

“Hey, baby,” I answered as I took a few steps away from the old woman.

“Hi, Connor. I was just checking in to see how things were going. We’ll be heading to the house soon.”

“Don’t come to the house, Ellery. Collin and I aren’t there.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It’s a long story and I’ll explain everything tonight. Just have Ralph drive you and Amelia back to the penthouse and Collin and I will be there later.”

“Connor Black. What is going on?”

“Baby, please listen to me. I will explain everything later. I promise.”

“You have me worried, Connor.”

“There’s no need to be worried. Collin and I are just checking out something we found in one of my father’s files. I promise to tell you everything later, but now I have to go. I love you.”

“I love you too. We’ll be waiting at the penthouse for the two of you.”

I sighed as I hit the end button and placed my phone back in my pocket. As I walked over to the older woman, she set her hose down and invited me and Collin inside.

“Please come inside for some iced tea and homemade cookies.”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry but we—”

“Do you want your answers or not, Mr. Black?”

I gave her a small nod and swallowed hard as Collin and I followed her into the house.

“Have a seat in the living room and I’ll get the iced tea and cookies.” She smiled.

Collin and I took a seat on the floral couch. The room looked like it hadn’t been updated in over thirty years.

“Here we go.” The old lady smiled as she set a tray of cookies and iced tea down on the coffee table. “First off, we haven’t properly met. I’m Flora Dunsworth.” She extended her hand.

“I’m Connor Black and this is my son, Collin.” I lightly shook her hand and Collin did the same.

Flora took a seat in the wing-backed chair that sat across from the couch. Collin reached over and grabbed a cookie from the tray.

“Oh my God, Flora, these are amazing!”

“Thank you, dear. They’re my secret recipe. They’ve won all kinds of awards over the years.”

I shot Collin a look because we weren’t here to discuss how good her cookies were.

“Flora, you said you had answers for me. Did you know my father and this child?”

“Yes, I did. The woman who lived next door was Charlotte Oaks and that boy in the picture is her son, Lucas. We became very close.”

I swallowed hard, finding it difficult to ask the next question. “Was Lucas my father’s son?”

She pursed her lips together and looked down for a moment. She didn’t need to say anything. The look on her face said it all.

“Yes. I had only met your father a couple of times. He didn’t come around much due to the fact that, well, you know, he had another family.”

My stomach twisted itself in knots and my heart raced at what Flora told me. I couldn’t believe this shit. My father had a bastard son that he kept hidden all these years.

“They don’t live there anymore?” Collin asked.

“No. Charlotte passed away about ten years ago and Lucas packed up his stuff and left. I felt sorry for Charlotte because she spent her life believing that your father would leave his family to be with her. I do remember an older gentleman who would come to the house to deliver some things to Charlotte over the years, but I can’t seem to remember his name.” She pressed her finger against her chin.

“Denny?”

“Ah, yes. Denny was his name. Nice man.”

“How old is Lucas?” I asked as the sickness in my stomach intensified.

Flora sighed. “Let me think. You know my old brain isn’t as sharp as it used to be. Lucas would be about twenty-eight now. Yes. That’s right because he had just turned eighteen when Charlotte passed away.”

“God, Dad. He isn’t too much older than me and Julia.”

I slowly shook my head, trying to absorb all the information Flora told me.

“May I ask how you found out about Charlotte and Lucas?”

“My father passed away recently, and as I was cleaning out his office, I found this picture and then the purchase agreement for the house.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, but I’m not.”

“Dad!” Collin exclaimed.

I got up from the couch and walked over to Flora, placing my hand on hers. “Thank you for your kindness and information. We have to get going.”

“You’re welcome, dear. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Me too. Let’s go, son.”

“It was nice to meet you, Flora. Would you mind if I took some cookies home to my wife?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Of course you can. Let me go bag them up for you.” She smiled.