FOREVER BELOVED (Billionaire Love Series) (19 page)

My heart warmed, thinking about my boy taking
after his old man. This time I didn’t hold back the tears that
welled up. I just let them fall.

My boy.

My sweet boy.

It was all too much as I let out a shuddery
sigh and wiped my eyes.

Glancing around at the years of memories, I
couldn’t get over the staggering evidence Marla had left for
me.

She had put herself out there, daring to
share every aspect of Charlie’s life with me. Her generous deed
cracked my shell open in a way I never anticipated as the ache gave
way to a tenderness I hadn’t felt in a long time.

All of this was a total act of love.

One I couldn’t deny.

The tears rose again as I sat surrounded by
Charlie’s life.

I had a son.

A real-life son, who deserved to know his
father.

“What’s going on out here?” Charlie asked as
he rubbed sleep out of his eyes and shuffled into the great room in
grey sweats.

I wiped at my eyes again. “Did you know your
mom put all this together?” I asked, pointing to the letters and
memorabilia strewn across the room.

He surveyed the contents of his life. “Oh
yeah, she was always in my face with a camera or a video
recorder.”

“I see that.”

He sat down next to me on the floor and
picked up a few pictures. “Oh, I remember that.” He pointed to an
image of his ten-year-old self with his arm in a cast.

“How did you break your arm?”

“I fell off the jungle gym after taking a
friend’s dare to fly. I was in a cast for like six weeks. But it
was worth it, though,” he answered proudly.

“You’re a risk taker, huh?”

He gave me a familiar lopsided grin. “Yeah,
from time to time.”

“That’s cool.”

I studied his young, earnest face, so much
like my own.

It seemed so simple. So right to reach out
and hug him.

“I’m your dad,” I said brokenly, owning the
words as he returned my embrace.

“Is that news to you?” he asked into my
shoulder.

“Yeah, it kind of is.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Marla:

Driving away from the pier, I thought about
Charly and Beau. By now, Beau had probably been dragged down the
hall to witness the unveiling of the treasure in the closet. I
almost chuckled, thinking of the look on his face when he realized
what I had done.

But fear held me back. It clutched in my
chest as I thought about how easy it would be for him to reject the
years of memories and letters I had pulled together for him.

It was out of my hands now. I could only pray
Beau was ready.

As I pulled into the driveway, I had hoped to
see Charlie’s Honda parked in its usual spot, but it wasn’t
there.

My heart sank. He was really mad at me.

I checked my phone again and found a cryptic
text from him.

@Beau’s. NOT coming home tonight.

Not what I wanted to hear, but I breathed a
sigh of relief; at least I knew he was safe.

The rest of the night, I tried to keep busy.
I cleaned out a closet, completed a jigsaw puzzle, and watched a
movie. All the while praying Charlie would come home sometime
tomorrow, so we could work things out.

Mindlessly watching I love Lucy, I heard my
phone ring with Maroon 5’s song, “Sugar”. Grace’s ringtone.

“Hey, lady,” I answered heavily.

“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.

“How do you know something’s wrong?”

“I can hear it in your voice.”

There was no use hiding the truth. I sighed.
“Everything’s a mess.”

“Talk to me, sugar. What’s going on?”

“Charlie went off on me, railing about not
knowing his dad. He threw his cereal bowl against the wall and
walked out on me. He was so angry, Grace.”

“Yeah, I bet he was. Charlie’s processing a
lot. But I want to know how you’re feeling.”

“Awful. Horrible. Full of regret. Maybe I
should have told Beau about Charlie from the beginning or let his
granddad talk to him about it.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Because I was afraid...afraid Beau’s dad
would come after me and take Charlie away.”

“Was that a fear or was it something that
really could have happened?”

“You know, it’s hard to say. When Beau’s dad
blackmailed me about Emma, I absolutely knew he would follow
through on his threat to take her away from me. I could only
imagine what he would do if he found out he had a grandson. So I
stayed under the radar, hoping he wouldn’t find out. Plus, after so
much time had passed, I didn’t even know if Beau would be
interested in knowing his son.”

“That’s a tough situation, Marla. Sounds like
you made the right decision. You didn’t know what was going to
happen. So you did what any mom would do and protected your kids.
You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“Oh, Grace. I don’t know how to let this all
go and not blame myself. It’s like none of my sacrifices mattered.
Certainly not to Charlie.” My voice was teary.

“Charlie will eventually get over it. He may
be mad for a while and you’ll have to ride it out. Just stay
present for him and be as transparent as you can be.”

“I’m trying. I hope our relationship isn’t
damaged because of this.”

“I think you’re in for a lot of change right
now, including your relationship with Charlie. It’s going to change
because he will get to know his dad and you won’t have to be mom
and dad to him anymore. It’s an adjustment for everyone and you’re
going to have to let Beau find his way into that equation.”

The thought overwhelmed me. “I don’t even
know how to begin to do that.”

“You don’t have to know how. You just have to
be open to it and let Beau and Charlie figure their relationship
out. Your boy isn’t going to leave you anytime soon. He still needs
his mom, but he’s gonna be all about his shiny new dad for a while.
You’re gonna have to wait it out. He’ll be back soon. I’d bet money
on it.”

I let out a long sigh. “I hear you. It’s just
hard. But you’re right. I need to let Beau and Charlie find their
own way. I want Beau to share in Charlie’s life. I want to
co-parent with him.”

“Oh, sugar, I think there’s more in store for
you than just co-parenting with Beau. You’re gonna be all
right.”

“Thanks, Grace, for talking me down from the
ledge.”

“My pleasure. You know I’m always here for
you.”

“I know you are. I would be crazy if I didn’t
have you to talk to.”

“Right back at you. Love you, sugar. Hang in
there.”

“I will.”

After we hung up, I felt slightly better. I
needed to trust Charlie would come home on his own and forgive me
for the mistakes I had made in raising him. I prayed we could move
forward, now that he expressed his true anger with me.

The next morning, I sat at the kitchen table
as I heard the familiar sound of the front door opening. Charlie’s
familiar walk echoed down the hall as I resisted the urge to fly up
and meet him.

I was determined to let him approach me. If
he didn’t want to talk, I would honor his silence. The last thing I
wanted to do was spook or smother him.

I finished eating my whole grain toast and
tea, then rose to put my dish in the sink. I glanced over at the
wall where the cereal bowl had slammed into the teal paint. If I
looked closely, I could see a small indentation where it hit.

I tried not to think about what it meant as I
washed my plate and threw it in the dishwasher.

“So that’s how it’s done?” I heard from
behind me as I closed the dishwasher.

I turned toward Charlie as he stood in the
doorway. “Yep, it’s a relatively simple process. Wash. Open. Place.
Close. Not too difficult.”

Coming further into the kitchen, he grabbed a
banana out of the fruit bowl. “I’ll have to remember that.” He
grinned a relaxed smile, so different from his anger of the last
twenty-four hours.

I was happy to see him in a better place.

“Got anything else to eat?” he asked, before
he chowed down on the banana.

“You want me to fix you a waffle?” I asked as
a peace offering.

“From scratch?”

“Sure. I’ll just go into my freezer and whip
a batch up,” I said, opening the freezer door and pulling out a box
of frozen waffles.

“What a neat trick. I’ll take two.”

“Okay, Charlie Brown. Two waffles coming
up.”

He sat at the table, watching me fix him
breakfast. We didn’t talk as the waffles popped up and I put them
on a plate, spreading butter along the warm crisscross pattern.

“So, yesterday?” he questioned as I reached
for his plate on the counter.

“What about it?” I asked softly as I brought
his waffles over to him.

His brown eyes flickered with serious
remorse. “I lost it, Mom. I didn’t know I felt all that stuff. But
I’m sorry I took it out on you. I guess I needed to get it out.” He
grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry, Mama. I’m gonna do better.”

I nodded, tears filling my eyes as I sat down
next to him. “You have every right to feel the way you want to, but
you did hurt my feelings. It was never in my heart to have you grow
up without a father.”

He smiled warmly. “I had you, Mama, and that
was enough,” he said, leaning over and kissing my temple.

A quiet sob escaped me. “So you’re not mad at
me?”

“I don’t know what I am. But I can’t stand it
when I’m not getting along with you.”

Relief and joy flooded my heart as I realized
Charlie wasn’t about to abandon me. “Will you promise to talk to me
about what you’re feeling? I can handle it when you need to vent, I
just need to be prepared. You really caught me off-guard
yesterday.”

“Yeah, I surprised myself, too. I’m just
conflicted about wanting to get to know my dad while you two aren’t
really talking to each other. It’s a hard place to be in because I
want to tell you the cool things I’m finding out about him, but I
don’t want to hurt you.”

“Honey, I want you to get to know your dad.
You have my full blessing to throw yourself into finding out who
your dad is. Remember, I fell in love with him. I know how great he
is. I would love to hear the great things you’re finding out, but
I’m here too, if things get messy and you need to talk.”

“Got it. Have you seen his amazing
penthouse?”

“Yes, I have. It’s beautiful.”

“I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact
my dad is a billionaire. It’s crazy. He offered me a chance to work
for him. He says I can think about it and I would have to start
from the ground up, but I’m tempted to take it.”

It was a bittersweet moment. My boy was
taking another leap into adulthood, but he would be leaving my side
at the salon. “Do you want to do it?”

He nodded happily. “Yep. Definitely.”

“Okay, then. Go work for your dad. I will
miss seeing you at the salon, though. Will you visit from time to
time?”

“Absolutely, Momacita,” he said, throwing his
arm around me.

*****

Beau:

It was a day of reckoning.

Of fully realizing the truth.

I sat at the sleek dining room table,
drinking coffee and staring at all the letters Marla had written me
over the years. I tried to read them in order. The heartbreaking
pleas for me to come back, the guilt she felt, the love burning
bright in each one of her letters.

I just found out I’m pregnant. How can I be
so happy and so sad at the same time? We’re having a baby...a baby!
I wish you were here. Come back to me...come back to me...

How can I ever make it up to you? All those
terrible, vile things I said, trying to make you leave. I didn’t
mean any of them. I hope you will forgive me and remember how right
we are for each other...

It’s been ten years, nine months and
twenty-six days since I saw you in person. Spending time with you,
were some of the best days of my life. I ache for you, still. I
pray you are happy somehow...

My hope is that by now you know the whole
truth. I saw you for the first time in twenty-two years and I can’t
believe how much love I still have in my heart for you. I think of
you daily. You’re it for me, Beau Shepard. You’ve ruined me. I will
love you until the day I die.

It just about broke me down.

Twenty-two years’ worth of letters convinced
me she had never left me. Not willingly anyway. She couldn’t fake
the passion and ache for that long.

I sat at the table until Charlie wandered
out, up for good. He was eager to get home and make things right
with his mom.

I was kind of feeling the same way.

After seeing my son off, I hopped in the
shower and got ready for the day. But I wasn’t heading into the
office.

Floored by all these new revelations about my
son’s life, I got in my Porsche and headed out, not sure where I
would end up. Driving along the highway, I tried to digest
everything I had seen and read about his life.

Somehow, Marla had managed to make me feel
like I was there, witnessing Charlie’s life for myself. I needed to
thank her for doing all that.

So when I pulled up to Marla’s shop, I wasn’t
surprised.

She was at the front desk when I came in. She
exuded an easy elegance with her hair swept up, highlighting her
delicate neck and pretty features.

Her loveliness always slammed into my gut
anytime I stepped into a room with her. She was my downfall, one
that seemed futile to fight against. I was beginning to understand
that fact.

Her glance was full of worry and unease,
afraid of stepping into my warpath as I approached her. “Beau?” she
asked in surprise.

My gaze swam with sincerity. “Hey, can we
talk?” I asked softly, wanting to show her, I came in peace.