Forgotten Father Read online

  Mitchell thought about Jenna, the golden-haired child who was most likely his own. When did she come into this horrible negotiation? At what point, would Delanie play her trump card?

  “I won’t marry you,” she said, pushing the small jeweler’s box toward him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, pocketing the ring while his thoughts scurried around in his brain. He couldn’t let this deal go south. Maybe getting The Cedars in his sole possession wasn’t vital, but seeing his child every day, doing what was best for Jenna, that’s what he had to manage.

  And Delanie. It might be incredibly stupid of him, he needed her in his life.

  She got up from the desk chair and walked over to the window.

  “I talked with an attorney this morning.”

  Mitchell stiffened involuntarily. About the baby? Was Delanie playing her trump card even now? Demanding an exorbitant child support, perhaps even claiming the bulk of Donovan’s estate for the child?

  Watching her fidget with the curtain, he waited, tensed for the blow he knew he couldn’t defend. Whether his grandfather’s child or his own, Jenna did have some claims.

  As her mother, Delanie could write her own ticket.

  “I’m deeding my half of The Cedars over to you,” she said, the words abrupt. “Unconditionally.”

  “What?” He straightened in the chair, doubting his ears.

  Delanie faced him squarely, her face both determined and sad.

  “I love you, not the money,” she said, enunciating the words carefully. “I met you and loved you immediately—“

  Her words broke off. She drew a breath and started again. “I thought I loved you. But it wasn’t real at first, because I didn’t really know you. Still, I met you and, yes, I knew your identity from the first, but it didn’t matter—“

  “Wait a minute,” he said, confused. “You’re deeding me your half of The Cedars. Just like that?”

  “Yes,” she said. “The property means nothing to me in itself. Donovan loved this place and I love its beauty and history, but I can’t stay here with you thinking I’ve stolen it from you.”

  Mitchell stared at her, absorbing the passionate tone in her voice, the unmistakable sincerity in her eyes.

  God, could he have been wrong about her?

  “Are you serious?” he demanded, his heart racing into overdrive.

  “Yes,” she said more calmly. “I won’t marry you and I’m giving up my half ownership of The Cedars.”

  “What about Jenna?” he asked, the muscles in his throat tense as his brain struggled to comprehend the sudden and complete up-ending of all his beliefs.

  “She’s your child.”

  “My child,” he said softly, caught up in the magic of those two words.

  “I’ll do whatever you need for proof of paternity,” she said, apparently expecting doubt from him. “But I’m not accepting more than standard child support from you. If you want to do more, put it in an account for her college fund.”

  Mitchell could only look at her, his mind and every thought in it, suspended. She’d only accept limited child support? Whoever heard of such a thing?

  “If you want visitation, we can work that out.” Delanie hesitated. “I want her to know you, but I’m not letting her get lost in your crazy lifestyle. She’s going to have a normal life, not some privileged, paranoid existence where everything is about money.”

  He looked at her, dazed, his brain scrambling to comprehend.

  “I’m sorry for you, Mitchell. You’ve been warped by the money and your father’s bitterness. I won’t let you do that to Jenna. I won’t let her grow up cold and afraid like you.”

  Delanie picked up her blazer from the desk chair and turned as if to go, saying sadly, “It took me awhile to come to know you, Mitchell, but you’ve never even begun to know me.”

  Turning then, she left, shutting the door quietly behind her.

  He stared at the paneled door through which she’d disappeared, shock reverberating through him. Every thing he knew to be true seemed called into question by the last half hour. Every precept and principle of his life lie cluttered on the floor around him in ruins.

  God.

  She was giving up everything.

  Marriage to him with its accompanying lifestyle. The Cedars. Hell, she was even forgoing the hefty child support that any judge in his right mind would have granted her. And to top it off, she wasn’t fighting him having access to Jenna.

  Mitchell sank down into the chair, struggling to get his mind around how completely wrong he’d been about her.

  From the beginning.

  If she wasn’t after his money—Donovan’s money—then, he’d completely misjudged her from that first morning.

  Lifting a hand, he rubbed the aching spot between his brows. He’d talked so badly to her, said such ugly things.

  Delanie, who wasn’t an avaricious woman, hadn’t slept with him because of his wealth. In fact, she’d been drawn to him for the same reason he’d gone to her.

  She must have felt something for him then. And now, now that he’d behaved so viciously toward her, she was leaving him.

  Suddenly, it didn’t matter than he’d seen no proof of what she said, no deed papers from her attorney, no further report from his investigators. He had no question as he sat here that those things would be forthcoming.

  Staring blindly across his grandfather’s desk, he knew it was time to let go of his father’s fears. To disconnect from the wounds of his own youth. What Delanie had said about his father, about his beliefs and fears about women wanting him for his money being self-fulfilling—she was right.

  It was too late for his father, but not for him. Mitchell straightened in his chair. He knew what he wanted, had known for some time and shunned the knowledge for weeks now. He loved her. Loved Delanie like he’d never loved another human being.

  Even his plan to get access to Jenna and retrieve The Cedars had really be motivated by his consuming need to have Delanie in his life permanently.

  One way or the other, he had to convince her that he’d learned his lesson. He had to beg her to marry him—no strings, no holding back.

  Because suddenly he knew he couldn’t live without her.

  Couldn’t face his life without her in it. Somehow he had to convince her he had a heart, after all.

  ******

  Delanie ignored the headache nagging at the base of her skull and tried to focus on what Connie was saying about the Vandiver job.

  Most of the time, she knew she’d done the right thing in turning down Mitchell’s marriage proposal. But there were moments—hours—when regret and doubt ate at her. Still, they’d been back in Boston for nearly a week now and she had to get herself together. She had people counting on her.

  “So Mrs. Vandiver likes the green, but Mr. Vandiver wants the beige,” Connie finished, exasperated but keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing the couple looking at lamps in the corner of the shop. “I think you need to talk to them. They need high level finessing.”

  “Of course,” Delanie agreed mechanically. “I’ll be able to go by and see them after I meet with the historical society committee about the Burlington house—“

  The bell at the shop door clattered, announcing a customer’s entry.

  Drawn by the sound, Delanie turned, her automatic speech of welcome drying on her lips.

  The doorway was filled with balloons. A huge, multicolored bouquet of balloons were being pushed through the opening. As the bright orbs popped into the shop, the man holding them came into view.

  Mitchell stood inside the door, his dark hair tousled, a clutch of balloon-tethered ribbons in one hand. In spite of everything, Delanie’s heart contracted at the sight of him. His face looked haggard, but the expression in his blue eyes was determined.

  It was then she noticed the cake. Balanced in his other hand, held away from the balloons, it blazed with the light of a hundred candles.

  What the heck was going on?
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br />   Beside her, Connie gasped.

  Mitchell walked further into the shop, dragging the huge bouquet of balloons while balancing the burning cake.

  “Hello” he said, his gaze searching her face. “I have a celebration that needs sharing.”

  “You do?” she said faintly.

  “Yes,” he said, handing the balloon bouquet to Connie. “Would you hold these?”

  “Sure,” her assistant said, a grin on her face.

  Mitchell put the flaming cake down on Connie’s littered desk and reached into his pocket. “I have something here that needs to be disposed of.”

  “What?” Delanie asked, still shaken by his sudden appearance.

  He smiled, holding a legal looking document over the cake so that the candles lit the paper. “The deed you sent me giving me your half of The Cedars.”

  Delanie stared at him in shock as he held the burning papers by one corner before lowering them into the metal trash can beside the desk.

  “I’ve been a fool,” he said, dropping to his knees in front of her. “Please forgive me. I was wrong about you from the beginning. I’m an idiot and a fool and I need you in my life. I need help celebrating. I need to hold you every night and tell you you’re not responsible for the world. I need for us to be a family with Jenna. Please, please marry me.”

  Aware on some vague peripheral level of the other customers in the shop and Connie standing there grinning like a fool, still holding the balloons, Delanie couldn’t break away from the burning intensity in Mitchell’s eyes.

  “You love me?” she echoed stupidly

  “Yes. Please marry me.” Reaching into his pocket, he took out the ring he’d given her before. “I love you more than life, more than all my money. Marry me. No prenuptial. No doubts.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said breathlessly, her heart pounding in her ears. “What about the money?”

  “I’ve been an idiot,” he said in no uncertain tones. “I love you like I’ve never loved a woman. And I trust you. I realized when you gave up The Cedars that I’ve been a fool. Wrong about you from day one. Marry me.”

  “Without a prenup?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Yes,” he said. “Marry me and let me trust you.”

  With a sob of joy, Delanie drew him to his feet and threw her arms around him.

  His kiss rough with emotion, he whispered, “I love you so much.”

  Tears clouding her eyes, Delanie wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face to his chest.

  “I love you more than you can know,” she said, her voice clogged with tears.

  “Be with me always,” he said softly into her ear. “Help me celebrate every day. You’re like the sunlight. Everything in my world is better when you’re there.”

  “Yes,” she sobbed joyfully. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  In a sudden tilting of the world, she’d come full circle in his arms. Her prince. Her Galahad.

  The only man she’d ever love.

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN