“You packed your entire room up?” I raised an eyebrow in surprise as I hugged her.
“If you give that girl a box, she’ll fill it.” Mom walked into the living room and laughed. “We’re all set to move into the new apartment this weekend.”
“Nice…” I looked around the living room. “I’ll try to get this stuff packed up tonight.”
Life returned to normal after Gina was arrested—well, it turned into our new version of normal. Being Jon’s administrative assistant might not have paid as well as a boring desk job downstairs, but it did give me a nice enough salary so I could start looking for a new apartment. I found a nice place in downtown Carson Cove, not far from Moretti’s, and it was big enough for all three of us to have our own bedrooms.
The District Attorney had a solid case against Gina, and the plea deal was much better than what the judge could have given her, so she took it. That kept us from having to go to trial, which I appreciated. The story was the talk of Carson Cove for a few days, but the press didn’t know enough details to report on anything except for the showdown at the hospital. Since Jon was the CEO of Alcott Inc., the story was mostly about him, and I was basically a footnote, which was fine by me. I might have teased Jon about saving him, but I knew it could have ended badly if he wasn’t there. He was a hero in my eyes—in more ways than one.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jon
“Analise, do you know where your sister is?” I walked into my youngest daughter’s bedroom as soon as I got home from work. “She isn’t answering her phone.”
“Where do you think she is?” Analise rolled over in her bed and grinned.
“Benson Estate?” I exhaled sharply.
“If that’s where Dylan is.” She shrugged, but her smile told me all that I needed to know.
“Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes.” I shook my head back and forth. “If she knows what’s good for her, she’ll be there.”
I was happy to have my girls back at Alcott Manor, but I wasn’t happy with my oldest daughter’s infatuation with Bryant’s son. Analise was smart enough to keep her infatuations to whispers instead of loudly proclaiming them for everyone to hear. It wasn’t going to be long before I had to have a rather serious conversation with Dylan Benson.
My relationship with my daughters wasn’t perfect, but I had a long talk with them when they arrived. I apologized for not being there for them when they were younger, reminded them that I loved them, and promised that I would always be their father—regardless of where they lived. Those words seemed to be the ones they needed to hear, and after a couple of days, they stopped making comments about wanting to return to the city as soon as possible. Part of that was probably Dylan’s fault, but I was going to cherish the time that I had with them.
* * *
Three days later…
“Leave that box for me.” I motioned to the one Melanie was reaching for. “You still need to be careful lifting things.”
“My shoulder is fine now.” Melanie brushed off my concern, but she did reach for the smaller box.
“I can carry something too!” Charley came running up to the moving truck with both arms out.
“Here you go.” I picked up a stuffed animal that had fallen out of a box. “You can carry that.”
“Okay.” She grinned and ran back towards her new apartment.
“Did you save a heavy box for me?” Bryant walked up and looked into the moving truck.
“Bryant!” I blinked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought the family.” He pointed towards his car. “We’ll have this truck empty in one trip.”
“You seem to have a new member of your family,” I growled under my breath when I saw my oldest daughter, Ella, climb out of the back of his SUV.
“Yeah, we should probably talk about that, shouldn’t we?” He chuckled and reached for a box.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I narrowed my eyes. “She’s going to college soon—I’m sure it’s just a summer thing.”
“Yeah.” Bryant’s tone had a hint of sarcasm. “Keep telling yourself that.”
At least one of my daughters isn’t boy crazy…
Epilogue