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I picked up my coffee cup and took a sip of coffee before responding to her. “He told me I looked like my mother. So he basically confronted me.”
Mandy walked over and handed Adalynn a fruit cup. “Thank you, darling. Wait, Mandy, what the hell happened to your face?”
Mandy looked at Ian and then at me. “Some douchebag she was seeing thought it was fun to hurt her. I kicked his ass last night and told him never to come near her again.”
Adalynn looked at Ian and raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Go you.”
Ian chuckled and Mandy smiled. “Well, I’m glad for your sake that bad man is out of your life. You deserve better, honey.” Adalynn smiled at her.
Mandy walked away and Adalynn turned her attention back to me and my father. “So, go on. What else did he say?”
“Nothing much. He just said he wouldn’t discuss it there, so Ian told him to come here tomorrow.”
“Here? Are you okay with that?” Adalynn asked me.
“Yeah, I guess. At least here I can scream and yell and maybe throw a thing or two at him.” I smiled.
“True. Well, get the answers you need and then move on. Speaking of moving on,” she said as she looked at her watch. “I have to get to Prim. I’ll see the both of you tonight. Get your dancing shoes out, Rory. We’re going to tear up the dance floor.”
I gave her a small smile as she got up from the table and left. I really wasn’t up to going out tonight, but it was for Ian’s birthday, so I had to go. I didn’t want to disappoint him, plus I didn’t trust Andrew.
Ian and I finished breakfast and he left for the office. “Call me after you have lunch with my dad and let me know how it went,” he said as he gave me a kiss goodbye.
“I will, babe. Have a good day at the office.”
I wanted to go visit Stephen’s grave, so I texted Richard and asked him if I could meet him at the restaurant. He said it was fine and to be there around noon. I took a shower, got dressed, and drove my car to the cemetery after stopping at the florist and picking up some flowers. I parked along the curb, which sat a few feet away from a large tree that stood behind Stephen’s grave. The black marble headstone looked beautiful in the sunlight. I knelt down and carefully placed the flowers on his grave.
“Guess what, Stephen. I met our dad last night. He knows who I am. He told me that I look just like Mom. The funny thing is that you were the spitting image of him. He’s coming over tomorrow to explain to me why he left. I’m finally going to get the answers I’ve always wanted. I miss you, Stephen, but I know you’re over the rainbow and that you’re happy now.”
I wiped my eye and looked at my watch. It was almost noon. I said goodbye to Stephen and drove to the restaurant to meet Richard.
****
Richard got up from his seat and gave me a light hug when I walked in. I sat down and ordered a glass of red wine as I admired the beauty of the Italian restaurant.
“How are you, Rory?” Richard asked.
“I’m okay. How are you?”
He pursed his lips together and gave me a small smile. “I’m sick, Rory, and I don’t want you telling Ian about this.”
I frowned at him and shook my head. “What do you mean, you’re sick?”
“You need to promise me that you won’t mention any of this to Ian. I’m not ready to tell him.”
“Then why are you telling me, Richard?”
“Because you saw the paper from John Hopkins.”
“I suspected something was wrong because of the way you reacted when I picked up the paper.”
“You didn’t say anything to Ian, did you?”
“No,” I replied as I shook my head. “What’s wrong with you?”
He pick up his glass of scotch and took a drink before answering me. “I have pancreatic cancer, stage four, and it has spread.”
Instantly, that sickening feeling in my stomach appeared. “Richard,” I said as I placed my hand on his. “My God, are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure and so is every doctor at John Hopkins.”
“You’re getting treatments, though, so you’ll be fine,” I said.
“No, Rory. There’s nothing they can do for me. It’s too far spread at this point.”
Tears started to fill my eyes. “No, Richard. There’s got to be something. You’re not going to die. Ian needs you.”
He placed his other hand on mine. “Rory, I need you to listen to me. I know we got off to a rough start and I’m so sorry about that. There are things about me you don’t know, so I don’t expect you to understand. What I do know is that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to my son. I’ve never seen him happy like he is. At first, I thought you were just another woman after his money, but you’re not. You’re a kind and warm woman. You’re selfless and you’re genuine. My son is one lucky man to have found you. To be honest, I knew right away you were the one because I saw it every time Ian looked at you and it scared me. I didn’t want his heart broken like mine had been.”
I didn’t know if Richard was talking about Ian’s mother with that remark, but I felt incredibly bad for him. I just wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but I had the feeling it wasn’t going to be.
“When are you going to tell Ian about this? And how can you expect me to keep this secret from him?”
“You’ll do it for me. I trust you. Ian will never know that you knew. I’ll tell him when all my affairs are in order.”
“But—”
“No buts, Rory. I’ve made peace with it and I need you to as well. Ian is going to need you in a way he’s never needed anyone before.”
Richard went on to eat his lunch. He had put me in an awful position and I hated it. I couldn’t lie to Ian and now I was forced with a decision I didn’t want to make.
Chapter 22
Ian & Rory
I set down my briefcase and walked upstairs to see if Rory was getting ready to go out to the club. When I walked into the bedroom, she had just gotten out of the shower and she was standing na**d in the closet, looking through her clothes.
“Hot damn, that’s what I like to see when I come home after a long hard day at the office.”
She turned her head and looked at me with a smile splashed across her face. “How long and hard is it? I mean, did you have a nice day?”
I smirked and walked up behind her, placing my hands on her br**sts and gently giving them a squeeze. “I like your first line better, sweetheart, and I’ll show you how long and hard it is.”
