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Cole stood in a gentlemanly fashion as she rose and left. "I'll see you later, Hope," he said in a business tone.
"Yes, we’ll catch up later." Hope was feeling like her spirit had been smashed to pieces. She was warring with herself with tormented emotions going in each direction wondering what to do. Maybe she should come clean with Cole. But it was so hard. He wouldn't understand. My God, she thought. He could possibly want to take Mia from her.
"Hello?" Cole said after he took the cordless phone from Ted who then left the conservatory.
"Cole, this is Julius Morgan. I didn't want Hope to know that I'm calling you."
"Julius?" Cole said startled. "I'm surprised to hear from you. What’s so urgent that you need to speak to me right away and privately?"
"It's about a little girl named Mia. My granddaughter. When was I going to learn about her?"
"I think you should be discussing this with your daughter, Hope. By the way, how did you find out?"
"I’ve had her followed by detectives on and off to make sure she was okay and that she stayed as far away from the troublesome guy she’d dated here in Lendovia. I heard he traveled to Canada but I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be together. Anyway, the detective was at Nathan Phillips Square and saw your father near the rink introducing Mia as his granddaughter to one of his friends. He also said that Mia was your child with your former executive assistant, Hope. I could not believe the report when the PI got back to me. Cole, Hope won't even talk to me. I've sent her text messages and she won't return my calls." The man sounded desperate on the other end of the line.
"Cole, I’ve made some stupid mistakes in my past,” Julius continued. “I've even threatened Hope about leaving her ex. It's a long story but regardless, I can't believe she would hide this from me. I'm so happy that you and she will be getting married. I think you’re fine man, from a fine family. And the truth is," he paused for a moment and Cole could hear him draw in a deep breath. "I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. I was in an accident a while back, not too long ago. They thought I wouldn't survive but luckily I did. It got me to thinking how fragile life is. And how much I just want to talk to my daughter so we can make amends. Maybe I was a bit of a bully back then but that was the only way I knew how to be a father. But now I want nothing more than to hold my granddaughter’s hand. I've made some arrangements to come to Canada, but I want to surprise Hope. Would you please do me this favor and make it so that I can see my daughter and make amends with her? But please, this has to be a surprise. I'm a changed man, Cole, and I would never do anything to hurt Hope."
"I respect you as a man and a father but you damn well better not do anything to upset Hope, or so help me God you’ll live to regret it, sir." Cole’s voice was stern and he meant every damn word of it. Hope meant the world to him and so did Mia. And he'd be damned if anyone upset them or harmed them in any way. But it was the holiday season, and ‘tis the season to be merry, right? Maybe this was the best thing that could happen after all.
After he'd finished his phone call with Julius, Cole made a call to Brandon. "Hey, bro," Cole said. "You got any new information on this Jewel character? It looks like we have a visitor coming in from Lendovia. Hope’s father.”
"You're kidding me, right?"
"I kid you not. Maybe it's about time we settle this thing once and for all. There's no better time. Besides, Hope and I are getting married next week. Maybe he can give his daughter, the bride, away."
"I'll check things out on this end and I'll let you know. You know Faith wants nothing more than to work with me on this case. I think she’ll be giving up professional organizing to do investigative work. She's already checking on some background information and will get a hold of Jewel."
Cole grinned, thinking about Brandon and his wife, the perfect detective duo.
"She's actually shopping with Jewel right now fitting for the bridal dress. Jewel’s going to be her matron of honor."
"How convenient."
"I fear for Hope's safety. I just want to make sure she's okay. You still got your men on her, watching her from a discreet distance, right?"
"Yes, from a safe distance, bro."
"Good. Because there’s something I'm very much unsettled about.”
Well, it looked as if the truth would have to come out, not later but much sooner. But Cole hoped his plan to rescue Hope wouldn't backfire. It had better not.
Chapter 17
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Cole said in a low voice. Hope had just come back from her day out getting the final fitting of her dress with Jewel and had also been out shopping for presents with one of the staff members from the Belmont Palace. When she arrived back at the estate earlier, she was stunned to learn that a brand new custom-made SUV was parked in the driveway with an enormous satin red bow tie over the rooftop. A gift from her soon-to-be doting husband to his bride-to-be. She was surprised Cole hadn’t even let on that he was buying her one to replace her old, beat up vehicle that she told him she couldn’t wait to trade in for another one.
"You’ve got another surprise for me?" Hope said.
"Yes, I do, baby."
Mia was playing in the living room with the family and some children of friends of the Belmonts so Hope walked with Cole to where he was taking her.
"Could this Christmas get any better?" Hope said.
Cole gently held his hands over her eyes so she couldn't see and walked her into the study.
There, Julius Morgan stood waiting by the fireplace. He wanted this to work out. Cole knew the power and importance of family and togetherness and what better time than Christmas to try to bring his new fiancée and his daughter's grandfather together? Family was everything.
When Hope opened her eyes and finally saw who was in the study she thought she was going to collapse from shock.
Julius Morgan turned around and looked directly at Hope, and then the look of shock and horror shadowed the man's face. Cole was surprised at this reaction and didn't really know what was going on.
"Who the hell is this?" Julius Morgan slammed his fist on the mantel of the fireplace. "Where is my daughter Hope?"
"She's right here," Cole said, utterly confused.
Hope looked as if she was going to have a heart attack and started to perspire. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked as if she was going to cry.
Cole looked from Hope and back to Julius again scratching his head. "Can somebody tell me what the hell's going on?"
Julius Morgan walked over to Hope. "Just who the hell are you and where is my daughter Hope?" The man’s face was contorted with anger and disgust, as if someone had played some nasty, cruel joke on him—a tasteless prank.
"I… I…." Hope’s voice was choked.
"Hope?" Cole said, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest.
This was turning out to be a festive nightmare. Cole still wasn't sure what was going on exactly. "What do you mean where’s Hope?” Cole said again. “She's right here. Right in front of you, Julius." Wasn’t she? Or was Cole seeing things? There must’ve been too much alcohol in that rum punch Aunt Maya made earlier.
"No, she isn't,” Julius answered, angrily. “This is not my daughter!"
Cole looked from Julius to Hope again. His heart felt as if it was going to explode in his chest. Just what was going on? "You mean to tell me this is not your daughter Hope?"
"No. this isn't. I think I would know my own daughter!" Julius snarled looking incredulously at Hope. The man gritted his teeth. "Are you going to tell me what you’ve done with my daughter and who the hell you are or am I going to call the police?"
Hope was busted.
The charade was over. Her life was over. There was no turning back. She could barely look into Cole’s gorgeous eyes for fear of seeing them clouded with disappointment and shock. She could not even bring herself to look into Julius Morgan's eyes. She knew he would call the police. She was going to end up like her real father. But she couldn't tell them the truth.
"Cole… I… I'm so sorry. Mr. Morgan, I'm really sorry. But I can't tell either of you what happened to your daughter. I…"
“But what about your ID?” Cole asked, as if he’d already known the answer. He’d seen her passport and her other documents, but she remembered on a few occasions Cole remarked how differently she looked from her pictures—but didn’t everyone? They’d traveled together when she was his executive assistant over the past few years before they split up.
"Let's call the police,” Julius said. “What have you done with my daughter?" The man was beyond furious. Hope saw his eyes redden. She flinched at the sound of his sharp words.
Just then, Brandon came in. "Is everything okay, Cole? I heard shouting coming from in here.”
Cole ran his fingers through his hair, looking dazed and stunned. He looked like he could not believe what was transpiring before his eyes. He could not believe what he was hearing. It was as if he was thinking: just who the hell was this woman? The mother of his child was a stranger to him—and to her own father, apparently.
