AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then she stepped back to say, “This is Daniel Spencer.” Daniel shook her brother’s hand as though Drew were an equal, rather than a man who’d helped bilk people out of their money. “Daniel, this is my brother, Drew.”
Drew’s eyes widened, obviously realizing who Daniel was.
“Before we go in—” She pulled her brother into the hall. “What’s going on?”
He closed the door. “Dad was complaining of chest pains and trouble breathing. We thought it was a heart attack, but—” He glanced back and lowered his voice as if their father could hear through the door. “His doctor was here just a few minutes ago and now they think he might have had a panic attack. The symptoms can sometimes mimic a heart attack.”
Her father was the least panicky person she knew, always in control. But maybe that was just a lie too. Still, she was grateful to feel the weight of her fear that her father might die lift off her like a rising air balloon. Yet there was anger too, a simmering anger she felt guilty about when Drew needed her to be strong.
“The
y want to monitor him overnight,” Drew went on. “I’m sorry I made you come all the way down here just for a panic attack. But I was worried.” With a deep sigh that revealed his rattled emotions, he added, “And I wanted to see you.”
She held his hand tightly. “Of course you had to call me. Daniel brought me as soon as humanly possible.”
“I told Dad you were coming,” Drew said. “He thought it was a bad idea.”
“Why?” She snapped her teeth shut on the word. “Because he didn’t want to worry me? Or because he thought I’d turn him in?”
“Tash.” Her brother’s dark eyes pleaded with her.
She felt Daniel at her side then, his strength seeping into her. She didn’t want to turn into a bitter person because of her family.
She knew she had to forgive herself. But did the path to that mean forgiving her father first?
She took a deep breath. “I better go in and see him.”
The room was small, with a bathroom cubicle, a chair, a tray table, and enough room for the medical machines that monitored her father’s vital signs.
She almost didn’t recognize the man lying in the bed. Like Drew, his cheeks were gaunt. His steel-gray hair was dull, his skin sallow, his jowls hanging. The imposing figure was gone, and all that remained was a frail old man.
And it terrified her.
“Daddy.” She hadn’t called him that since she was a child, and maybe she did so now because she needed him to be the big, all-powerful father he’d once been.
Except that man had been an illusion.
Daniel’s hand squeezed hers, and she drew courage from him. He possessed true strength made up of kindness and heart.
With Daniel by her side, she was able to take her father’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” he tried to bluster, but he no longer had the power for that. “I don’t need to be here. Drew’s just an old biddy.”
“You might have been having a heart attack. He did the right thing.”
“Bah,” her father grumbled. “And who’s he?” He jutted his chin at Daniel.
“This is Daniel. He brought me here to see you.” And I love him.
Drew broke in before their father could make a derogatory comment. “Thank you for bringing Tasha. We appreciate it.”
Daniel tipped his head slightly in acknowledgment. “She needed to be here.” He squeezed her hand. “And I needed to be here for her.”
His words and his solid presence warmed her. There was so much in that simple statement.
Her brother’s gaze flashed from Daniel and back to her, and she knew Drew could see the importance of their relationship. So did her father, his brow furrowing.
“Dad.” She wouldn’t call him Daddy again. The past was gone, and the man she’d thought he was had never truly existed. “We need to talk.” She let go of Daniel’s hand to take her father’s in both of hers. “About what happened. About the resort.”
