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“No offense meant—” he creaked back in his office chair, staring out at the harbor Bella so loved “—but this is something between Bella and me.”
“I agree. But when she’s hurting so much right now, more than ever after such a difficult year, I just can’t keep my peace. I’ve learned the hard way that it doesn’t help to keep my feelings to myself.”
“Bella’s upset?” Over their breakup?
“Our grandmother passed away three days ago. I’m unable to attend the funeral because of my pregnancy, and Bella could really use some support.”
Sam creaked his chair upright. Lillian Hudson had died? How had he missed that in the news?
Perhaps because he had been avoiding newspapers—even television—like the plague since storming out of his L.A. hotel and flying back to France. He’d been so sickened by Tiffany’s drama and the heartache it caused with Bella that he damn well didn’t care to see a follow-up story.
“Well,” Charlotte continued, “I’ve said my piece. I hope you’ll set aside whatever it is that’s keeping you in France and be there for her right now.”
Still too stunned by the news of Lillian’s passing, he didn’t begin to know how to respond to Charlotte’s request.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” he said finally. Then ended the conversation with, “Thank you for calling.”
After a cool goodbye from Charlotte, the dial tone droned over his speakerphone for…he wasn’t sure how long before he stabbed the button.
Lillian Hudson had died. Even knowing this day was coming, it must be crippling to Bella. He’d viewed the special bond between the two women often enough over the past month.
Charlotte was right that Bella would need support, but she had her friend and future sister-in-law Dana. She had her brothers. She’d already made it clear she didn’t want him around first in his office and then by ignoring his call….
A call that must have come right after her grandmother died.
Hell.
He shoved aside his own angry feelings long enough to think about this from Bella’s perspective. She’d made it clear on the very day they’d met that she had trust issues, and with good reason. He should have realized that and pushed more assertively to be heard.
Why wasn’t he fighting as hard for Bella as he would for a company? Normally, he would never back down from a little controversy. Obstacles in his path had always been new challenges to conquer. Could he have taken a page out of his mother’s book, ducking out on life? His mom may have chosen a mostly solitary existence in her little beach retreat, but he’d buried himself in his work with just as effective results.
He’d cut himself off to the point he didn’t hear Bella. Because if he heard her, he would have to acknowledge how damn much it would hurt to lose her. He would have to face the truth that had been nudging at the back of his brain for more than a month.
He’d fallen in love with Bella Hudson.
The last of the guests had left Hudson Manor. So many had come by to visit after Lillian’s funeral, Bella had wondered if she would have to hold on to her “brave face” well into the night.
Even her best acting skills couldn’t carry her through this loss much longer. Her grandmother’s death had hit her even harder than she’d expected, compounded by her breakup with Sam until her heart swelled with so much hurt she wondered how much longer before it burst.
Now that the house had cleared, some of the remaining family members had decided to retire to the manor’s private screening room—Charles and Lillian’s favorite feature—and watch old home movies. At least in the darkened theater she wouldn’t have to hide her emotions any longer.
Thank goodness David had bowed out after the last guest left. Bella decided she really couldn’t think of him as anything other than her uncle. She’d never been close to him and a simple, sad quirk of genetics wasn’t going to change that. David had known he was her father all her life and chose to stay silent. She could even write that off as a man attempting to keep peace in his family, but he had also ignored her as thoroughly as he disregarded his two children with his wife.
The man truly had no feelings for his offspring. He didn’t deserve anything from her. She would forgive him like her grandmother had asked, but that didn’t mean she had to open her heart to a man who’d never cared for her.
First into the home studio, Bella slid down a row of luxury theater seating in the middle, pushing down her seat for the best view. She kicked off her black heels, tugged her dress over her knees and scooched down low in the deep leather chair. The whole cavernous room was decorated in black and white except for large color movie posters of the most successful Hudson Picture’s films.
Her brothers filed in—Dev, Max and Luc—each hugging her on his way past. Her cousin/half brother Jack joined them, all the wives and fiancées filling seats until wow, what a legacy Lillian had left.
Suddenly everyone quieted.
Sabrina and Markus walked down the aisle, united in their grief if nothing else. They weren’t touching or even looking at each other, but they were here together for their children and in honor of Lillian.
Sabrina, a strikingly handsome woman with dark blond hair and blue eyes, slid on the end beside Luc, her body stiff and defensive as if she feared being asked to leave.
Markus, distinguished but with perhaps a few extra strands of gray in his dark hair, circled round to the other side to sit beside…
Bella.
Her eyes watered and she blinked back tears before she wrecked what little makeup she had left. He patted her hand as selections from home videos of Lillian started rolling, through her early years with her husband and small children, to her years as the grandmother of a rapidly expanding family.
An image of Max in a cowboy outfit appeared, complete with chaps and a hat. Except he hadn’t known to wear his jeans, and only had on little boy underwear. Much needed laughter rolled through the theater, Dana leaning closer to her fiancé, clasping his arm and smiling.
Max shook his head. “Where’s the video of the summer Gran organized us all into an acting troupe? We could use some footage of Luc and Jack in tights during Gran’s Shakespearean week.”
More laughter echoed up to bounce around in the high ceiling. Bella couldn’t help but wonder what boyhood memories Sam carried with him as an only child. He’d mentioned numerous cousins. Had they included him?
Next on the screen came a clip Bella remembered well, her seventh birthday. Grandmere had organized a Pierrot and Harlequin theme, complete with stylized clown costumes true to the era. The day stayed etched in her mind, the taste of strawberry cake, the sound of carnival music.
On the screen, a younger Markus stepped into the camera’s sites, past the jugglers, carrying a scruffy little puppy with a pink Pierrot ruffle around its neck.
Seven-year-old Bella sprinted across the lawn with a high-pitched squeal, her pointy clown hat toppling to the side in her haste to hug her father and the dog—Muffin number one who had passed away just three years ago.
Without thinking, Bella clasped her father’s hand as she absorbed the image of such pure love on the screen in front of her. Markus squeezed her fingers gently, turning to smile at her.
He dipped his head and said softly, “I’ve missed you, princess.”
He’d always called her that, his princess. She hadn’t realized until now how much she’d missed hearing it. Bella swallowed down the lump in her throat thicker than that long-ago cake as she thought of her grandmother’s request to be kind to her father. In Bella’s mind, that was Markus.
“I should have called or come straight to you,” she whispered, everyone else caught up in the ongoing family video clips. “I’m sorry. I was so busy feeling sorry for myself and resenting Mom, I didn’t think enough about you.”
“I made my own mistakes in the marriage. It’s rare that any marital trouble is only one person’s fault. I just hate how this has affected you.” He cleared his throat. “I miss the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes.”
She couldn’t hold back the words and blurted quietly, “But I’m not your little girl.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Markus said firmly. “David may have cost me my wife, but he can never take you away. You are my daughter.”
She’d felt that in her heart—known that she could never think of David as her father. But, oh God, it felt so good to hear that Markus—her daddy—felt the same way.
He opened his arms and she fell straight into his familiar embrace.
“Love you, Dad.”
“Love you, too, princess.” He patted her shoulders and it felt right, familiar.
Easing back into her seat, she sensed a pair of eyes watching her and her father. She searched down the row and locked gazes with her mother. Heartbreak had stamped fresh lines in her mother’s face. New strands of gray streaked Sabrina’s blond hair. Without question, her mother was suffering for her mistake.
Her mother wasn’t perfect, but who was? They undoubtedly had a way to go in repairing their relationship after so many years of lies, but now wasn’t a time for holding grudges. How strange to finally figure out at twenty-five that her parents were human, but there it was. And she loved them both.
