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“More than half of it is.”
“You need to pay back the clients first, and then my aunts and uncle. I won’t ask you to pay me back. I doubt that you can, and I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life struggling with that burden. Instead, I want you to get help, proper help. You can decide how much or how little you tell Helen about the missing funds. But she must know you need professional help, or your demons will eat you alive, and that’s not fair for her, or your children.”
“I didn’t come here to be exonerated, Alec. You should press charges, Alec. Make a lesson out of me so others don’t think—”
“That’s not who I am. And I can’t forget how much you meant to my father. I will not inflict on you or your family more pain. I want to keep this between us, and not let any of this become public. There’s no reason to put your family through that kind of media circus. I like Helen and your kids, and I don’t want them to suffer or be ashamed. I don’t want them ashamed of you either.”
James put his sherry down, untouched. “I have to tell them.”
“Then that’s up to you. But think about your family, James, put them first, not last.”
A light step sounded in the hall and Cara was there, on the threshold between the music room and green room. “Happy Christmas, James,” she said, entering the drawing room and approaching the men.
She stood next to Alec, her hands clasped in front of her. “Mrs. Johnson has been keeping dinner warm, but she can’t keep warming it all night.” Cara looked at James and smiled. “Stay for dinner, James. And before you say no, my sister has already added a place for you at the table. It’s Christmas. You shouldn’t be alone.”
James rose and dipped his head. “Thank you for the invitation, but I will be heading home tonight. I’ll have something to eat when I get there.”
“I’m sure that won’t be for hours,” Cara protested. “At least have a little bite with us. You’ll feel better driving.”
Alec’s dark head inclined. “Cara is right. Join us, in the true spirit of Chritmas. You don’t have to stay for all the courses. Have some soup, salad, and take off when you’re ready.”
Chapter Nine
Baird didn’t thinkhe’d had a less enjoyable Christmas Eve in years. He was angry, so angry he knew he didn’t belong here.
James Phelps should not have been invited to stay for dinner. James Phelps didn’t deserve such compassion. Baird couldn’t imagine how Alec forgave him and brought him into his home on Christmas Eve.
The world was filled with problems, problems humans created and inflicted on each other—and the planet, from the earth to the animals, to the seas filled with poisons and plastic. Humans needed to take responsibility and do better, and while Baird was glad James had come to Langley Park to confess what he’d done, that didn’t mean the crime hadn’t been committed, and James should still be held accountable.
Baird wasn’t good at forgiving, and he was even worse at forgetting.
He had faith, but it wasn’t the kind that rewarded those who stole, who hurt, who committed crimes. A criminal needed to be punished, and in this case, serve time. Just apologizing wasn’t good enough. An apology didn’t make everything right.
Sitting at the table with Alec’s family and interloper James, Baird felt rage. He couldn’t even look in James’s direction. He could barely look around the table, too afraid the others would see just how upset he was.
It was a relief when James rose and said he had to be on the road, that his family was home expecting him.
Alec walked James out, and Ella cleared the dinner dishes from the table. Baird brought in the platters and serving bowls.
“You’re upset,” Ella said to him as he placed the bowls and platter on the counter.
“Seething might be a more accurate word,” he said tightly, running his hand over his face and jaw. “I wanted to reach across the table and throttle him all dinner. I wanted to make him suffer.”
Ella began scraping a plate into the trash bin. “But you didn’t.”
“Out of respect for Cara.”
“Which was very considerate of you.” Ella scraped another, placing them in a stack in the sink.
“I can’t believe Alec is just going to let Phelps off the hook. It’s wrong. I believe in showing compassion for those in need, but Phelps was the senior vice president of Langley Investments, his salary in the hundreds of thousands of pounds each year. He has great benefits, a loving family, and more to the point, has been saved from ruin once before by Alec’s father. And despite all of that, he still embezzled money from his Langley clients?Andthe Sherbourne family? Unforgiveable.”
Ella rinsed her hands and turned to Baird. “You’re surprised that Alec handled it this way?”
“Stunned.” Baird shook his head. “Alec wouldn’t have been this soft a year ago. He would have taken legal measures against Phelps, he would have exposed him, he would have pressed charges. But marrying Cara has changed Alec. Love has made him soft—”
Ella’s eyes widened. “How dare you! What an awful thing to say about anyone, much less your best friend.” She looked at Baird, appalled. “In case you’ve forgotten, it’s Alec’s firm. He is entitled to make the decisions he thinks best, and I don’t think his decisions are because he’smarriedand has become soft or weak. You should be ashamed of yourself,” she said tightly, walking past him to return to the dining room.
Baird growled in frustration in the empty kitchen. He put some of the leftovers into containers for the refrigerator, not yet wanting to join everyone in the dining room. He was still tidying the kitchen when Alec entered the kitchen.
