Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Genny lifted her glass. “Nora whipped up some watermelon sangria. It’s delicious. Have some. There’s plenty.”
Sully turned to his dad. “Please tell me we have beer.”
“Who are you talking to?” Duncan asked as reply.
Sully came in and kissed the cheeks of the women, shook the hands of the men, but gave his dad a hug before he went to the kitchen.
Jamie sipped his bourbon. Nora could mix a mean cocktail, but he drew the line at watermelon sangria.
On this thought, he turned to her sitting beside him on a couch (Puck, incidentally, was tucked to her side, and since he’d already noticed Puck was partial to Chloe, Jamie made note the cat had a type, one it shared with Jamie). She was swiping all over her phone.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m looking up baby stores in Phoenix,” she murmured, then she turned her attention to Genny. “The results I’m finding are dire, my dear.”
“I have some things on reserve at some stores in LA. I finalized purchase on all the boy stuff when we got the news,” Genny replied, and concluded, “They deliver.”
Being the true New Yorker she was, Nora made a hilarious face when Genny said the words “in LA.”
Which meant Jamie was smiling.
He was also counting his blessings.
Because…yes.
Finally.
He was learning.
The call was expected, and it came early that evening.
Jamie took it while stepping out on the back deck.
“How are you doing?” he asked his son.
“Well, it happened.” Judge blew out the words on a sigh.
“How’d it go?”
“We were all asleep. I woke up first and saw it. He’d slipped in and out like a ghost. I waited until Chloe woke up. She opened it. She says it’s a Bird Baby sterling silver cup. I got the Tiffany’s part from the box.”
The ghost in that scenario was a man named Rhys Vaughan.
So far, Chloe was the only one to have met him, and she did this only briefly.
Jamie had had him investigated, but according to every record on two continents (he’d been told by Chloe, Rhys was Welsh, something she derived from his accent), he didn’t exist.
So, yes, very much a ghost.
“And?”
“And, on the bottom, it’s engraved, To, Jameson Thomas Oakley. Love, Uncle Corey.”
Jamie nodded even if his son couldn’t see him doing it.
The story was tragic, convoluted, and bizarre, but tech billionaire, Corey Szabo, now deceased, father to Hale, best friend to Genny, and mastermind who was so good at that shit, he was able to perpetrate his maneuvers from beyond the grave, had set everything in motion.
Including, in a definite but roundabout way, Jamie and Nora being able to finally be what they were meant to be to each other.
Unquestionably convoluted and bizarre, but the results were far from tragic.
When Laird came into the world, his grandfather, even being dead, had sent him a like present.
So they knew it would happen.
And it happened.
“Is Chloe okay?” Jamie asked.
Chloe had been particularly close to Corey.
“She cried. But they were happy tears, kind of,” Judge said.
“How about you?”
“I’m lucky I have a great Dad who’s been through it, so he gets it.”
Jamie drew in breath through his nose, so much, it expanded his chest, and then he let it go.
“Fortunately, considering Operation Parent Trap, we have the time off, so Nora and I are going to stay for a while,” he shared.
“They’re releasing Chloe tomorrow,” Judge shared in return, and Jamie was relieved to hear humor in his tone.
That was much more like his son.
“Excellent.”
“Will you and Nora move to the guest room in the townhouse?” Judge asked. “I want you close.”
“We’ll do that first thing tomorrow.”
“Of course you will,” Judge muttered.
Yes.
Of course he would.
“It’s feeding time, so I gotta go,” Judge said.
“Right. Love you, buddy. And proud of you.”
“Love you too. Tell everyone we’re doing okay.”
“I will.”
“See you tomorrow, Dad.”
“You will, Judge.”
“Later.”
“Later, son.”
They hung up.
He went inside.
Everyone was watching him.
“So?” Genny prompted huskily.
She’d loved Corey most of all.
“An engraved Bird Baby Tiffany’s cup,” he told her.
She bit her lip and tears hit her eyes. Duncan slid an arm around her and drew her close.
Mika dropped her head to Tom’s shoulder.
Jamie moved to Nora to grab her wineglass, which was almost empty, so she needed it filled.
Death.
Life.
Blessings.
And they were moving on.
CHAPTER 8
VERONICA BEARD
Jamie
The next morning, Jamie woke in another fun new position.
With Nora playing the big spoon.
He allowed himself long moments to enjoy it before he looked to the clock on the nightstand and saw it was early.
Nora wasn’t an early riser.
And although he’d very much like to start both their days in a way it’d be starting the day right, Jamie didn’t want the first time they made love to be in Duncan and Genny’s guest room.
Or Judge and Chloe’s.
It had been too long of a wait, and that was all his fault.
But they were going to have to wait a little longer.