He shrugged. “The Weatherbys put their trust in their only son. They made him president of the brokerage and married him into a family that’s practically royalty, but he proceeded to not only squander their money and business, but also to scandalize their family name by taking off with his mistress, getting her pregnant, and being insanely public about the whole mess.”
“I’m not sure I feel sorry for them about any of that,” I said before taking another sip of my drink. “Clark Morris doesn’t have my sympathy either.”
“Nor should he,” Dad agreed. “The Morrises have learned from it, though. All they want now is for Adeline to be protected.”
I snorted, but he kept going before I could offer my opinion. “This deal has more to do with Adeline being secure than the fact that Westwood gets to go into business with Morris. This is what she needs, son.”
“What she needs is to be left alone to make her own decisions. She’s not a stock to be traded.”
His expression grew somber again. “She’s going to be left with nothing within a week when this divorce is finally finalized.”
“What?”
He nodded. “There’s nothing left. Her trust fund is gone. Louis has been dragging this on for so long that the legal bills bankrupted her.”
“I didn’t know it was that bad.” Honestly, I’d had no idea she was going through all that. I’d thought I knew what was happening with the divorce, but nope. He’d effectively stolen all her money and then made her wait in legal limbo to steal the last bit, and all the while, he’d made her think he was going to fight for her kids if she didn’t willingly give it. “That’s a whole different level of messed up.”
Yet all I could think about was what it must be like for her at home. She’d been a housewife and a stay-at-home mom who hadn’t worked for eight years. Now she was back at square one in her old job with nothing to show for her time under Louis’s control.
“Itisa whole different level of messed up,” Dad agreed after a brief pause. “Which is why the family wants nothing more than for her to be secure and not to end up destitute. All they’re concerned about is her safety and well-being. You can give her that.”
“It’s up to her,” I said eventually.
Dad nodded. “If she agrees, what will you do?”
“I’ll marry her,” I said without hesitation. I didn’t need to hesitate or to think about it. Even if I felt like I’d already failed her once, I absolutely would not do it again. “If she says yes, it’s a done deal.”
CHAPTER 12
ADELINE
Sunday was a beautiful day and the girls and I were exploring the city on foot. I figured we’d burn off a bit more energy this way while simultaneously being free to discover little nooks and alleys we would otherwise never have spotted.
Cloudless blue skies stretched out overhead, the sun was shining, and the park we were at was bursting at the seams with happy families, artists, and pedestrians. Since Amber took the weekends off to be young and free, I was alone with the kids. Jennifer and I were desperately trying to teach Lu how to ride a bike.
We’d pushed it all the way here, navigating our way through the Sunday morning foot traffic with it in tow, but no matter what we did, Lu just didn’t seem to get it. Jennifer huffed out a breath. “You need to follow through with that foot too. It doesn’t work if you only use one.”
“The pedal is stuck,” Lu snapped, kicking her foot against the pedal in question. “Look, it’s not moving.”
“Because you’re not following through,” Jennifer countered, so exasperated that it looked like she was about to start tearing her hair out. “If your foot stops there, the pedal stops moving too. Push down on it.”
Their little tiff escalated when Lu hopped off the bike and jabbed a finger at it. “Fine, you try then. We’ll see if you can do it!”
Jennifer sighed and swung one leg over the seat. With no issues at all, she took off and rode a few yards forward. She twisted in her seat to widen her eyes at her sister. “See? There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“There’s something wrong withyou!” Lu spat furiously, then stomped her foot, spun, and sprinted away.
Shit.
“Stay put,” I said to Jennifer, already jogging backward so I wouldn’t completely lose sight of her sister. “Just stay at this playground, okay?”
I pointed at the brightly colored equipment right beside us and then turned around, racing after Lu. “Stop! Lauren Caroline Weatherby, stop right there!”
Unfortunately, Lu was both fast and headstrong, and she didn’t listen at all. My heart nearly stopped when she ran right onto a path where a group of runners were pretty much sprinting flat out right for her.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Lu still didn’t stop, her blonde ponytail disappearing as she kept running straight into the pack of supremely focused, fully grown adults. My palms started sweating, panic overwhelming my senses as tears sprung to my eyes.
