Maisey took a deep breath and then rushed out, “It wasn’t Gavin who helped her, Dad. It was Carter Smythe.”
Her father snorted in disgust. “That weasel is even worse than the actor. How’d he hook up with her again?”
Maisey glanced up at me, a helpless look on her face that was rarely there, so I dove in to explain. I told her dad what Maisey had told Cooper Wylee and Deputy Cleaver about the life insurance and the property deal. Iadded in what Delilah had told me about Carter’s loan from the renowned mafia family, and Lewis’s face grew impossibly darker.
“That girl was money-obsessed from the time she was a toddler,” Lewis said, shaking his head. “I told your mother that someday something bad would come of it.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I can only be glad Marge didn’t live to see it. It would have torn her apart.” He squeezed Maisey’s arm. “Like it’s tearing you apart. Your sister was never your responsibility, Maisey. Just like your mom wasn’t, and taking care of me wasn’t either. I’m sorry. Sorry we all became your burdens at such a young age. If I had it all to do over again…”
His eyes filled as he trailed off, and the tears Maisey had been holding back rolled silently down her cheeks.
“I love you, Dad. If I had it to do all over again, there’s nothing I’d change.”
“That’s because you’ve always put others first and never done anything worthy of regret. But it’s time you concentrate on yourself now. On you and the life you’re building with Beckett.”
They both cried, and as much as I hated seeing Maisey’s tears, I knew these were ones well spent. Well earned. You had to grieve before you could move forward again. If I’d learned nothing about relationships, I’d learned that much.
Lewis was the first to gather himself. He looked down at her hand and rubbed the ring I’d given her.
“I see you picked out a good one.”
Maisey’s face softened, turning into the first real smile I’d seen in hours. “Beckett picked it out, Dad. Your words must have struck home because he chose the perfect one and surprised me with it.”
Lewis’s lips quirked upward. “I figured, with all those romance books you read, he had to have a romantic bone somewhere in that body to have won you over.”
A little laugh escaped her that turned into a yawn she tried to hide.
“Beckett, take our girl home and make sure she gets some rest.”
I pulled her up out of her seat. “Happy to.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow.” Maisey leaned in and kissed his forehead.
“Don’t you dare. I don’t want to see you back here until those bags under your eyes are gone and you’re bandage free.”
Maisey shook her head in amusement. “That could take weeks.”
He shrugged. “At least a few days, then. I’m good with staying here and letting someone other than my little girl take care of me for a while.”
“That’s not how it works, Dad. This isn’t a hotel. You don’t get tochoose to stay or not.”
Lewis shrugged. “We’ll see. I think I’m feeling awfully weak. Faint, even. Definitely not sure I can get out of this bed.”
I couldn’t help the snort that escaped me.
“Go,” Lewis said, turning somber once more. “Rest.”
And finally, Maisey let me tug her out of the hospital.
I hadn’t wanted to come, but in the end, it had been the right thing. Like always, Maisey had known what was best for her and her family. If she’d waited, all she would have done was worry about telling Lewis what had happened with Chelsea. Now, it was over. They still had a lot of healing to do. But they had a chance to fix their relationship.
We all had a chance to do so.
I’d told Maisey love wasn’t a weakness, that it actually made me stronger, and I’d meant it. But what I hadn’t said was that onlyreallove had the power to be that strong. My mom hadn’t known real love any more than Chelsea had. They’d tried to weaponize it. They’d try to use the love others had for them to their advantage, but it had backfired. Chelsea was going to prison, and my mother, the first and only time I’d checked up on her, was barely hanging on by a thread, working in some dive in New York, a step away from the street.
Both my dad and Maisey had known and given love freely, without restraint, and it had strengthened them. I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to love, to give it freely, and hope it made me even one-tenth as strong as them.
Chapter Thirty-six
Maisey