Unbreakable (City Lights, #2)(118)

Beneath the covers, he was emaciated—the weight having fallen off his bones so impossibly fast I couldn’t believe this was the same man we’d visited last week. My father. His skin was sallow, his eyes sunken. I pulled a chair by his bedside, and took his hand. It felt cold, light, and dry as paper.

“Hey, Pops. Not feeling so hot today, eh?”

Walter Bishop slowly turned his head toward me. His eyes found me and a spark of recognition flared and then died. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then let it fall slack.

I cleared my throat. “Can he talk?”

“A word or two,” Nurse Pauline said gently, “but I wouldn’t expect more than that.”

“Does he know who I am?” God, please. I just need five minutes. Five damn minutes.

I could practically feel the administrator and nurse exchange glances behind me. I swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. Could I just have a minute?”

Alex bent and kissed my dad’s cheek, whispering something to him I couldn’t hear. Then, with full eyes, she kissed my temple. “I’ll be right out here if you need me.”

“Thanks, babe.”

They all left, Nurse Pauline closing the door behind her.

I tightened my grip on my father’s hand. “Hey Pops, I need to tell you something. It’s really important. Can you hear me?”

His watery eyes found me, held on. “Cory…”

“Yeah, Pops, it’s me.” I sat up and spoke in a rush, to get it all out before he faded again. “Listen, good news. I found a partner. To start up the business again. Our business. Our name. What do you think of that?”

My dad stared hard, his mouth working, and I could see thoughts in his eyes struggling to get out. “Part…part…?”

“Yeah, a partner. Indra Patel. I met him…well, never mind how I met him. The important thing is that he’s going to front the cash. I’m going to do the work. I’ve got a whole team of guys…good guys I’ve known for years. It’s going to be great, Pops. Really great.”

I waited for his response, any response, to show me that he’d heard and understood. My heart leapt to my throat to see the faintest of smiles tug the corners of his mouth. Walter Bishop had never applied for a loan for anything but his house. Did he consider Patel fronting the money a handout?

“Puh…puh…”

“What is it, Pops?” I scooted closer. “Patel? The guy’s name is Patel, yeah…”

He scowled and licked his lips to try again. “Puh…prow…Prow’ve you.”

His hand gave my hand the weakest of squeezes, and then the light in his eye dimmed and he stared at nothing. But his words lingered, echoing around the small room, and in my heart where I knew they’d live forever.

Proud of you.

I rested my forehead on our clutched hands and wept.





Epilogue Part II


Denarua, Fiji, three months later…

Alex



I stood on the patio of my parents’ timeshare and let the sunlight wash over me. The patio gave way to a white sand beach that spilled out onto an ocean that stretched for miles around in every direction in stunning unbroken azure tranquility. It met the sky on some impossible horizon, blue touching blue, without a cloud the sky.

To my right, Callie frolicked in the surf with Talei’s two little girls while Cory and Talei looked on, chatting easily.

Talei, the property manager, lived next door in a small bungalow with her husband and children. She had greeted the three of us three days ago, her sharp, dark eyes taking in the situation almost at once.

“I know you’re just on a vacation but you look like newlyweds. If you need some real alone-time, you let me know.” She winked, and her rich dark face broke in a brilliant white smile.

I smiled to think how often we’d taken her up on that. Luckily, Callie and Talei’s girls were best friends instantly. Lucky for Cory and me. We can’t keep our hands off of each other. But that wasn’t exactly news. Back home, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other either. We just had to be creative about it.

And we had proven to be very creative.

I bit my lip, watching Cory lift the girls who squealed laughter, and pretend to toss them into the surf. He was shirtless and the sight of his glorious body in the sunshine sent shivers of anticipation down my spine. And then he turned his back, and I saw his tattoo. A sweeping rush of love joined the lust, as it always did. He’d added color to the tattoo.

The goddess’ hair was red now.

#

Later in the afternoon, Talei called her girls home, and Cory and I strolled the beach while Callie roamed ahead, hunting for shells.

“I have to say, as far as Christmas presents go, your parents could do a whole lot worse,” Cory said, turning his face to the sun.

He looked sun-kissed and ruggedly beautiful in a light cotton shirt and loose pants. His tanned skin had already darkened, while I had to be careful, keeping under umbrellas and floppy hats. Cory tweaked the one I was wearing now.

“Though I don’t know why they’d threaten your gorgeous skin with this sun.”

I grinned and took the hat off, taking in the view of palm trees leaning over the white sand beaches, and more of that endless blue ocean. “My father knows I love this sort of tropical paradise. It was all his idea, I’m sure.”