Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Mom nods. “That’s my thought as well.”
“Wendy left her legacy to me,” I continue, “and this is what my destiny is. To reverse it all as well as I can. I don’t want to have Doc charged with anything. What I do want is to take down this ring for good. Do what you all thought you had done twenty-five years ago. And I want everyone who’s gotten inadvertently caught in the cross fire to have a chance. Like Doc here. And even Brittany. She needs help, and she’s getting it now. Let’s give her a chance. We all deserve a chance.” I sigh. “Even Pat Lamone. He’s… Well, he’s family now.”
Mom smiles at me. “I always knew you were an amazing woman, Ava. My mother knew. Apparently your father’s mother knew as well. But I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined what a truly good soul you actually are.”
“You and Dad were excellent examples for me,” I say. “Grandma Didi as well. But I’ll give credit where credit is due. Wendy Madigan really helped me see.”
“For God’s sake, Ava.” Dad shakes his head.
“Don’t take that the wrong way, Dad. She wasn’t a good influence. But it was clear what she wanted. She wanted me to be her next incarnation. And for a few perilous moments, I wondered if that was my true destiny. But it’s not. My destiny is to do what I can to reverse the havoc that she caused. There’s so much I can’t do. I can’t give Uncle Talon back that time of his life he lost when he was ten. I can’t change our genetic makeup, Daddy. I can’t change what Pat Lamone did all those years ago, and I can’t bring back his adoptive parents to find out why they changed his name and theirs, but I’d bet anything that Wendy had something to do with all that. Let’s all start again. That’s my purpose. To get the Steel family back its dignity. To forgive. To be grateful for everything we have—and we do have everything, Daddy.”
“We don’t have—”
“Stop. We have everything.”
Dad sighs. “All right. Doc, I have to talk to my brothers. To Bryce and Marjorie. But if they all agree with Ava, we won’t be seeking any charges against you.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did, Ryan.” Doc closes the folder and slides it across the coffee table to Dad. “But I thank you. And Ava, I thank you too.”
“All I ask in return,” I say, “is that you be a good man, Doc. Take care of animals. Oh…and stop using electric shock collars on your guard dogs.”
“I’ve given up the guard dog business,” Doc says. “My dogs are up for adoption, and most of them have already found good homes.”
“Good,” I say. “But if you’re good at it, guard dogs are necessary. Just stop using electric shock.”
“It’s all right, Ava. I’m no longer training dogs.”
“Then I’d like to adopt one,” I say.
“A Doberman or Rottweiler in your tiny apartment?” Mom says.
“Yeah, why not?”
“All right,” Doc says. “I’ve got some one-year-olds and a litter of pups still.”
“Great. I’ll get Brendan, and we’ll drive to your place in Wyoming to pick one. Sometime in the next three days, before I have to reopen the bakery.”
“All right.” Doc stands. “Ryan, Ruby, I appreciate your candor and your hospitality. And Ava”—he sighs—“I don’t know what else there is to say.”
“You said it all. Brendan and I will see you tomorrow or the next day in Wyoming if you’ll be back by then.”
“I’m heading back tonight. I’ve been in Denver, visiting Brittany, and I got back here yesterday, where I found the folder.” He rises and slowly heads toward the front door.
Once Doc leaves, I kiss Mom and Dad goodbye, and I drive home.
Home.
Where Brendan is.
Chapter Forty-Three
Brendan
“Yeah, Jack?” I say into the phone.
“Bingo,” he says. “Your hunch was right. Or Ryan’s or whoever’s it was. Turns out my mother is a full sibling to Ryan Steel.”
Damn. I need to tell Ryan. “Jack, I think you’re about to become a rich man.”
“Mom and I are doing fine. We don’t need any of the Steel money.”
“Be that as it may, you’re entitled to it. And I think Ryan will see it the same way. So will Joe, Talon, and Marjorie.”
“This is all so unreal. My grandmother is gone, and my mother is a daughter of Brad Steel. I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it. It all makes an eerie kind of sense. I’ll tell Ryan, and he’ll call you. I’m sure he’s going to want to meet you and your mom.”
Jack is silent on the other end of the line.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. In the last week, I’ve found two cousins in you and your dad, and—”
“You have two more. My dad has a sister, Ciara, and a niece, Carmen.”
“Jesus… Plus now I’m related to all the Steels.”