Our Last Chance - Chapter 11 (Shuis, Julian, Eve)
by pip
 

Our Last Chance – Chapter 11

After LJ settled for the night, Sheridan snuggled up to Luis in their bed. Luis spoke softly, “You haven’t asked about our honeymoon.”

Sheridan rolled over to face him. “Honeymoon? You don’t need to take me anywhere.” She was thinking that she didn’t want to leave LJ. Actually, she couldn’t leave him while she was nursing.

Luis didn’t want to leave LJ either. Every day with his son was precious. “This time our honeymoon will be for three, or four, depending on how you want to count.”

Sheridan settled her head under his chin. “Where are you taking us?”

“That’s a surprise for the morning.”

Sheridan rolled on top of Luis and propped her elbows on his chest. “Tell me,” she insisted.

Luis shook his head. “I’ll promise you one thing. No boats on this honeymoon.”

Her face became solemn, remembering all that had befallen them after the boat explosion. She asked, “Do you still think that Julian was behind it?” Luis nodded. Sheridan said, “He’s hardly the same man. What do you think changed him?”

Luis knew that while Sheridan was giving birth in the cabin, she hadn’t observed all that he did between Eve and Julian. He answered her question with one word, “Eve.”

Sheridan was thoughtful, remembering Eve’s face when she had mentioned Julian during her appointment. She said, “Whatever is there, Eve feels it too.”

Luis answered, “I know.”

Sheridan said, “Even if TC and Eve’s family were out of the picture, my father would never accept...” She didn’t finish her thought. She didn’t have the right words for it.

Luis answered again, “I know.” He was thoughtful. At some point, Eve and Julian were together. There was clearly a history between them. Alistair Crane would have vetoed Eve.

The next morning Sheridan was in the kitchen peering into the refrigerator when Luis came in. “Anything interesting?”

She said, “You choose: my scrambled eggs or your eggs Benedict.”

He said, “At least your scrambled mess isn’t lethal.”

Sheridan snapped his backside with a dishtowel as he leaned over LJ to say good morning. Luis whirled. His eyebrow went up. “Is my bride feeling frisky this morning?”

Sheridan’s reply died on her lips as the sound of a bulldozer reverberated through the cottage. Luis threw open the kitchen door and came face to face with Julian. Julian saw the irritation in Luis’s eyes. Julian yelled above the noise, “Crane construction is clearing the area for a cottage addition.”

Luis crossed his arms. Sheridan stepped up shoulder to shoulder with her husband and crossed her arms. They glared at Julian in unison. Julian defended himself, “Father’s orders.” Luis closed the door in his face.

He turned to Sheridan. “I can’t live here at the mercy of your father’s whims. I want quiet for LJ and a peaceful pregnancy for you.”

“We’ll be gone for a week for our honeymoon. After that, we could move up to the main house until they finish,” she suggested.

“Never,” he snarled. “Alistair Crane would bug our rooms. Do you want him to hear every intimate...?”

“Stop.” The thought horrified Sheridan.

Luis opened the backdoor and signaled for Julian to come into the kitchen.

Luis demanded, “Explain.”

“Father wants to add on bedrooms for your children. Believe it or not, he has good intentions.”

Luis blurted, “Do we look like dumb and dumber?” Julian’s chuckle died in his throat. Luis was stone-faced. He recognized that Crane was building a house that his growing family could never leave. He’d never be able to provide better for them. His pride rankled. Alistair Crane was making an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Julian understood the situation. He exited the kitchen, indicating that he would be back.

Luis paced, waiting for Julian to return. He muttered, “Damn the Cranes.”

Sheridan defended her father. “He’s only trying to provide a home for his grandchildren.”

Outraged, Luis shouted, “I’ll provide for my family. MY family.”

Hands on her hips, Sheridan faced off with Luis.

The bulldozers were suddenly silent. Julian reentered the kitchen. “The men will take their instructions from the two of you.”

Sheridan waited for Luis’s response. He paced the kitchen like an angry lion. Sheridan finally appealed to him, “Luis?”

He muttered, “OK. We’ll signal them when to start. Tell them we’ll be gone for a week.”

Julian started to question where they were going. Luis’s glare stopped him. He slipped out the door. Julian made a move that surprised even him. He knocked on the kitchen door again.

Luis flung the door open. “What now, Julian?”

Julian ignored Luis’s surly attitude. He spoke quietly, “I want to talk to you about Alistair.” Luis stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind him. Julian said, “Father is obsessed with your family. He believes Sheridan’s children are his only true blood descendants. The obsession won’t end in his lifetime.”

Luis growled, “Are you suggesting that I do away with Alistair Crane?”

Julian shook his head. “No, at first I thought that for the safety of your family, you would need to give in to Alistair, but I’ve realized that you hold all the cards. Because you’ve proved your, shall we say, virility, you are empowered. Alistair will not go against you unless you give him cause. He wants what you are giving him, grandchildren.”

Luis nodded. Alistair’s power and wealth were meaningless. In the end, his posterity was all that mattered.

Julian continued, “He is not a threat to your family, maybe to your pride, but not to your wife or children.”

Luis got this second part of the message. If he could curb his pride, Alistair would be an overbearing grandfather, but not a threat. If he could endure having his children gifted with shares of the corporation, if he could endure an addition to the cottage, his family was safe. He glanced through the kitchen window at Sheridan. She held LJ on one hip as she scrambled eggs. He spoke to Julian as he opened the back door, “I’d like to see the plans for the addition before they begin construction.”

Relieved, Julian exhaled heavily as he returned to the mansion. Luis loved Sheridan and his children almost more than Julian could fathom. He put them before himself. He’d always believed Luis’s pride would be his undoing. He’d underestimated him. Julian weighed his own decisions in life. Had he ever put another’s needs before his own? Only once.

Julian answered the phone in his study. When he ended the call, Julian braced his hands on his desk and bowed his head. The investigator had located the missing son. The information would shatter Eve’s marriage. She believed she’d already lost Whitney. If TC took Simone, and if their grown son didn’t want Eve in his life, Julian’s information could destroy her. Julian decided to tell her that there was no evidence that their son lived. She could accept that pain. She already had. How ironic that lying to her was his only chance to do the right thing. He would be noble, after all, and she would never know. Julian’s lie would be irrevocable.

One month later Julian attended the graduation ceremony at a prestigious law school. The main speaker was his son and the school’s first minority valedictorian. Julian knew who he was, but still the speaker’s voice stunned him. If he closed his eyes, he was listening to his own voice. When the graduation ended, Julian noticed a familiar entourage exiting the back of the auditorium. The group accompanied Alistair Crane.
 
 
 

Epilogue
Chapter 10
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