Page 18 of Dragon Daddy’s Second Chance (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #5)

CHAPTER 17

***BLAKE***

“ O h, Mr. Watson, I didn’t expect to hear from you,” Blake’s secretary said when he greeted her over the phone. “You’re supposed to be on vacation.”

“I still am, but there were a few things I had to take care of that wouldn’t wait,” he said, realizing that he was going to miss the older woman. “I wanted to talk to you myself before you start hearing the rumors through the grapevine. You and I have been working together for a long time. I owe you at least that much, if not more.”

“Oh my, this sounds serious,” Margarie said. “Are you okay, Mr. Watson?”

“Actually, I’m better than I’ve ever been. Life has taken an unexpected and wonderful turn,” he said. “I’m not coming back to work after my vacation is over. I submitted my resignation a few minutes ago. My days working for my father are over.”

“Well, this is a bit of a shock. I knew that you weren’t happy, but…” the older woman’s words died away. “I’m happy for you, Mr. Watson; I hope you find the life you’ve been looking for. ”

“Thank you, Margarie,” he said. “I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I’m going to give you a very generous severance package and a glowing recommendation to anyone who asks.”

“I appreciate that, you’ve been great to work for,” she said. “I’ll miss you around here, but don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine, I’ll have a new job before the day is out.”

He laughed. “I’m sure you will,” he said, relieved that she was taking it so well. “I just have one favor to ask: Could you box up my personal things and have them delivered to my apartment? I won’t be coming back to the office any time soon, and it will just be in the way.”

When he hung up the phone, he stared at it for a second, then took a deep breath. Before he could change his mind, he punched in his mother’s number. It rang a couple of times before she picked up. “Darling, this is a surprise,” she said. Don’t tell me you're coming home early. I knew you were going to hate it there. I told you not to go.”

“Mother, I’m not coming back early. In fact, I’m not sure right now when I’m coming back,” he said. “There have been some interesting developments while I’ve been here, and I’m in the process of dealing with them.”

There was a brief silence on the line, “Whatever does that mean?” his mother asked, a note of worry in her voice. “Why aren’t you coming home, Blake?”

“Do you remember that summer I spent in Ireland?” he asked, enjoying himself a little. “You came to visit me, so I’m sure you do.”

“What does that have to do with you not coming home?” his mother asked, an edge to her voice he recognized all too well. “Blake, what’s going on? I demand an answer right now.”

“You are in no position to demand anything from me, not after what you did,” he said. “I reconnected with Wren, Mother. You remember her, I believe you had a long chat with her that summer.”

There was another short silence. “Blake, this is ridiculous. That was almost six years ago,” his mother said, a defensive edge to her voice. I can’t remember who I talked to that long ago; I talk to a lot of people.”

“But you don’t threaten them or their families,” he said. “Wren told me what you said to her, she told me about your threats. You’re the reason she left me, you’re the reason I’ve been miserable for all these years.”

“It was for your own good,” his mother snapped. “She was just after your money. I set her straight to save you from making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“You meddled where you didn’t belong; you just wanted your own way. That’s all you’ve ever wanted, and I was just a pawn in your game,” he said. “Well, I’m done, Mother. I’m going to ask Wren to marry me, and we’re going to start a life together far away from you.”

“You can’t do that. After everything I’ve done for you, you can’t humiliate me that way,” his mother screeched. “We’ll cut you off, and you won’t get a cent from us for the rest of your life.”

“I figured we’d get to that,” he said. “I haven’t taken money from you and Dad for a long time; I don’t need or want your money. You can keep it.”

“But Blake, just think what you’ll be throwing away for that…little scheming slut,” his mother said. “I had a perfect marriage arranged for you. She’s a beautiful girl from one of the best families. Your wedding was going to be the talk of the season. You can’t take this away from me, I deserve it.”

“You deserve a lot more than that, but I don’t want to waste any more of my energy on you,” he said. “I’m going to hang up now, Mother; I’m done letting you ruin my life; don’t try to call me, don’t try to text me; I don’t want anything to do with you ever again.”

There was no remorse, no sadness when he hung up the phone, just a profound sense of freedom, and a smile slowly spread across his face as the future slowly spread out before him. Wren and Theo popped into his mind, and he was tempted to leave the rest of his paperwork until later but he forced himself to go back to work; he was almost done dissolving his old life. He was ready to make real plans with Wren, and if that meant a move to Dublin, he wanted to be prepared to take that next step in their lives together.

A knock at the door interrupted him a few minutes later, and he remembered that Max wasn’t there. After getting to his feet, he went to the door and opened it. “Are you Blake?” a young man asked, then held out an envelope when he nodded his head. “Then this is for you.”

***Wren***

Wren closed the bedroom door, then tiptoed down the hallway to the living room, where Susan was just setting down a tray with coffee and a plate of cookies on a table by the couch. “He’s sound asleep, I think the last few days finally caught up with him,” she said, flopping down on the couch. “I think I’m as exhausted as he is. I could use a nap, but I keep thinking Blake is going to come home and talk. I acted like a jealous baby last night; I hope he’s not still mad.”

“Give yourself a break. This has been a lot, Wren,” she said. “You two will work it out, so stop worrying, he said he was working on your life together today. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s mad at you.”

“I know you’re right, I have some insecurity problems,” she said. “I’m trying to work on them.”

Before Susan could say anything, there was a knock on the door, and Wren got up to answer it, wondering who it could be. When she opened the door, a young man was standing on the porch, a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a white envelope in the other.

“These are for Wren,” he said, holding them out.

“Oh, I’m Wren,” she said, taking the flowers and card. “Thank you.”

She looked down at the flowers, a smile slowly spreading across her face, then ripped open the card still standing in the door way. “Who was it?” Susan called from behind her. “Is it from Blake?”

“He sent me flowers,” she said, turning and closing the door. “And he wants me to meet him later. He even put in a map for me to follow. Isn’t that sweet? I don’t know what I was worrying about.”

“I bet he’s going to propose,” Susan said, grinning at her. “What are you going to say?”

A thrill went through her at the thought of marrying Blake, and she didn’t even have to think about her answer. “Yes, yes, yes,” she said, then laughed. “I can’t believe this is really happening. Will you stay with Theo? I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but it would…”

“You don’t even have to ask,” Susan said, tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy for you, Wren. It’s nice to know that true love still finds its way even in this crazy world we live in.”

She rushed over to Susan and gave her a hug. “You’ll be my maid of honor, won’t you?” she asked. “I can’t imagine having anyone else there with me.”

“Let’s let Blake ask you before I agree,” Susan said, hugging her back. “We don’t want to jinx it.”

“I have to figure out what I’m going to wear,” she said, starting for the bedroom, but a knock on the door stopped her. “Wow, we’re popular today.”

Her excitement instantly vanished when she opened the door to find her parents standing on the porch, and her first instinct was to slam the door in their faces. Remembering Susan’s advice, she controlled herself but didn’t say anything. She wasn’t going to be the first one to speak. If they had something to say, she listened, but that was it.

“Wren, please let us in. We need to talk to you,” her mother said. Your father and I want to apologize for the night we kicked you out. It was wrong. We should have stood by your side.”

Silently swinging the door open, she stepped back and let them in the house, still not saying a word, then gestured to the empty couch. “Can I get you some coffee?” Susan asked, jumping to her feet. “We were just having a cup.”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” her mother said. We just want to talk to Wren. We want you to come home, sweetheart. We want to be a family again. We know what we did was horrible, but can’t you find it in your heart to forgive us? We’ll never do anything like that again.”

“Was your reputation really that important to you?” she asked, unable to stop herself. “You threw me away because I made a mistake. You abandoned me because I embarrassed you. I thought you loved me, I thought I was important to you, but I was wrong, and I don’t know if I can move on from that.”

“We were wrong, Wren. We knew it almost as soon as you left,” her father said. “I’m ashamed to admit I was too stubborn to go after you. I guess I thought you’d stay with Susan. I never dreamed you’d move to Dublin.”

“It wouldn’t have been hard to find me,” she said. “It’s been six years since I left, and I haven’t heard a word from you. Why did you suddenly decide that you needed to see me so badly that you flew halfway across the world and spent a small fortune to get here?”

Her mother looked over at her father and then back at her. “It was really your sister’s idea,” she said. “She’s tired of the town talking bad about us. Honestly, it hasn’t been easy since you left, and now…well, Lisa wants to marry Bruce Collingsworth, and you know how she is when she wants something; there’s no stopping her.”

“Because you never did, you gave her anything she wanted even if you had to take it away from me,” she said. “What does any of this have to do with me?”

“We no longer have the best reputation in town, and Bruce refuses to marry Lisa with this little stain on her name,” her father said. “But the good news is we figured out a way to make everything right so Lisa can have her man.”

“This should be good,” she said. “I’m listening.”

“It’s really quite simple, sweetheart,” her mother said. “You come home and join the community again. We’ve found a very nice man for you to marry and an excellent boarding school for Theo; I’m sure he’ll be very happy there.”

It took her a second to realize that they weren’t joking. “You’re not kidding, you’re serious,” she said. “Do you honestly think I would go through with your little plan? Are you really that delusional?”

“But sweetheart, think of your sister,” her mother said. “This is her life we’re talking about. We want her to be happy.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart ever again,” she growled. “I can’t believe I invited you in here. I think it’s time for you to leave. I don’t give a damn if Lisa is happy, I don’t care if the town whispers behind your backs, you deserve all of it. I don’t ever want to see you again, we’re done. Don’t ever try to contact me again. As of now, I don’t have parents. You and Lisa are dead to me. Now get out!”

“This is all because of that man,” her mother hissed, getting to her feet. Well, let me tell you something, missy. That man is no good. Do you know what he was doing last night? He was kissing your sister. I have proof.”

Before she could stop her mother, she shoved her phone in Wren’s face. “Look at them, Wren, this is the man you’re throwing your family away for,” she said, a triumphant look on her face. “He’s kissing your sister. She told me he wanted to sleep with her. Come home and get married, stop this madness at once.”

For one heartbeat, she believed what she was seeing, then looked a little closer at the picture. “Is this all the proof you have? Because it looks like Lisa is the one doing the kissing to me,” she said, shoving the phone back at her mother. “We all know what a slut my sister is. I wonder if Bruce knows, then again, I’m sure he does. That’s probably how she snagged him in the first place.”

Her parents got slowly to their feet. “We never should have come here,” her mother said. “I’m ashamed that you’re my daughter, ashamed that you’d turn your back on family like this.”

She felt nothing watching her parents walk out the door. She was done with them, done with the drama they added to her life. “Well, you were right, I do feel better,” she said when the door closed behind them. “They just proved that nothing has changed, and I can walk away with a clear conscience.”