Page 136 of See You Soon

“She probably will, but I certainly don’t.” Wes said through gritted teeth. “You daughter needs you, now!”

Corinne looked surprised, but seeing he was serious, she made her apologies to the couple before swishing past Wes into the house. He stopped in the kitchen to replace the ice, and by the time he reached the bedroom, Declan was already grilling Corinne.

“I told you. It was a coincidence,” Corinne was saying. “I had spent a weekend at the most delightful country house party. You remember the Zhous, don’t you darling?”

“How did you run into Dad?” Cara’s eyes sparked with her exasperation.

“I was going to the Sherbourne. I always stay there but decided I’d see if Siobhan was home. Why is everyone suddenly so interested in this?”

That seemed to get Declan’s attention. “Who else asked you?”

“Courtney and Elliott. They said you’d told them David had gone to Dublin. They were surprised because he was so ill.”

“What did you tell them?”

Corinne looked askance at her daughter. “Just that I saw him. I’m not an idiot. I don’t like that woman, and if she has Elliott wrapped around her finger now then—”

“Did you see my mother? She never mentioned it.” Declan interrupted.

Corinne’s face blanked, and her eyes slid away. “I saw her on the street. It’s quite unnerving when you make that face, you know. You look just like him.” Declan stared at her, and she sighed. “Fine! David and Siobhan were in the street about a block from her place. They were arguing.”

The skin tightened along Declan’s cheekbones, but when he didn’t ask the obvious follow up, Cara did. “About what?”

Corinne looked nervously at Declan. “I don’t know.”

Cara appeared as confused as Wes was. “You had to have heard them,” Cara insisted.

“They were too far for me to understand what they were saying.”

“What happened next?”

“I waved. I hate when people fight.”

Wes thought he heard Cara snort. “We chatted for a few minutes, but David was very weak. Siobhan told him he could come in to sit for a bit, but he didn’t want to. She was right. He looked terrible.” Corinne’s mouth turned down. “He was always such a virile man; he was a shell.” To Wes’s surprise, her eyes shone with tears.

Declan cleared his throat. “What did the two of you do?”

“I invited him back to my hotel for a cocktail, but he said he had an errand he needed to run. I didn’t realize it, but I guess he knew the end was near, and he was putting his affairs in order. You know your father liked to keep his money in different countries for convenience.” Declan and Cara nodded. “Ireland was always his favorite.” She cocked her head thinking. “It’s a lot of people’s favorite because of the tax shelter.”

“What do you mean by putting his affairs in order?” Cara asked in an attempt to keep her mother on track.

“He wanted to go to Ballbridge.” Her brow furrowed. “He said he needed to update some paperwork there. You have to understand, he wasn’t himself.”

“Dementia?” Declan’s voice was flat.

“No,” she said thoughtfully. “More like exhausted, defeated… sad. I’d never seen him like that. He said he’d made a terrible mistake.”

Cara sat up straighter in bed, and Declan cocked an eyebrow. “He admitted to a mistake.”

Wes watched as the three of them shared a smile. “Hard to believe, I know, but yes. And it seemed to really bother him. I insisted on getting a taxi, but it could only get us a few streets away. On our way, we passed one of those tacky tourist stalls. You know the ones that sell the leprechauns andI heart Irelandshirts. He saw the snow globe and was suddenly determined to have it. I waited outside of the building for him. You know I hate all that boring business talk. When David came out, he seemed a little relieved, and then he gave me the package for you. He was adamant that I get it to you right away.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Darling, I forgot! It was a silly thing. We went for a drink. He dropped me at my hotel, and that was the last time I saw dear David,” she sniffed.

“If you had given me the snow globe earlier, we might have figured out what was going on sooner.”

“Figured what out?” Corinne wrinkled her nose.