Daniel couldn't think straight anymore. Stephanie didn't trust him, and whatever she thought his mother had done wasn't helping. His mother was no saint, but she wasn't the monster Stephanie painted, either. Still, his mother had come from the direction of Stephanie's room when Eduardo found her in the hall, and she looked nervous, jittery. Yes, she’d covered by saying she was startled to have Eduardo suddenly open the door, but Daniel knew it took more than that to ruffle his mother. She was hiding something, like an incriminating letter written by Catherine Cortez sixteen years ago that she'd just stolen from her stepdaughter's room. God, he hoped this was all a horrible mistake. He had to find a way to prove to Stephanie that she could trust him, no matter what it cost him or his mother. Like a bad song, he loved her so much it actually hurt. Every time she entered a room his heart swelled. He couldn't go back to the life he led before she came. The shallow emptiness would kill him. The only thing that mattered now was earning her trust and winning her love. He had to find a way. He had to.
"Daniel." Patricia surprised him in the hall.
"I was just coming to look for you"
"Of course, dear. Why don't we go sit on the terrace." She grabbed his elbow in an effort to steer him down the hall.
He pulled away from her and folded his arms across his chest. "Did you take the letter?"
"I...uh...don't know what you mean."
"I think you do." The sound of glass shattering up the hall behind his mother caught his attention. "What was that?"
"I’m sure it’s nothing." She grabbed at his arm again, turning him away from the noise. "Let's go out to the terrace and we can discuss this so-called letter."
Pushing his mother aside, he sprinted toward the library. Panic surged through his veins when he spotted Eduardo sprawled across the floor, a side table knocked over, shards of broken glass scattered around him. "Eduardo," he called, rushing to his stepfather's side, his voice unable to hide the fear clawing at his heart.
"Pi..." The prone man was too weak to finish the word.
"Mother, hurry. He needs his pills."
"No." She stood motionless, thrusting her chin out defiantly.
Feeling for Eduardo's pulse, Daniel hadn't bothered to look at Patricia until her bitter tone smacked him. He couldn't believe his ears. "What do you mean no? Hurry. He doesn't have much time."
"He knows everything. He wants to take it all away from me. I won't have it. I won't."
"My God," Daniel whispered.
"Daniel!" Stephanie appeared in the doorway out of breath and still buttoning her blouse. "I couldn't let you leave like..." Her words trailed off as her eyes shifted to her father on the floor.
"He needs his pills. They're probably on the nightstand. Hurry!" Daniel told her.
"No! You can't do this." Patricia stomped her feet, clenching her fists at her side. "You can't choose him over your own mother. You can't."
"Stephanie's getting your medicine," Daniel said softly, ignoring his mother's tantrum, easing a cushion under Eduardo's head. His voice displayed more calm then he felt. "It'll be all right," he soothed. He couldn't let himself think what would happen if Stephanie didn't get back with the pills in time. His mother would be a murderer.
"Here!" Stephanie bolted into the room, shoving Patricia out of the way.
Daniel placed the pill under Eduardo's tongue, then turned back to Stephanie. "You'd better call an ambulance. This doesn't look good. Then call Dr. Franco. He might get here faster."
By the time Stephanie got to her feet and reached for the phone, Patricia was nowhere in sight.
Stephanie paced the narrow hall of the ancient hospital. Daniel stood by the window, watching her. He followed every step. One foot in front of the other, then she'd sway, spin, and start off in another direction. Step after step. Back and forth.
Elena sat quietly in her chair beside him. She'd insisted on going with them to the hospital. It was the first time since coming home after her stroke that she'd left the house. Miserable reason.
"Can I get you anything, Elena?" Daniel had already asked her more times than he could count. As she had every time before, she patted his arm with her good hand, smiled, and shook her head. He didn't know who he was more worried about: Eduardo, Stephanie, or Elena. On the outside Elena looked strong as steel, but he worried about what was going on inside the old woman. And he worried about Stephanie. From across the room he could see the pain in her eyes. To him she looked so fragile, delicate, as though the slightest breath could break her into a million pieces.
As he'd done several times before, he shifted his weight to walk across the room, to offer what little comfort he could, and as had happened every time before, Elena reached for his hand and mumbled, "Not yet."
"I can't just stand here and do nothing," he argued this time.
"It's good youuu waaant to protect heeer. But she's still churning insssside." Elena squeezed his hand. "Soooon."
"I don't know if I can wait that long." His gaze slid in Stephanie's direction just as she looked up. Her eyes leveled with his.
"Now," Elena said clearly, pushing Daniel to move.
"Shouldn't we have heard by now?" Stephanie asked, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if chasing off a nonexistent chill.
"I'm sure they'll let us know how he is soon." He brushed his hand up the side of her arm, resisting the urge to pull her against him and wrap himself around her. "If it were as bad as I thought, we'd have heard the worst already. Think of this as a good sign."
"He looked so pale. I can't get the image out of my mind of him lying on the floor dying."
"Shh. Don't say that." He gently nudged her toward him. Feeling no resistance, his heart did a little jig when Stephanie fell limp against him. "It'll be all right."
"I just found him. It's not fair. I don't care if he had a stupid affair with your mother. I've already lost one parent." She sniffed into his shoulder.
"I didn't know about that. I swear. I still think it's some big misunderstanding snowballed out of control." If only he could convince himself that his mother's leaving Eduardo to die was another big misunderstanding, but it wasn't. She knew he was having a heart attack and left him alone and worse, deliberately tried to steer Daniel away from finding him. "If I hadn't gone looking for him," he mumbled aloud.
"I know. Thank you."
"Stephanie?"
"Hmm?"
"No matter what happens with the paper and...my mother, whatever truths come out now, there's one thing you have to know."
Stephanie tilted her head to look up at him.
"I love you," he murmured. Before she could speak, his finger landed on her lips. "Don't say anything, just remember that."
His finger still on her mouth, she nodded.
"Excuse me." Andres Campo cleared his throat behind them.
"What are you doing here?" Daniel pulled Stephanie to his side, tucking a possessive arm around her waist. He didn't like the unfamiliar stir of jealousy in his gut.
"Dad sent me." Andres shifted his attention to Stephanie. "He thought you might want to know your stepmother is leaving town. She showed up on our doorstep a short while ago babbling about your father knowing everything and needing traveling money."
"I wondered why she wasn't here, but why would she go to your father?" Stephanie asked.
"She wanted to sell him some stock."
"She what?" Daniel's free hand balled into a tight fist at his side. Would that woman never stop?
“You heard me,” Andres snapped at Daniel, before turning back to Stephanie. “When Dad called the house to tell you about her visit, the maid said your father had a serious attack and everyone was here at the hospital. We decided Patricia's sudden trip might be more significant than we originally thought. Something you'd want to know, so I came straight over."
"Why would she leave now, when Dad is so sick?" Stephanie looked up at Daniel.
"To avoid jail." His jaw tightened visibly, reminding Stephanie of the first time she’d seen him, leaning against the door frame of her father’s office, glaring at her as though she carried the plague.
"She has to know my father wouldn't let it come to that. He'd never press charges for embezzlement." Stephanie shook her head as she spoke.
"Maybe not, but if he dies, she'd be facing murder charges, and I won't protect her from that."
"Murder?" Stephanie stepped aside, her eyes round as saucers. "How?"
“She was willing to let Eduardo die. Apparently he discovered what she'd done and wanted a divorce. She wasn't going to let that happen. She refused to go for his pills, tried to stop me from helping him." Daniel reached for Stephanie's hand. Her fingers had turned to ice. "I'm sorry."
"Who can blame the man," Andres scoffed. "Finding out his current wife lied and schemed to convince his previous wife he was having an affair and had gotten his mistress pregnant should be enough earth-shattering news. To find out she also conspired to keep him away from his only daughter… That would definitely piss off most men."
"What?" Stephanie and Daniel echoed.
"I thought he found out about the stock and the special account?" Daniel mumbled.
"Don't know about that, but she was ranting about the letter, all she'd done to chase Catherine away, to keep Eduardo from getting close to Stephanie, and how she'd confessed it all to Eduardo. I’d never seen her so full of herself. I'd swear she's actually proud of herself."
"Oh God, no wonder he had a heart attack." Stephanie pulled away from Daniel's grasp.
"Then they weren't having an affair," Daniel thought aloud.
"No.” Andres shook his head. “Dad was pretty stunned. Until Patricia told him everything, he’d been just as convinced as Catherine that Patricia and Eduardo were carrying on. When Dad realized Patricia had orchestrated everything that caused your mother, and I guess him, so much pain, he threw her out and called you right away. He also sent you this." Andres handed Stephanie a plain manila envelope.
She pulled out several sheets of paper. "They're stocks."
"El Diario stock. He's been buying them from Patricia little by little. They're yours now."
"How did it go at the police station?"
"You're supposed to be resting." Stephanie fluffed her father's pillows and handed him a glass of lemonade. In only two weeks, her father had improved quickly but still had a long road to full recovery ahead of him. "Everything went as expected. Daniel gave his deposition and turned over all the papers he had. Señor Alves has been charged with bank fraud and embezzlement."
"What about the money?" Eduardo took a sip of the cool liquid, then pushed the glass back at his daughter. "Do we get any of that back?"
"Don't know. It appears most of it was funneled to accounts in the Cayman Islands."
"Well, it won't take long for whatever is left to run out, and then, like a bad cold, she'll be back." His face flushed a bright red.
"Don't think about it. Remember your blood pressure. I know they put in a pacemaker, but that doesn't mean you can let yourself get all riled up."
"How can you sit there so calmly? She made a mockery out of all our lives." His anger faded, and only sadness was reflected in his eyes. "I let your mother down."
"It's over." Stephanie patted her dad's shoulder. “Let it go.”
"Niña Stephanie," Marta said from the door.
"Yes?"
"A Señor Campo is here to see Señor Cortez. I told the gentleman Don Eduardo's not seeing visitors, but he insists."
"I'll be right there, Marta."
"Campo." Color began to rise up Eduardo's neck.
"It's probably Andres. You get the rest the doctor ordered. I'll take care of it."
As Stephanie came up the hallway, she could see Guido Campo sitting on the settee in the foyer. "Señor."
Guido rose quickly from his seat. "You're looking well."
"As are you. Please, come sit inside." She directed him toward the library door, baffled by what would bring him here after all these years.
"Thank you. I've heard Eduardo is recovering well."
"He is. He'll probably outlive us all. If nothing else, out of sheer spite." She smiled.
"I've found out something about Patricia. I'd like to speak to him."
"I don't think that would be a very good idea."
"Yes, it is," Eduardo countered gruffly.
Stephanie almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Eduardo's booming voice. "Dad, you're supposed to be resting."
"I can't spend the rest of my life in that damn bed." Tugging on the sash of his robe, Eduardo stepped into the room and looked at Guido Campo. "What do you have to say for yourself?